Moya Air Conditioning has built its reputation upon meeting new challenges and delivering quality products. Director Quintin Davis talks about his plans for expansion and development.
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) are important under any circumstances, but when it comes to specialised laboratory environments their quality, efficiency and reliability are absolutely critical. And it’s under these conditions that the services of Moya Air Conditioning are particularly appreciated.
Moya Air Conditioning is a family-run heating, ventilation and air conditioning contractor and installer. Based in Johannesburg, the company was launched as Quantum Engineering in 1999 by the current director’s father and took its current identity in 2002 as part of a BEE participation agreement. Initially delivering high quality HVAC installations, the company has also diversified into clean room and cold room installation and maintenance services, working on new-build projects as well as renovation and repair work.
Moya focuses the majority of its business activity in the Gauteng area close to its offices and workshop. “The Gauteng area is probably the biggest and richest hundred square kilometres in Africa, so we tend to concentrate here,” explains owner and director Quintin Davis. “But we have also completed contracts in other cities such as Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Durban, and we have worked as far afield as Angola.”
With a reputation for delivering quality installations on time and within budget, and the knowledge and expertise to advise and improve on the delivery of a project, Moya has developed close working relationships with the construction industry’s top engineering consultants as well as government and parastatal organisations. To date, the company has worked on a wide range of projects from offices, factories and clean rooms through to shopping centres, museums and stadia, largely for the commercial and industrial sectors.
In 2009, for example, the company installed air conditioning for South Africa’s biggest provider of passenger and commuter rail services, Metrorail, incorporating the air conditioning systems into relay rooms at 21 of its railway stations. A more challenging project was the construction of a new clean room at the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (NECSA)’s NTP Pelindaba nuclear facility in 2007. Working in a highly sensitive area such as this, quality and reliability were absolutely essential.
The project was a significant milestone in the company’s development, and became a springboard for further diversification. “Around two years ago, we began to focus on medical facilities,” Davis says. “Building on our experience at NECSA, we have installed and commissioned a new BSL 3 (bio safety level 3) lab for the National Health Laboratory Services here in Johannesburg, as well as a building upgrade incorporating two new clean room facilities at the South African National Blood Services Boksburg facility and we will be expanding on this capability. Through 2012 we plan to focus strongly on the laboratories, medical installations and clinic upgrades.”
Another prestigious project in 2009 has also launched the company into a new area of expansion. When the world famous Museum Africa in Newtown, Johannesburg, required an upgrade to the air conditioning system in the west display and history store areas in preparation for increased visitor numbers during the World Cup in 2010, Moya won the contract. Faced with a shorter lead time than usual, the company utilised the considerable expertise of its in-house team.
“The challenge we faced was that we were unable to source the air handling units we required within the lead time we had been set. As my contract manager Wayne Burisch had previously run his own customised manufacturing company in Cape Town, we designed the AHUs in-house and had them built within two-and-a-half weeks rather than the standard six to eight weeks,” he says. The installation required not only the AHUs but also included the design and erection of chiller units, piping, electrical and structural work, and it continues to give good service keeping museum visitors comfortable today.
With this and other custom-built contracts under its belt, Moya plans to offer a custom design and manufacture service for AHUs and water chillers, utilising the rich in-house resource of over 75 years of knowledge and experience of the air conditioning industry.
“We are also launching a wholesale division this year in Johannesburg, importing a range of ventilation equipment and ducting accessories,” Davis reveals. The expansion has been long in the planning, and included evaluation of the best products on the global marketplace, and supplier relationship-building trips to the Chillventa exhibition in Nuremburg. “We already have an importer’s licence, and indeed the barriers to importing in South Africa are pretty fluid. We have good quality samples from companies in Germany and China, and our next move will be to begin advertising to contractors and consulting engineers to develop the market.” If all goes according to plan, Davis believes the division will be up and running and self sufficient by the first quarter of 2013.
In the short term, Davis plans to strengthen the wholesale division’s marketing campaign by establishing its presence online. “I’m a great believer in online commerce, although we’re not yet mature in this field in South Africa,” he admits. “So, as we are in the process of upgrading our website, we will be including an online ordering facility.” Over the next few years, if the new venture is a success in Johannesburg, Davis plans to replicate the wholesale model in the other major cities of South Africa.
The design and installation of quality HVAC systems, however, is only part of the Moya story. Once installed, the company also provides an in-depth maintenance service tailored to the specific requirements of the facility and drawing on the skills and knowledge of the technical staff. This may range from regular preventive maintenance, cleaning and testing through to air balancing and corrective maintenance and repair. “We concentrate largely on commercial and industrial air conditioning and refrigeration, including large office blocks,” Davis says. “And when it comes to pharmaceutical companies, it’s vital that ventilation and air conditioning systems are running at all times.” Moya provides maintenance services to the Oppenheimer residence for example, and counts several well-known pharmaceutical companies among its clients, including Aurobindo Pharma and the global manufacturer MSD—known in North America as Merck.
In just 13 years, Moya has developed an enviable reputation for excellence in the field of HVAC and refrigeration. But it would appear that this is merely the springboard for future growth. It will be interesting to follow the company’s progress in the years ahead.
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