WATERCO LTD EYES US AND MIDDLE EAST FOR BIG FILTERS MARKET

By Nor Baizura Basri

SUNGAI BULOH (Malaysia), July 12 (Bernama) -- Waterco Ltd, which
manufactures pumps and filters products for water treatment and water
conditioning system, is eyeing the United States and Middle East for its new
bigger filters.
Its group chief executive officer Goh Soon Sinn said the group was
optimising its manufacturing plant in Malaysia as a platform to export products
and increase its presence internationally.
"We are bringing new machinery into the plant that will be able to produce
bigger filters (more than 2.5 diameters) which are currently in demand in the
Unites States and Middle East," he told Bernama in an interview recently.
Goh said the filters with larger diameters are mostly used in big
desalination plants, especially in the Middle East, where their function is to
convert sea water into fresh water for everyday use.
"Large water treatment plants like desalination plants will need filters
that are much bigger than we have now. The new machinery, which will be coming
in four months' time, will cater the increasing demand in that segment," he
said.
Even though Malaysia has a smaller consumption base, Goh said the location,
which is nearer to the US and Middle East compared to the company's base in
Australia, makes it a viable to manufacture products for export.
The manufacturing plant is currently running at one shift between 70 to 75
per cent capacity, he said.
"At the moment, we have some presence in the US and Middle East but it is
more to supply equipment for commercial swimming pools as well as couple of
desalination plants," he added.
At the moment, only composite filters up to 1.8 diameters are available in
the US while Waterco is currently producing filters up to 2.5 diameters.
Goh said with the new focus will contribute larger sales revenue to the
group gradually in the next three to five years.
According to the International Desalination Association, there are 13,080
desalination plants that produce more than 12 billion gallons of water a day
globally.
On research and development (R&D), Goh said as part of its strategy to meet
changing demands in the market, the group was spending about A$1 million on R&D
every year.
However, despite all the efforts, he said mentality to change and lack of
local skilled workers remained as a key challenges to the company's growth.
"It is hard to find local skilled people in Malaysia. We need a work force
for fabrication as well the right type of engineers for this industry. We need
at least 50 people for our production side. Currently, our workforce comprised
50 per cent local and foreigners," he said.
The company is also looking at introducing plastic pumps that are more
durable and have anti-corrosive elements, similar to steel pumps but more
cost-effective for long run.
"One of our challenges is also to change people perception towards accepting
plastic pumps and filters made by composite materials from those made of steel.
The steel anti-corrosive filters for example, even after five years, can still
experience corrosion," Goh said.
He said by turning to composite materials would meant a 30 to 40 per cent
reduction in the cost of production.
The Australian public-listed company currently develops, manufactures and
distributes a wide range of pool and spa equipment as well as water-conditioning
systems for industrial, commercial and domestic applications.
At the moment, Waterco's export market covers over 40 countries worldwide.
-- BERNAMA



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