Building & Investment (May - Jun 2016) (May - Jun 2016) | Page 22

Special Feature

PECOL
- rebranded for a new vision
Management team of PECOL speaks to B&I magazine on the recent rebranding
as well as its plans for the future.
PIONEERING IN THE manufacture and
marketing of water heaters back in the early
1970s, Pacific Engineering Sdn Bhd (Pecol),
under the trade name PECOL, has, in the
ensuing years, carved a niche for itself not
only as the regional industry leader but also
a premier innovator in energy-saving water
heating technology. Since then, PECOL’s
scope of business has expanded, from its
core activity of producing home electrical
units to include a wide product portfolio for
commercial and industrial applications, e.g.,
heat pumps, solar heaters and coffeematic
machines, and design systems (standard or
customised). But all that, illustrious as it may
be, is the recent past – today, in the wake of
ownership and management change, PECOL
is on the threshold of a new beginning,
rebranded for a new vision, under Enormous
Achievement Sdn Bhd (EASB). Recently,
B&I talked to Pecol’s Director of Corporate
Affairs, Mr James Law, and Vice President,
Mr Ramani Nair, on the change that has been
charted for PECOL.

Green Hotel Hybrid ECO Hot
Water Storage with PecoL® Hotel
ECO Mini Heat Pump.

Green Hospital ECO
Commercial Heat Pump.

Hybrid Eco Solar Water
Heater with PecoL® Hybrid
Eco Hot Water Storage.

B & I:  By way of introduction to
our readers, could you give us a brief
overview on Enormous Achievement
Sdn Bhd?
EASB:  Enormous Achievement is both a
special-purpose vehicle and an investment in
Pecol with the PECOL brand in the forefront.
Since its establishment in 1968, Pecol has
come a long way, through a second change
of shareholding and now re-branding via our
nationwide Positive Eco-Living campaign to
share our expertise and service in innovative
water heating technology that saves energy
and is environmentally-friendly. That is the
gist of what Enormous Achievement is all
about.
To expand further, we are embarking on
a nationwide programme (P2RP) to repair
and refurbish PECOL products, tanks that
have been and are still in use since the 1970s
in more than 4,000 buildings. That’s one of
the reasons why we have monopoly of the
domestic market with our track record of
long-lasting and reasonably-priced products.
Even so, we still need to re-strategise and stay
18 Building & Investment  | www.b-i.biz

ahead of the competition – it is not all about
margins and enjoying it ourselves but sharing
it with consumers by hitting the market with
volume and better pricing.
For our programmes, we are getting
support from Government agencies, for
example, grant funding in 2014 from
MTDC (Malaysian Technology Development
Corporation) to commercialise our hybrid
hot water system which allows users to enjoy
‘free’ hot water.
B & I:  On this basis, it would be ages
before a replacement unit is needed, don’t
you think?
EASB:  Even with one-time purchases,
there is volume out there as the industry is
growing; there are so many building projects
going on here and overseas - the market is
big and we want to go global. This is why the
Government is coming in to assist us and why

we are getting into ‘contract manufacturing’
offshore on OEM basis, a more viable
alternative than capex (for land, factory and
machinery) to expand our own production
capacity in Malaysia. On the domestic front,
we are targeting 1.0 million households by
2018 for PECOL energy-saving products.
As far as distribution is concerned, we have
our network of associations, of plumbers,
building materials suppliers and so on that
are territorialised to handle enquiries and
orders - everybody knows us, so it is just a
matter of announcing what’s available or new.
B & I:  Of the PECOL product portfolio
of hot water systems, heaters and pumps,
which is the bestseller in Malaysia and
why?
EASB:  It would be our heat pumps,
because it uses 75% less electricity compared
to conventional boilers of the same capacity