Tram Wraps

Jamco’s skilled vinyl Installers are second to none in Australia, and nowhere is this more spectacularly highlighted than in Jamco’s frequent “full-wrapping” of Melbourne trams

Bonds - Tram wrap installation

Second to none

Jamco’s skilled Vinyl Installers are second to none in Australia, and nowhere is this more spectacularly highlighted than in Jamco’s frequent “full-wrapping” of Melbourne trams.

Teams of six to eight Jamco Transit Installers regularly and expertly install stunning full-wrap creative on trams that then become visual standouts in this, the biggest streetcar network of any city in the world.

But getting this work done isn’t just a matter of a team of Signfitters turning up at a tram depot with armfuls of vinyl creative.

Final installation is always the result of a chain of coordinated, behind-the-scenes administrative steps involving the vetting of creative designs, liaison with Yarra Trams and JCDecaux, and the warehousing and delivery – in full and on-time – of the various panels that comprise tram-wrap creative. Also essential is effective personnel assignment, in turn dependent upon thorough permit and induction administration.

Georgy Girl - Tram installation

Installed to the highest standard

Such preparations begin well before actual install-date, with some steps cyclical and ongoing. Completion of all these preparatory steps guarantees Installer safety and compliance; access; vehicle availability; and an error-free installation every time.

All Installers must be site-inducted, and, to be qualified to work on ladders near power-supplies, must have certification subsequent to completion of Yarra Trams’ “overhead appreciation” induction. Jamco also requires and expects every Installer to stringently follow the current JCDecaux Safe Work Method Statement specific to Tram Full Wrap installation.

While clearly this is an environment in which compliance with safety–related standards is essential, Jamco nonetheless saw an opportunity here to improve process efficiency while actually improving safety. Specifically, Jamco took the initiative of replacing former aluminium scaffolding with fibreglass scaffolding.

The Iconic - Tram installation

Fibreglass scaffolding

Formerly, when aluminium scaffolding was used, every installation necessitated Installers’ on-site liaison with Yarra Trams’ electrical unit in order to isolate the power on a tram before commencement of a wrap installation. At the same time, Yarra Trams’ Carlton Control Group would need to attend the depot prior to wrap-installation to issue permits enabling Installers to sign-in and sign-out of a depot made safe by this isolation of the power.

But Jamco’s move to fibreglass scaffolding had the welcome effect of not only improving safety, but also saving administrative time by simplifying the permit renewal schedule to become quarterly rather than daily or ad hoc.

With similar efficiencies across all parts of its operation, now more than ever Jamco has the comfortable capacity to handle current tram-wrap volumes of up to seven per week, or two per day.