Emerson Climate Technologies has committed to a major expansion in the
Australian and New Zealand markets, rolling out a range of new initiatives supported by a number of staff appointments.
The expansion began last April with new premises in Auburn in Sydney's west, and the appointment of John Thorne as A/NZ managing director.
Thorne was the former vice president for Emerson Climate Technologies in Europe.
Thorne said he was sent to Australia to lead the expansion after the company identified“ a lot of untapped potential” in the areas of new compressor technologies, associated electronics and compressor-monitoring solutions in a wide range of HVAC&R applications offering energy saving options.
“Emerson has been in Australia since the 1990s but never really made this kind of commitment in the past,” Thorne said.
The new premises in Auburn feature a complete training centre including class-room facilities and workshop areas allowing participants to gain plenty of hands-on experience with a broad range of equipment, he said.
As well as the training centre, there is professional warehousing facilities and a distribution centre allowing the company to hold millions of dollars in stock.
Thorne said the new facilities represent a six-figure investment that has the full support of the parent company in Asia and the US.
The global CEO, chairman and president of Emerson, David Farr, will be in Australia next month to check out the progress that has been made to date.
“The regional focus is on customer support, which is why we have appointed two local system engineers so that customers have the best in technical support,” Thorne said.
“They will complement and enhance the technical call centre facilities in Manila providing support for CPC, Dixell, Alco and Copeland products.”
Electronic installations as part of the company’s retail solutions capabilities will also be supported by staff in Queensland, NSW and Victoria, with additional recruitment taking place in the near future.
“We just had 40 contractors go through training here at the centre and we are also customising some of our equipment specifically for the Australian market,” Thorne said.
“The expansion only began nine months ago and we are seeing results already.”