Boiler company John Thompson, the power division of electromechanical equipment company Actom, recently established its energy management department in 2014 to embrace the current worldwide trend of customers outsourcing their noncore business. This demonstrates John Thompson’s commitment to deliver not only competitive products, but also an enhanced service.

The primary focus of this department is the management of energy infrastructure, whereby John Thompson takes the responsibility for supplying energy reliably, safely and efficiently to customers with whom it has signed a long-term agreement.

As each plant has unique operating parameters and key performance indicators, John Thompson is committed to tailoring each agreement to satisfy individual customer needs. The company’s energy management department is therefore a partnership solution offering transfer of risk by outsourcing the supply of equipment and services to the specialist – John Thompson.

Meanwhile, the cost-effective method John Thompson employs to convert its primary boiler fuel into useful energy is what the company terms ‘the essence’ of its service and is one of its main strategies of containing the cost of generation.

The company adds that skilled supervision and effective resources management, combined with a thorough understanding of equipment design, also result in the high thermal efficiencies of a boiler.

With this in mind, John Thompson believes that the engineering backup that a company receives with an energy management contract adds value, as it will improve the effectiveness and profitability of a business.

Operating Staff
As efficient operating staff members are integral to a successful business, all John Thompson’s staff are trained at its modern training centre in Bellville, which has fully operational coal-fired and oil-fired boilers.

The company is also able to discuss the employment status of a client’s existing operating staff to manage any risk of labour unrest as a result of outsourcing.

John Thompson highlights that outsourcing the supply and operation of an energy plant and associated equipment includes the transfer of operating risk, the delegation of responsibility in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and tasking the outsourced company with fixing operating costs to allow for accurate budgeting. Some of the benefits of outsourcing include freeing up management time for other value-adding activities, lower working-capital costs and improved operating efficiency.

Commercial Responsibility
As part of its energy management contract, John Thompson is responsible for ensuring that its clients comply with all legal requirements that pertain to the operation and maintenance of a boiler plant. Further, John Thompson monitors the condition of a boiler plant and submits regular reports to its client’s management team.

The company also offers finance capital upgrade and/or a new plant through its energy management contracts. This provides customers with the flexibility to allocate their capital to other value-adding plants.

The company notes that, by entering into an energy management contract, customers will be relieved of certain responsibilities, such as steam generation and the operating and maintenance of a plant.

Each contract stipulates that a boiler client will be charged monthly for the metered quantity of steam used, plus an agreed fixed cost. This will facilitate accurate budgeting of all operating costs, including fixed costs and variable costs.

The fixed cost covers costs that are unrelated to the amount of steam used, such as salaries and wages, capital costs, insurance, statutory inspections and administration.

The variable cost covers all input costs, which relate directly to the amount of steam produced, such as fuel, water, electricity and water treatment.

With 80 years of experience in the South African energy and electricity industry, John Thompson brings added value to the industry as a result of its long-standing industry presence.

Having designed, manufactured, installed, operated and maintained industrial boiler plants in South Africa, and with an installed base of more than 4 000 boilers, John Thompson is able to look after its customers’ total energy requirements.

The company considers the supply, operation and maintenance of an energy plant and associated equipment as part of its core business.

Further, as John Thompson’s parent company, Actom, is the largest manufacturer, solutions provider, repairer and distributor of electrical equipment in Africa, John Thompson has the resources to engineer, install, operate and maintain all electrical plant, as well as mechanical plant and associated equipment, for a wide variety of process requirements.