Companies to Watch: JMartans Automation unveils three-point growth strategy to propel Malta’s automation industry forward

Before detailing JMartans Automation’s plan for “skyrocketing [its] product offering”, General Manager Maria Torrisi describes the company’s history. Since its 2005 inception, JMartans has steadily earned a track record of delivering bespoke automation and engineering solutions for diverse industries, growing from a modest operation into a known player within Malta’s automation sector. Co-founded by Jonathan Grech and his wife Marylin Grech, the company started out providing electrical and mechanical solutions to serve the needs of primarily international manufacturers before pointing its efforts homewards.

Over the years, JMartans’ approach to business has led to regular expansion of its product offering in order to adapt to market demands, achieving several milestones in the process. 2017 saw the birth of its Building Automation division, specialising in the installation of building management systems (BMS). The service that has more recently resulted in another milestone: JMartans’ selection as Siemens’ official building technology partner for Malta. By the end of 2017, the company had added a further feather to its cap with the opening of its Spare Parts department, supplying both local and foreign markets.

Two years later, the company expanded into mechanical engineering, offering comprehensive custom design and engineering solutions for assembly and processing machinery, as well as building complete inspection and testing stations, and automatic and semi-automatic machines. In 2022, JMartans added a Machine Safety department to its portfolio. Finally, 2024 has seen the establishment of its training centre, offering PLC programming courses to industry professionals. 

Distribution of leadership responsibilities have played a major role in the company’s journey to date. Engineer Vince Deguara’s 2020 move to Technical Director and Maria’s own appointment as GM earlier this year (originally joining in 2017 as Business Development manager) signalled key shifts. “Change management often involves a change of management and these transitions have positively impacted our momentum and direction,” Maria shares.

Such ambitious endeavours have brought the company to a significant and exciting juncture. With its 20th anniversary on the horizon, JMartans is zooming in on three specific areas for driving future growth. This sharpened focus has the potential to steer the firm to the forefront of the automation industry. “We intend to boost our safety certification offering, grow the training department and export our industrial and building automation services internationally,” says Maria, outlining the three point plan for their next phase. Remaining committed to the firm’s established automation expertise while also recognising new avenues of opportunity, this vision reflects a natural and intuitive progression – rather than a dramatic shift in strategy, she affirms.  

Looking more closely at these three key areas, industrial automation services have long been the backbone of the business. The company’s work covers everything from PLC and HMI programming to designing, building and integrating control panels for numerous industries and sectors. Incidentally, machine learning, AI and IoT are becoming increasingly relevant in this area. Knowing “there is no point in reinventing the wheel when these technologies already exist,” the company is embracing these technologies to navigate the industrial revolution 4.0.

Machine learning’s predictive maintenance capabilities collects data from clients’ machinery, identifying patterns and predicting potential issues before they cause operational delays and unexpected costly breakdowns – thus “helping JMartans ensure that machinery is proactive, not just reactive”. For instance, machine learning can monitor motor shaft performance, gathering data on rotations to report back on when a bearing needs replacement etc. Additionally, IoT technologies can be leveraged to integrate numerous systems within smart factories, providing operational and production efficiency gains.

Nevertheless, Maria acknowledges the limitations of Malta’s small market. While an incoming salesperson will be tasked with strengthening the firm’s local automation footprint from early 2025, sights are also firmly set on international expansion, building on previous successes for clients as far afield as Mexico and China. The goal is for a dedicated team to address the export of particular automation services. “We certainly have the capability to replicate abroad what we have achieved locally,” says Maria, not least given that the company already served an international client base in the early years. After designing and building systems and products at its Mosta premises, JMartans can send technicians abroad to supervise on-the-ground installation and commissioning.

Turning to the Building Automation division, this will also remain central to operations going forward. The firm’s building management systems (BMS) control lighting systems as well as heating, ventilation and air conditioning, improving energy efficiency and reducing costs. BMS projects include, among many others, large-scale installation for pharmaceutical companies and maintaining environmental control for national cultural assets to preserve historical artwork. The EU’s increasing ESG focus on energy-efficient building systems will create further demand and growth in this domain, Maria anticipates.

Meanwhile, the Machinery Safety department has emerged as another cornerstone of the business in the relatively short time since its launch, following JMartans’ astute identification of a local market gap. Infrastructurally supported by its official partnership with German safety brand Pilz GmbH & Co. KG, JMartans provides CE certification and risk assessment services to help client machinery meet stringent EU standards. The service crucially ensures that companies avoid costly operational delays resulting from non-compliance – and has positioned the company as a trusted expert in this field. “Safety is like insurance: it’s often not seen as a priority until it’s too late. We aim to change this mindset by raising awareness about the importance of machinery-related compliance,” reveals Maria.

One of the key developments in 2024 has been the launch of the company’s Training Centre, offering PLC courses using Siemens technology, teaching the intricacies of programmable logic controllers (PLCs). Delivered over three days by a highly experienced programmer, the courses have been well received, with plans for quarterly sessions and Proficient courses in the pipeline. Ensuring that JMartans’ own technicians stay continuously updated on implementing and troubleshooting advanced automation systems, the PLC courses also close certain skill gaps in Malta’s industrial profession. The initiative has consolidated JMartans’ (additional) competitive edge as a knowledge leader in automation technology. Echoing Jonathan’s philosophy, Maria elaborates, “we see education as a core pillar for our growth, ensuring that our team and clients are always on the cutting edge of technology.”

JMartans Automation has thus far demonstrated a dual ability to respond to current market demands and exercise foresight regarding new revenue streams. “We don’t deal in off-the-shelf solutions,” Maria emphasises: “every client project presents unique challenges and opportunities and our technicians and engineers thrive on delivering customised solutions that set us apart”. Through its automation expertise, safety certification success and most recent venture into training, JMartans has built a reputation that it now intends to turbo charge to take the company to new heights. “Having defined three areas of focus, we will be carefully planting the right seeds to achieve this objective,” its General Manager concludes.

This interview forms part of the Companies to Watch in 2024, a business serialisation of BusinessNow.mt, Malta’s fastest-growing, cutting-edge business news portal, aimed at companies achieving their goals, marking important milestones, or planning to announce major business news.

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