ABB ESI set to replace expatriate workers

SURABAYA, East Java (JP): Swiss company Asea Brown Bovery (ABB) will transfer most of its important management and operation positions of its boiler manufacturer subsidiary PT ABB Energy Systems Indonesia (ABB ESI) to Indonesian workers.

It also plans to strengthen ABB ESI's position as a leading power equipment maker in Southeast Asia.

ABB ESI vice president director Thomas E. Matthews said here Wednesday that ABB would replace all expatriate workers at the ABB ESI with Indonesian workers over five years.

"I envisage that five years from now, it (ABB ESI) will be a totally Indonesian company with no expatriates," he said after a ceremony to receive the ISO 9001 certification from the U.S. certification company Hartford Steamboiler.

"The plans are in line with ABB's corporate vision 'Go globally, act locally'," he said.

The widely diversified ABB has over 1,000 companies in more than 100 countries with a total 215,000 workers.

It owns a 80 percent stake in the ABB ESI, with the remaining 40 percent stake equally owned by PT PAL Indonesia and PT Barata Indonesia, both state-owned companies under the Agency for Strategic Industries' (BPIS) supervision.

ABB ESI, previously known as ESI, was founded in 1986 with the American firm Combustion Engineering Inc. owning a 80 percent stake. ABB acquired Combustion's shares in 1994.

ABB ESI operates a boiler manufacturing plant in Ujung, Surabaya with a production capacity of two boilers of 600 Megawatts (MW) per year.

Matthews said ABB was not concerned about the company's future once its operation and management was transferred to local resources since "we have Indonesian engineers who are very talented".

He said ABB was committed to sharing its latest technology with ABB ESI to make ABB ESI a leading power equipment maker in Southeast Asia.

ABB currently operates a boiler manufacturing plant in India for the local market and plans to open one in China, leaving ABB ESI to supply the Southeast Asian market.

"ABB also plans to manufacture turbines at the ABB ESI production facility in the near future," he said.

Boiler and turbines are two main machines used at power plants. Boilers are used to turn coal, oil and gas into steam, which is subsequently converted into mechanical energy by turbines. The mechanical energy produced by turbines is then converted into electricity by power generators.

ABB ESI's boiler division general manager Djoko R. Soeroso said the company controlled 50 percent of the domestic boiler market and had exported boilers to Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Thailand and the Philippines.

In Indonesia, ABB ESI's boilers have been and will be installed at power plants in Sibolga (North Sumatra), Muara Tawar (West Java), Suralaya (West Java), Tambak Lorok (Central Java), Gresik (East Java), Sengkang (South Sulawesi) and Paiton (East Java), as well as the Texmaco's power plant in Karawang, West Java and the Kodeco's power plant in Batulicin, South Kalimantan.

The other boiler maker in Indonesia is Babcock Wilcock with a factory in Batam. (jsk)