J’can transformer company to take on Caribbean market
FEDERAL TRANSFORMER Manufacturing & Consulting Limited (FTMC) has launched into business as a repairer of transformers – immediately establishing itself as a local pioneer in the field; the company has even more ambitious plans to start making transformers in two to three years.
The company has the capacity to repair 50 transformers per month, and a ready market in Jamaica Public Service Company, which would normally send its equipment overseas for servicing. The company also sees prospects for business in the bauxite and hotel sectors and other energy firms.
As a maker of the equipment, FTMC will be able to produce 30 transformers monthly from its operating base at Lydford in St Ann, says Chief Executive Officer Granville Reid.
“JPS itself announced at the launch that the (domestic) market is US$10 million annually. We want to absorb the market within three years,” said Reid.
FTMC also hopes to saturate the US$3-billion CARICOM market and has already targeted electricgenerating companies operating in Cuba, Trinidad and Puerto Rico with negotiations currently under way to secure contractual agreements with entities operating in these geographical areas.
“The company plans to capture this entire market within five years,” FTMC said of the regional market.
FTMC launched operations in June. The company is sited on the grounds of the old Reynolds Jamaica bauxite plant, occupying some 14,000 square feet of production space. It refurbishes oil-filled polemounted transformers of various sizes and voltage output levels, and will gradually move into manufacturing.
“Two to three years from now, we should actually be making transformers from scratch,” Reid said.
Equipment for the manufacturing of the transformers will be sourced from the same Canadian company that supplies parts for the repairs, said the CEO, who declined to name the supply partner.
He added that the companies have a strictly business relationship, and do not share ownership.
FTMC is now operating at 25 per cent of its capacity, but projects to be up to 75 per cent by the third year of operation. To attain its growth projections, the plant will employ 200 people in three years.
The company says it has a threeyear exclusive contract to supply JPS’s transformer refurbishing and manufacturing needs, while other clients include Wigton wind power