By feeding creativity and pushing boundaries, Jord has expanded its technology offering over the past 50 years. Its current primary focus is to pioneer minerals beneficiation techniques that enhance recoveries whilst minimising energy and water consumption.

John Warner, Managing Director of JordProxa and Former Head of Technology at Jord, describes Jord’s approach as technically adventurous and financially conservative. “Jord maintains cash reserves and doesn’t have debt, which allows us to explore new ideas and take risks with a strong financial anchor,” said John.

“It’s important to recognise that technology is changing at a more rapid pace today than it ever has before. What that means is that knowledge is changing and, as a business, we need to manage the change of knowledge. It’s important to have people who are powerful thinkers,” said John. “Jord thrives because it has a deliberate combination of thinkers, fast movers and enablers, and strategic and disciplined people.”

Pictured: Staff drawing in the Sydney office during the early Jord days.

When John joined the firm in the mid-1990s, Jord was focused on heat exchangers, furnaces and solid-liquid separation. John was instrumental in moving beyond supplying individual pieces of process plant to developing in-house capabilities to deliver more complex turnkey systems

“At Jord, we’re good at bringing the next generation of knowledge into the company and embracing new ways of working,” said John. “In many companies, the older generation are possessive of their technical expertise, whereas Jord’s culture encourages experienced staff to set the direction and share their knowledge, leaving space for others to grow and enable change.”

Pictured: Jord lifts evaporation/crystallisation modules in the late 1990s.

A downturn in the mining industry during the late 1990s prompted Jord to move into modular plant deliveries. The aim was to limit the risks inherent when constructing large plants on site. It was a strategic decision that continues to guide its plant designs today. “We learned how to do modules through experience,” said John. “When you lift modules from horizontal to a vertical position, for example, the loads move sideways, and all the pipes and details need to be designed for that.”

Jord continued to establish and grow new business divisions throughout the 2000s. It recognised significant potential in the clean air market and secured an exclusive agreement for equilibrium coefficients data to deliver world class vent gas scrubbers. It also established an engineering hub in India, directly employing highly qualified staff.

Pictured: Jord secured equilibrium coefficients data to deliver world class vent gas scrubbers in the 2000s.

John believes that developing a global network of technical experts has been the key to Jord’s evolution. “We were pioneers of remote working because we knew the right people in like-minded small companies around the world who we needed to engage,” he said. “So, we had the idea of linking people across the world, but the hardware didn’t exist. The introduction of global data connectivity was a significant milestone. We built our own project execution software and have stayed at the forefront by allowing our globally spread people to work efficiently and effectively together.”

Jord Director of Sales Dean Reeves says many people are familiar with Jord’s longstanding expertise in dry cooling systems, but the team is always hungry for new challenges. “Joint ventures are one of the ways we’ve extended our expertise and entered emerging markets,” said Dean.

“For example, we’ve established a firm position in the market producing process modules for FPSO [Floating Production Storage Offloading] vessels, which we specifically target through our Netherlands-based joint venture group, called Jord Oil and Gas Systems B.V.,” said Dean.

“We have five decades of project references to leverage. I’m excited to see how we will continue to grow and diversify for years to come,” said Dean.

In 2022, Jord celebrates 50 years of service. Thank you to all our staff (past and present), customers, vendors and suppliers who have been part of our story.