Problem of manpower at JOSKIN, especially in technical occupations

Despite the 850 employees working in its 5 production sites, the JOSKIN Group has been facing a serious manpower problem for 2 years. Indeed, in order to continue its growth, the Belgian company is trying to reinforce personnel in almost all its departments. The profiles envisaged are thus varied: they range from the technician in charge of advising customers (commercial representative) to the after-sales service, through the production occupations. Ultimately, 100 additional people will be needed. While such recruitment is good news for the labor market, the difficulties facing JOSKIN are surprisingly numerous. One of the most important is hiring for production, especially welders. Soumagne's company is therefore sounding the alarm....

A direct effect on production

To cope with the constantly growing order book, JOSKIN has continuously invested in the optimization of its production process. The company has taken control of purchases and all stages of raw material processing. To this end, it has equipped itself not only with warehouses for the storage of parts, but also with high-quality cutting and processing tools.

Nevertheless, it is clear that without additional personnel, these efforts are not sufficient. The ever-increasing pace of production still leads to saturation once the welding stage is reached. Even the 20 or so welding robots that had been installed at the Group's various sites cannot break the deadlock. Indeed, these automatic tools must be limited to large series and subassemblies of smaller parts. The lack of manpower thus directly affects the rest of the process: since the pace of production is limited by welding, all subsequent work (assembly, painting, finishing) is disadvantaged.

What is the alternative to relocation?

The problem of personnel shortages in technical occupations is not new, but it is worrying that it has become more acute over the years. It is all the more regrettable that companies like JOSKIN are forced to favor additional production abroad so as not to suffer disadvantages due to this lack of Belgian workers.

In view of this problem and in order to continue to handle all the orders in its order book, JOSKIN also points out that there is already an advanced plan for a production site abroad to increase production of its tipping trailers and muck spreaders. Although Soumagne remains the parent company of the JOSKIN Group, difficulties in production at this site, due to a lack of manpower, remain a major concern. The company is therefore hopeful that a global solution can be found soon on a national scale. The call goes out...