FosRich diversifies into transformer repair
Electrical lighting company FosRich has signed a contract with JPS to repair transformers yearly of the 40,000 deployed throughout the power utility’s network.
Image for illustration purposes
Jamaica, Hayes: Electrical lighting company FosRich has signed a four-year renewable contract with Jamaica Public Service Company, JPS, to repair over a thousand transformers yearly of the 40,000 deployed throughout the power utility’s network.
Under the agreement, the transformers are to be repaired and certified to ISO-9001 standard for good quality, according to CEO of FosRich Company Limited Cecil Forster.
It will obviate the need for JPS to send the massive transformers abroad for repairs and maintenance.
“This will save the company close to a billion dollars and reduce the need for purchasing these products overseas, resulting in savings in the use of foreign exchange,” Foster said.
FosRich is in the business of distributing lighting products and manufacturing PVC pipes from its base in Kingston. This new repair business will operate from a plant located in Hayes, Clarendon.
The company is investing about $100 M in the project, says Foster. The new transformer repair business will operate under subsidiary company Blue Emerald Limited.
The equipment was acquired from Federal Transformer Manufacturing & Consulting Limited, a company that had been in the same line of business, transformer repair, but folded after its founder passed away.
JPS is FosRich’s first and, currently, only client, but Foster is looking to do similar work for large Jamaican facilities, such as hotels and manufacturing companies. He is also looking for markets outside Jamaica, specifically the English-speaking Caribbean.
“We will definitely be drawing business from the Caribbean, and as soon as we are fully established we are going to do a satellite operation, possibly in Grenada. The expertise is already in place, but certainly, we will be leveraging relationships down the line,” Foster said.
Foster says the move into transformers is a natural progression from selling electrical components and the involvement in major projects. It was just 15 April of last year that FosRich entered the manufacturing arena with the pipe-making plant at Maverley in Kingston. The move into yet another new line of business appears rapid, but Foster says his expansion programme is being rolled out according to plan.
Source: Jamaica Gleaner