ACHIEVING BUSINESS EXCELLENCE ONLINE
MIDDLE EAST EDITION Issue No.2
Cerner Middle East’s tailored IT systems for healthcare
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Editor’s letter in touch EDITORIAL
Martin Ashcroft Editor In Chief mashcroft@bus-ex.com
Inspiring development
R
Infinity Business Media Ltd
ich in oil & gas resources, countries in the Middle East have been using their wealth to diversify their economies, attract inward investment and improve conditions for their populations. The healthcare sector in particular has undergone phenomenal development in recent years, as witnessed in this issue by Suhail Mahmood Al Ansari and Dr Marc Harrison who tell us how Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi is determined to provide its citizens with healthcare services to match anything available in the West. Greg White of Cerner Middle East explains how IT systems help health care providers offer a safer and more cost-efficient service. Julphar CEO Dr Ayman Sahli tells us about a state-of-theart manufacturing facility for the production of insulin—the first of its kind in the region. And then we have Qatar, gearing up for the FIFA 2022 World Cup, with all the opportunities that has for infrastructure development. Companies in the forefront of the construction bonanza tell us what they are doing to help the Middle East take center stage in the recovery from the latest global economic crisis.
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Martin Ashcroft Editor-in-chief mashcroft@bus-ex.com
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Middle East
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8 Cerner Middle East A new concept of care
This global health information technology system provider is helping health care providers offer a safer and more cost-efficient service.
18 Julphar
An injection of insulin
Soaring demand for insulin across the Middle East will be met in part by a new state-of-the-art facility.
36 Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi A new healthcare landscape
This brand new, world-class hospital will offer first grade health services to its patients.
46 City Group Company Navigating Kuwait
Kuwait’s chief provider of public transport has plans to expand regionally and help shape the sector’s future.
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56 Gulf Warehousing Company From strength to strength
Qatar’s largest logistics provider is pioneering new trends in the Qatari business world.
64 CEVA Logistics Middle East
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Optimising the links
One of the world’s leading supply chain management companies is playing to its strengths.
Middle East 74 Sohar Aluminium
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Testing their metal
This aluminium producer is playing its part in promoting industry within Oman and creating jobs for local people.
92 Qatar National Cement Company
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Cementing development
This cement producer will be helping to ensure that the sky-rocketing demand for construction materials in Qatar is met.
102 Qatar Concrete Company A cooler mix
A pioneering concrete mixing technology may well revolutionise production of this essential construction material in hot countries.
110 Qatar Technical
Masterminding product engineering This one-time industrial refrigeration company has transformed into a knowledge-based engineering and manufacturing institution.
118 Beton WLL Making ready
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Qatar’s leading ready-mix concrete company is preparing for significant growth ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
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Middle East
contents 126 ECG Engineering Consultants Group
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Building the Arab spring
Behind some truly outstanding building throughout the Middle East and beyond lies the expertise of a group of highly qualified consultants.
136 GARMCO
Making an impact
Making a number of strategic investments has enabled this Bahrain-based aluminium rolling operation to become a leading global player.
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148 United Engineering Construction
Building through bust to boom
Already responsible for some of the most innovative and iconic buildings in the UAE, this family company now has its sights set on neighbouring markets.
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156 United Arabian Mining Company: Khnaiguiyah Mining Company Saudi Arabia’s rising star
Saudi Arabia may be best known for its oil and petrochemical industries, but the Arabian Shield is one of the richest geological territories in the world.
164 Procter & Gamble Egypt Ready to be pampered
Against the backdrop of a very public revolution in Egypt, Procter & Gamble is pursuing its commitment to growth.
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A new concept of care
Health care providers must constantly strive to offer a safe, accurate and cost-efficient service to their patients. One company helping to facilitate that goal throughout the Middle East is global health information technology system provider Cerner, as Richard Halfhide reports
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Cerner Middle East
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Greg White, vice president and managing director of Cerner Middle East and Africa
Cerner Middle East
C
erner is one of the world’s leading health care information technology system providers, and its mission statement— ‘Health care is too important to stay the same’—perfectly sums up its forward-thinking ethos. What started as an entrepreneurial spark over 30 years ago has grown today into a multi-billion dollar company with a vision to transform the face of health care delivery. Today, Cerner is proudly represented in 23 countries worldwide and its solutions can be found in more than 9,300 healthcare facilities, including 2,650 hospitals and 3,750 physician practices. Figures just released for bookings in 2011 show an impressive 37 per cent rise from 2010 to $2.72 billion. But the numbers only tell part of the story behind Cerner’s success. Its Middle East operations in particular have seen several exciting developments in recent years. “While there has been a noticeable recent boom in health care investment in the region, Cerner has offered tailored solutions to clients in the Middle Eastern region for the last 20 years,” says Greg White, vice president and managing director of Cerner Middle East and Africa. Building upon this sustained success, Cerner Middle East has had an operational headquarters in the region for the last seven years. Today, it partners with over 130 facilities throughout the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the State of Qatar and Republic of Egypt. A major driver behind Cerner’s success in the Middle East is the fact that its systems
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An electronic health record enables a holistic view of patient health
are able to serve the needs of the entire spectrum of health care facilities, from small individual clinics to large hospitals and even national health systems. Earlier this year, the company signed a landmark agreement to digitise the entire health care system in Qatar, which encompasses all Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC)’s hospitals and primary health centres. “Strong regional partnerships and support
for government initiatives to develop the health care industry are key pillars of Cerner’s growth strategies in the Middle East region,” explains White. “Through a seamless electronic health record system, HMC will have the opportunity to enhance the safety, quality and efficiency of its facilities. We are delighted to support its transformation into one of the leading academic health systems in the world.”
“We’re actively working with our clients to help them improve the health of their communities” 12 | Middle East
Clinic
Cerner Middle East
cal data is stored in one location
Care givers can make more informed decisions
Improved safety and appointments, current increased efficiency are medications, allergies, test key watch words when results and scanned images. talking about what Cerner’s One key advantage offered technology brings to the to care givers by this system Number of countries table; however they only is the ability to gain a truly where Cerner is offer a very broad view of holistic view of the patient’s represented worldwide what the company is able to health through access to deliver. Numerous solutions the data. With real-time have been carefully information updated to the developed for use in a variety of clinical record, care givers are able to make effective and administrative environments to serve and appropriate health care decisions far more quickly and accurately than would specific needs. One of Cerner’s core solutions is an otherwise be the case. electronic health record (EHR), which Solutions that run on the Cerner enables all of a patient’s clinical data Millennium platform can be implemented to be stored in one location. This can across an entire health system to both include a patient’s medical history, future retrieve and disseminate information,
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meaning different departments can access and interact with a patient’s EHR while using solutions unique to that department. “By connecting individual departments in a hospital or health system, Cerner solutions can be deployed that provide subjective information and real-time, measurable data,” White explains.
The range of solutions available is staggering. There are tools developed for use in pharmacies, emergency rooms, critical care, imaging departments and laboratories—all with specific functions that ensure increased patient safety and maximized efficiency for care givers. In essence, the system allows fragmented care
“IT enables the changes that need to be made in order to drive a shift in overall patient health”
Cerner solutions provide real-time, measurable data
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Cerner Middle East
Investment in healthcare infrastructure is growing in the Middle East
systems to fully interact and coordinate with one another. Processes are streamlined, helping to reduce error, variance and waste— priorities high on the list for any health care provider. Cerner systems facilitate faster ordering, documentation and billing, resulting in a swifter, more efficient service. The benefits of Cerner’s systems to the institutions and their physicians and administrative staff are clear; however it should not be forgotten that the end result is also a highly improved patient experience—always a critical factor within health care delivery. Patients can be assured
that confidentiality requirements are being met, and that their care is being assessed in a far more holistic, and therefore accurate, context. However, White is keen to stress that Cerner is so much more than just a provider of IT products. “Viewing our solutions simply as IT projects is a poor way to explain what we do. We’re actively working with our clients to help them improve the health of their communities. IT enables the changes that need to be made in order to drive a shift in overall patient health.” Cerner has a network of dedicated
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A Cerner solution in use
Cerner Middle East
130+ Number of facilities Cerner partners with across the Middle East
support staff who work alongside clients on a daily basis; and this team has doubled over the past 18 months. The team consists of predominantly long-term associates who have experienced the growth of the company. “These are Middle East-based people who bring years of experience to the table and have now raised the bar of success,” asserts White. As investment in health care infrastructure grows throughout the region, it seems that Cerner is destined to grow alongside it. One of its key goals for the future is to expand into Africa, a region also within White’s remit. He estimates that Cerner has spent somewhere in the region of $2.5 billion on research and development over the past decade, a staggering investment that more than backs up the company’s belief that health care is indeed too important to stay the same. And for those who interact with Cerner’s technologies, it seems that the face of health care will never be the same again. For more information about Cerner Middle East visit: www.cerner.ae
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An injection of insulin With diabetes on the rise across the Middle East, one company is hoping to help meet soaring demand for insulin with a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that is the first of its kind in the region
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Julphar
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Biotechnology plant
Julphar
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besity-related diabetes is on the rise in the Middle East. The World Health Organisation estimates that almost one-fifth of the region’s population is affected by the disease. And the International Diabetes Federation believes that the number of diabetics in the UAE will soar by a staggering 80 per cent by 2030. It comes as no surprise then, that insulin is one of the region’s most sought-after medications. And one company looking to meet that demand by becoming the Middle East’s first manufacturer of insulin is Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries, or Julphar, as it is more widely known. Based in Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE, Julphar was established in 1980—the first pharmaceutical manufacturing company to be set up in the Arab Gulf States. Today it continues to be a leading pharmaceutical producer in the region, with nine production facilities located in the UAE. Marketed across five continents, Julphar’s 200-plus products target a number of major therapeutic areas, including anti-infection, the central nervous system, endocrinology, joints and the musculoskeletal system, the respiratory system, the oral cavity and gastrointestinal tract, immunosuppression, nutrition and blood, local anesthetics, skin, and para-medical products. The company, which is the largest drug manufacturer in the Middle East, has the capacity to produce a total of 4.8 billion units of various dosage forms each year. Last year, Julphar announced record
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Expertise in plant engineering. In the area of Biotechnology, Linde can provide state-of-the art plants for pharmaceutical and industrial biotechnology across the globe and also as turnkey projects. Linde Engineering has long year experience and a long list of first-class references, including plants for insulin, EPO, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, proteins derived from blood plasma, food additives, biofuels, biogenic hydrogen, bioethylene and biopolymers.
Our spectrum includes plants for → Industrial biotechnology → Pharmaceutical biotechnology → Chemical synthesis of APIs → Finished dosage forms → Fractionation of human blood plasma
Linde Engineering Dresden GmbH Bodenbacher Strasse 80, 01277 Dresden, Germany Phone +49.351.250-3515, Fax +49.351.250-4814, ledd.biotech@linde-le.com, www.linde-engineering.com
HEADER FOLIO Julphar
LINDE ENGINEERING DRESDEN Linde Engineering in Germany, a leading contractor for process plants for the chemical, gas, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, also has a strong presence in the Middle East with well-established offices in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Linde has more than 20 years of experience in the pharma and biotech industries. For Julphar’s new recombinant insulin plant, Linde Engineering provided the basic and detail engineering, construction site coordination support, and services for commissioning and qualification. In 2009, Julphar Gulf Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceuticals company based in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, involved Linde to carry out the first engineering tasks for the new recombinant insulin plant in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. Working closely with Julphar and the technology provider, the basic engineering was produced, then developed further during the detail engineering. A complete 3D CAD model of the new plant was generated, in which all equipment, pipes, cables, walls, cleanroom installations, HVAC systems and all main components were integrated and coordinated by an interdisciplinary team of experienced specialists. The whole project was coordinated in the 3D model which enabled efficient installation on the construction site. The several package vendors were also integrated in the 3D CAD model coordination and the interfaces were defined early so that interferences and gaps were widely avoided, which saved construction time and material cost by
reducing waste material to the absolute minimum. Linde Engineering applies this interdisciplinary workflow and 3D CAD coordination to most projects, has broad experience with the related IT tools, and can carry out such engineering projects efficiently. Linde’s project team communicated closely with various installation contractors, whose construction activities were coordinated by utilisation of the 3D CAD model to a large extent. Commissioning of the new plant was planned early, also using the P&ID database system, linking the automation system and taking into account the IQ and OQ strategy for start-up of the plant. Linde’s experienced process and commissioning specialists worked hand-in-hand with Julphar’s Quality QA/QC/QM team and Julphar’s experienced and newly trained operators, as they did in the planning and execution of start-up. The successful project execution proves that close teamwork between the client team, the engineering contractor, package vendors and specialist firms for the variety of systems in a modern biopharmaceutical plant such as cleanrooms, HVAC, automation and pure utilities can turn a complex and challenging project into a well-organised and focused project meeting the highest quality and PM standards. At over 20,000 square metres, this new state-of-the-art production facility is the largest biotechnological production plant in the whole of the Middle East. E. ledd.biotech@linde-le.com www.linde-engineering.com
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Julphar sales growth of 11.3 per cent, Martin Christ with sales of 186 branded With over 60 years of experience, Martin Christ is the generic products and 800 leading producer not only of routine-process freeze dryers drug formulae to more but also of a series of product-specific, highly specialized than 40 countries reaching lyophilizers with far-reaching potential. The range of Dh1billion. The revenue laboratory and pilot units provides innovative control even bolstered the UAE’s systems including a comprehensive selection of PAT-tools. Production units comply with international regulations exports balance sheet by an such as those set by the FDA and GMP and will be impressive Dh900 million. specially designed by our engineering team, following the And now, Julphar individual user’s requirements. Completely integrated looks set to break yet systems (e.g. vial loading systems and isolators) can be more records with its offered. All units are made in Germany under our ISO new $136 million insulin 9001-certified production. manufacturing facility in www.martinchrist.de Ras Al Khaimah—a stateof-the-art biotechnological plant for the production of recombinant human insulin crystals. Julphar first entered the insulin production market eight years ago, importing insulin crystals for the local production of Jusline (Julphar’s recombinant human insulin). With regional demand for high-quality insulin now growing, Julphar is set to become the first company in the MENA region to produce recombinant DNA insulin in-house. Jusline has been approved by many regulatory
“Last year, Julphar announced record sales growth of 11.3 per cent”
Julphar’s products target a number of therapeutic areas
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HEADER FOLIO Julphar
GEA DIESSEL When a company exhibits at a trade show it’s not always possible to identify direct business as a result. Often the benefits come much later and the link between a new contract and the attendance at the show is lost. But, for GEA Diessel, its attendance at ACHEMA in the spring of 2006 was different. GEA Diessel produces and supplies process systems for the production of liquid products for the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries. Its sales teams were delighted when the managing director of Julphar, the UAE-based insulin manufacturer and one of the Middle East’s largest pharmaceutical companies, walked onto the stand at ACHEMA with a project to discuss. Julphar and GEA Diessel were not strangers: the companies had worked together for many years to develop pharmaceutical plants, including the world’s largest fully automated plant for the production of syrup and suspensions. However, despite being old friends the meeting was exciting and became more so when GEA Diessel discovered the nature of the enquiry. It was for a new plant for the production of insulin. In itself that was not extraordinary but what surprised even the seasoned engineers was the scale of the project. When complete the plant would produce 1,500kg of insulin a year, making it one of the largest of its type in the world. In the autumn of 2006, GEA Diessel began work on the initial concepts and budget calculations. In 2007, the company worked on scaling up the systems from laboratory to production levels and determined important procedural parameters that would serve as a basis for the selection of process equipment. By 2009, all the plans and the engineering for the production plant had been completed.
The project was to provide all clean utility systems and to manage the process integration of all the main systems, including fermentation, harvesting, chromatography, filtration and freeze drying, for the new US$136 million insulin plant at Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE. It was to be one of the most modern biotechnological plants designed for producing recombinant human insulin crystals. It was to have a floor space of 20,000 square metres including 5,000 square metres of clean rooms and around 17 kilometres of clean piping. It was a truly massive project. Ralph Schulze, head of Pharma and Biotechnology at GEA Diessel, takes up the story: “In autumn 2010, GEA Diessel started working on site. It was a big challenge for us,” he explains. “We had to lead a team of 100 engineers and fitters, carefully managing them all in accordance with their abilities and expertise. We also had to maintain a high degree of flexibility as certain process areas had to be optimized and modified to meet specific requirements. By the end of 2011, all main work was completed.” Schulze added that the project was completed successfully and that he was very grateful for the excellent cooperation he had had from the Julphar technical team, especially Mr Hasan Jibreel, the director of projects; and Mr Essam Hammad, the director of the insulin plant. “We were able to complete the project in a very short time because of the experience the GEA Diessel and the Julphar engineers had in working together in the past,” says Schulze. “We wish Julphar every success in the qualification of the biotechnological plant and with the insulin production.” www.diessel.com
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GEA WESTFALIA SEPARATOR GROUP
CP-214-1-001
CP-214-1-001
In Ras Al Khaimah, Julphar uses the the precipitation of the insulin crystals technology of recombinant DNA (r-DNA), in the clean room, two chamber-type by injecting the insulin gene into a suitable separators BKA 28 are then used to carrier substance, in this case Escherichia separate the crystals and thus produce coli. Its genetic constitution is modified concentrated insulin. Whereas the in such a way that it produces the human separators in the first two stages were hormone insulin. In various stages, the supplied as compact package units, the bacteria then multiply in fermenters, and chamber-type separators are standalone are subsequently recovered and purified machines with the corresponding in separators. Separators thus constitute blocks and unit. After Steam-sterilizable separatorsvalve for the pharmaceutical and control biotechnology industries the core processes in the production of CIP or GEA has Whether SIPWestfalia – ValueSeparator in Every Group Process insulin. Because GEA Westfalia Separator provided intense training to the operating Whether in the production of vaccines or pharmaceutical proteins: steam-sterilizable separators from Group is known as the world-wide personnel, operations incomfort. Ras The Alcentrifuges Khaimah GEA Westfalia Separator Group stand for increased efficiency, safety and are specifically designed according to GMP standards for use in aseptically closed processes. technology leader in the production of will start providing product in mid-2012. The processing stands for an extremely gentle treatment of sensitive organisms. The result: high insulin, Julphar decided to use the knowyields of active ingredients. Entirely in accordance with our philosophy of Liquids to Value. how of the company from Oelde with ws.info@geagroup.com centrifugal technology in its new plant. www.westfalia-separator.com GEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbH www.westfalia-separator.com GEA Westfalia engineering for a better world Separator Group has installed a total of five separators in Ras Al Khaimah, to the north of Dubai. A nozzle-type separator CFA 65 with viscon® technology is used for separating the coli bacteria from the fermentation broth; in this solution, the solids are continuously Steam-sterilizable separators for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries discharged with a Whether CIP or SIP – Value in Every Process constant concentration. Following the Whether in the production of vaccines or pharmaceutical proteins: steam-sterilizable separators from GEA Westfalia Separator Group stand for increased efficiency, safety and comfort. The centrifuges homogenisation stage, are specifically designed according to GMP standards for use in aseptically closed processes. two self-cleaning The processing stands for an extremely gentle treatment of sensitive organisms. The result: high yields of active ingredients. Entirely in accordance with our philosophy of Liquids to Value. separators of the type CSE 80 separate the GEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbH inclusion bodies from www.westfalia-separator.com the cell fractions and engineering for a better world wash them. Following
Julphar
Julphar Insulin Plant
health authorities and is registered in more accessible price, and also supports regional than 14 countries worldwide. governments with a strategic solution to “This new facility strengthens Julphar’s reducing the diabetes burden and increasing commitment to diabetes management, not the accessibility of insulin therapy. only in the UAE, but also on an international Julphar hopes that the factory, which has scale,� says Dr Ayman Sahli, CEO of Julphar. the capacity to produce up to 50 million A clinically-validated recombinant DNA vials of the raw material for insulin each insulin, Jusline is available in 10ml vials of year, will fill a gap in the local market, 100 u/ml in three different formulations: where over 90 per cent of pharmaceuticals Jusline R (regular), Jusline are currently imported. At N (basal) and Jusline 30/70 the time of writing, the plant (biphasic), covering all was just weeks away from insulin requirements for commencing production. diabetic patients. Julphar All sub plants within the says that Jusline offers new complex are supplied Projected rise in number high quality recombinant through centrally connected of diabetics across the human insulin to healthcare corridors, technical shafts UAE by 2030 and underground tunnels, providers and patients at an
80%
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JULPHAR Julphar
SIEMENS Siemens is a leading supplier to manufacturers in the life sciences industry, with product and solution offerings in the area of automation (building and process), drives, electrical infrastructure, power distribution, fire, safety, logistics, water systems and industrial IT. In addition to a broad and innovative product portfolio, Siemens offers services and competencies from dedicated engineering services to a multi-disciplinary optimisation approach throughout bio and pharmaceutical manufacturing to address the key issues of the industry and improve business. This covers not only state-of-theart technology but also work on strategic, long-term and comprehensive concepts to benefit the customer’s business worldwide. Siemens is a trusted partner for Julphar in automation projects. Several production facilities are already equipped with Simatic controllers and automation solutions e.g. the “Julphar VI” multipurpose manufacturing plant for liquid and semi solid pharmaceutical dosage forms. The new insulin production plant “Julphar XI” is one of the most modern biotechnological plants designed for producing recombinant human insulin crystals. Siemens’ first class knowledge and experience in biopharmaceuticals combined with innovative automation products and solutions were the main reason that Julphar decided for the Siemens automation solution based on Simatic PCS 7, including Batch and Route Control. According to Dr.
Ayman, General Manager of Julphar, this is the start of a long-term relationship, initially focused on sucessfully completing what Julphar considers to be one of their most strategic projects during recent years. www.siemens.com/pharma
SIEMENS AG Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering, operating in the fields of industry, energy and healthcare as well as providing infrastructure solutions, primarily for cities and metropolitan areas. For over 160 years, Siemens has stood for technological excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality. The company is the world’s largest provider of environmental technologies. Around 40 percent of its total revenue stems from green products and solutions. In fiscal 2011, which ended on September 30, 2011, revenue from continuing operations totaled €73.5 billion and income from continuing operations €7.0 billion. At the end of September 2011, Siemens had around 360,000 employees worldwide on the basis of continuing operations. Further information is available on the Internet at: www.siemens.com
BE WEEKLY Middle East || 3111
BAUSCH + STRÖBEL
®
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Julphar with the central main Bausch + Stroebel building connected to the Bausch + Stroebel specialises in machines for offices, conference rooms, pharmaceutical primary packaging. The product range laboratories and the central includes equipment for washing, sterilizing/depyrogenation, control room. filling, closing and labelling of containers such as ampoules, Manufacturing operacartridges, disposable syringes, vials and bottles of all tions are divided between kinds. B+S systems are designed to comply with the latest FDA and GMP requirements and are available for six suites. Bulk media is all capacity ranges, starting from laboratory testing and formulated in the media clinical batches to fully integrated commercial production. preparation room before With more than 40 years of experience and over inoculation and up-filling 10,000 machines delivered, Bausch + Stroebel is a to pre-fermentation vessels leading manufacturer of high-quality equipment for the for fermentation. Bulk pharmaceutical industry. buffers are formulated in www.bausch-stroebel.com the buffers preparation area before up-filling to storage vessels in the buffer hold suite; and in the fermentation suite, four seed fermentors and four 5,000-litre production fermentors produce 10,000 litres of bacterial broth per batch. In the recovery area, the E.coli is killed and broken down to harvest the pre-proinsulin. The pre-proinsulin is then separated out from the cell debris by centrifugation and filtration, prior to further refolding reactions, where it is treated with buffers to assist it in attaining the correct structure. In the downstream initial purification suite, the pre-proinsulin is purified to Liquid and lyophilized products
“Quality is of the utmost importance to Julphar, and hygiene processes have been considered and catered for during every stage of the plant’s development� Middle East | 33
get rid of attached peptides; and in the downstream final purification suite, the preproinsulin is cleaved using CPB to modify its primary structure and then separated by chromatography and finally, crystallized. Quality is of the utmost importance to Julphar, and hygiene processes have been considered and catered for during every stage of the plant’s design and development. The chromatographic process is monitored by protein-specific analysis using enzymeimmunological methods that make it possible to detect even the smallest possible by-products. The purity of the insulin is measured at every intermediate stage of production by the in-process control (IPC) laboratory. And all stages of the process use deionized and purified water, with microbiological and physical chemical quality monitored routinely and ozone removed with UV light before it is used. All raw materials and auxiliary materials (such as solvents, acids, bases, salts and buffers) are of pharmaceutical quality or meet internal plant specifications and are checked regularly; and the nitrogen used for inerting is purified through high-efficiency particulate filters before use to prevent contamination by particles. As a rule, all stages of the process are carried out in closed tanks with solid pipe connections, and
manual handling of the product is reduced to a minimum. The material used for the tanks and connecting pipes is corrosionresistant stainless steel with defined surface roughness (internally electropolished for critical process steps), which ensures thorough and complete cleaning. At the plant’s core is a high-capacity process control system, which processes about 10,000 items of input and output information and monitors and controls the
“To achieve its world-class vision, Julphar has worked with a number of world-class suppliers” 34 | Middle East
Julphar
A group of high level officials from Saqr Hospital visit Julphar
entire manufacturing process. All qualityrelated instruments are calibrated upon putting into service, which is repeated regularly at appropriate intervals. To achieve its world-class vision, Julphar has worked with a number of world-class suppliers. The architects for the plant were Julphar’s Projects and Engineering Department in collaboration with leading engineering consultants LINDE-KCA. Process piping and installation of the plant equipment was undertaken by GEA Diessel of Germany; cleanrooms were provided and installed by Isocap of Belgium; and automation of the plant and control systems along with instrument validation was carried out by Siemens. Main process equipment suppliers included
GE Healthcare for chromatography purification systems; Pall for tangential flow filtration systems; GEA Westfalia for cell separators; Abec for fermentors and process vessels; Martin Christ for lyophilization; Fedegari for autoclaves; and Veolia for the RO system, WFI distiller and clean steam generator. Julphar hopes that the new plant will mark the start of a new era in healthcare for the Middle East, where access to the most important medications is improved and high quality does not have to cost the earth. For more information about Julphar visit: www.jusline.ae and www.julphar.net
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Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi
A new healthcare landscape
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi is setting a new standard for healthcare design and delivery, as Suhail Mahmood Al Ansari, executive director of Mubadala Healthcare, and Dr Marc Harrison, chief executive officer of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, explain to Richard Halfhide
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The hospital is located on Sowwah Island in the heart of Abu Dhabi’s new central business district
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi
A
bu Dhabi is a thriving emirate, for what CCAD’s CEO Dr Marc Harrison one that has witnessed a dramatic and Mubadala Healthcare’s executive increase in economic development, director Suhail Mahmood Al Ansari define diversity and population in recent years. as ‘top talent’ to work in. In its primary role as investor in CCAD, In the past, healthcare investment has occasionally struggled to keep pace with Mubadala has many key objectives; but for such accelerated social and economic Al Ansari, there are two crucial bottom change; but times are changing rapidly. lines: “Number one, whatever we invest in The government of Abu Dhabi recognised has to be financially sustainable, including the need to put in place a long-term plan to creating an integrated health system,” he provide quality healthcare for all citizens states. “Secondly, socio-economic impact is extremely important to by 2030, and as part of this vision, the Abu Dhabi us. By virtue of developing Health Services Company a quality healthcare facility (SEHA) was created in which gives patients access 2007. To encourage the to excellent medical care introduction of private close to home, we are Number of people sector healthcare providers, additionally creating many travelling overseas many existing facilities job opportunities for UAE for surgery each year, nationals. By attracting were outsourced to leading according to figures from professionals from all clinical operators around the Health Authority over the world to work at the world to operate and of Abu Dhabi manage; and a mandatory Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, employer-funded health we hope to be able to foster insurance scheme was also launched. a transfer of knowledge ethos.” The initiative created an opportunity for By bringing a standard of care and service Mubadala Healthcare, a government-owned to Abu Dhabi that was simply not available investment and development company, to in the past, CCAD hopes to significantly take this process one step further and form contribute towards the improvement of a partnership with Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, the local healthcare landscape. From the one of the world’s most respected healthcare outset, one of the most crucial mandates institutions. for Mubadala was to tackle the fact that it Together, Mubadala Healthcare and has become the norm for citizens of Abu Cleveland Clinic are the driving force Dhabi to address their healthcare needs behind Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (CCAD), overseas—with Germany, the US and the a brand new world-class hospital that UK being the main locations of choice. In will offer first grade health services to its fact, figures from the Health Authority of patients as well as a state-of-the-art facility Abu Dhabi (HAAD) show that nearly 3,000
3,000
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elegant solutions for technically complex architecture worldwide HDR’s history in the Middle East dates back to the 1980s, with projects such as the King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia. During the past decade, HDR has been designing elegant, complex facilities in the Middle East. Our signature design process effortlessly responds to a local culture while providing the sophisticated design required by today’s highly competitive global market. Our designs promote shared fundamental values and brand recognition on the international stage with intelligent design that incorporates new sustainable technologies and strategies for energy efficiency. At HDR we are committed to a collaborative design process that results in elegant, high-performance architecture across geographic, political and cultural boundaries. In Abu Dhabi, HDR designed the National Energy and Water Research Centre to carry out the government’s mission to develop renewable and alternative energy resources, storage and distribution systems. Sensitive to the local culture, the laboratory is built to U.S. and international standards. The Centre will enable great science while incorporating principles of sustainable design. In Abu Dhabi and in Dubai, HDR designed new headquarters for the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). The new towers are easily
recognizable and expressive of the TRA’s mission and brand. Sleek and modern, the luminescent ‘skin’ wraps the building. Rooted in tradition, the headquarters are infused with innovative technological advancements. HDR also served as the design architect through 30 per cent completion of the Construction Documentation phase of the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, which exemplifies the best of international healthcare delivery in a world-class hospitality environment. HDR is an employee-owned firm providing architecture, engineering and consulting services from a global network of offices. With over 7,800 professionals committed to elegant design for complex facilities, HDR is world-renowned for its award-winning designs of technologically advanced facilities for healthcare, science & technology, and civic organizations. HDR is ranked No. 4 in Architectural Record’s 2011 Top 250 Design Firms survey. It is also ranked the No. 1 firm for healthcare design in four significant industry surveys: Modern Healthcare, Healthcare Design, World Architecture and Engineering News-Record. www.hdrarchitecture.com
people are currently travelling overseas for surgery each year. “A tremendous amount of patients, historically and today, still travel abroad for medical care. Part of the mandate is to reduce the need to travel and bring quality healthcare home,” confirms Al Ansari. “When American and Western Eurpoean healthcare systems operate facilities overseas, they frequently bring in a couple of executives and run the hospital under the banner of the home institution,” confirms Harrison, who brings years of experience to his role both as a pediatric intensivist and an experienced senior executive at Cleveland Clinic. “But what Mubadala has encouraged us to do is bring in a broad swathe of talent— for example 80 per cent of our institute chairs are Cleveland Clinic people. So we’re bringing the real culture, operating capability and clinical talent here.” The hospital itself is located on Sowwah Island in the heart of Abu Dhabi’s new central business district. The scale of the construction is matched only by the eye-catching design that will make the completed building a landmark in Abu Dhabi. Initially, the hospital will have 364 beds, but the design allows for further expansion to 490 in the future. Complexities
within the design have produced a hospital that achieves simplicity for those that will walk its sleek, glass-lined hallways. “No effort has been spared,” states Harrison. “Thousands and thousands of hours of subject matter expertise have gone into designing the rooms, operating theatres, public spaces, cath labs—you name it. If people aren’t feeling well, at least they are in an environment where they are going
“I am confident that this is going to be the most advanced and patient-centered hospital anywhere in the world” 42 | Middle East
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi
Thousands of hours of expertise have gone into designing the facilities
to feel cared for.” The design aims to ensure an efficient working environment for staff while promoting healing surroundings for patients. “I am confident that this is going to be the most advanced and patient-centered hospital anywhere in the world,” declares Harrison. “The equipment is first rate; the designs are patient-centered.” Technology is a watchword for both Harrison and Al Ansari. Mubadala, which already operates several technologically advanced facilities including the Tawam Molecular Imaging Centre in neighbouring Al Ain, believes strongly in the use of the most modern technologies, and CCAD demonstrates this in several ways. The hospital is aiming to achieve the LEED Gold standard, an achievement that is
only possible by incorporating the very latest sustainable practices. Some of these features include a double glass skin that reduces energy usage by 20 per cent, the use of solar energy for heating water and the incorporation of technologies to recover grey water. As well as state-of-the-art design and delivery, patients can expect to benefit from the very latest diagnostic and treatment capabilities that utilise advanced technologies in surgery, diagnostics and electronic medical records. This is an area of particular interest for Harrison: “Cleveland Clinic in Ohio is renowned as one of the world’s foremost digitally supported institutions,” he confirms. “Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi is going to take this to
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“We are responsibly de-risking our future by creating our own pool of talented individuals” the next level. We’re bringing systems forward that will allow us to provide safety, quality, patient experience and operational excellence, all in an environment where we can monitor performance and satisfaction in real time. We will be setting the standard for IT in healthcare.” Part of the reason Mubadala selected Cleveland Clinic as its partner was its reputation for delivering an unrivalled patient experience. CCAD aims to achieve the same thing via ‘The Cleveland Clinic
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Experience’, an in-house programme imported from Ohio where all employees learn to act as a unit. “We show them how they as a team affect the patient’s wellbeing as a caregiver. If they push a broom or work in accounting or are a heart surgeon, they are all caregivers,” asserts Harrison. It is this dual focus on both staff and patient that helps to create a special environment. As Harrison reiterates: “Engaged caregivers give the best care.” For both Harrison and Al Ansari, another
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi
Bringing in the best people is a key priority
key priority is bringing in the best people to work at CCAD. This process has already started in earnest and is evidenced by such eminent appointments as Dr Tomislav Mihaljevic, the world’s foremost specialist in minimally invasive robotic heart surgery. However, there is a longer term plan behind bringing in top talent from overseas, explains Al Ansari. “The importance of creating an environment that is attractive to world-class professionals is vital; but retaining them so they can call Abu Dhabi home is just as important. “As part of economic diversification, there is ongoing investment into education and attractive living spaces,” he continues. “Abu Dhabi has very high standard of living with schools, shopping malls and now a healthcare system. By bringing people
here from all over the world, we can ensure that, long term, the transfer of knowledge and expertise to a more local and regional population is more likely to happen. And at the same time, we are responsibly de-risking our future by creating our own pool of talented individuals.” It is this forward-thinking attitude displayed by both parties that will surely make the partnership of Mubadala Healthcare and Cleveland Clinic a real success—changing the healthcare landscape of Abu Dhabi forever. For more information about Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi visit: www.clevelandclinicabudhabi.ae
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City Group Company
Navigating Kuwait Though it does other things too, City Group Company is best known as the chief provider of public transportation in the emirate of Kuwait. CEO Richard Woods told John O’Hanlon how the company aspires to expand regionally
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Yutong buses undergoing routine maintenance
City Group Company
C
ity Group Company (CGC) Kuwaitis familiar with the standards of the is much more than just a bus US and Europe. company: it is deeply involved Today, CGC has succeeded in establishing in the infrastructure, logistics its position as Kuwait’s leading public and transport sectors of this transport operator. It operates 400 regular small but oil-rich nation on the Persian services across 19 routes, carried more Gulf. As part of the Boodai Group, founded than 46 million passengers in 2011, has in 1950 and today led by Marwan Boodai, become the first transportation company a prominent Kuwaiti businessman, it has a in the Middle East to gain ISO 9001:2008 thriving warehousing division that provides certification and was accepted into dry and cold store facilities to a wide range membership of the International Association of customers in the region; and is sister of Public Transport (UITP) World Congress. company to an airline, Jazeera Airways, “UITP is a fantastic platform for worldwide launched in 2005. However, the bus network cooperation, business development and the sharing of know-how is the backbone of surface public transport here, and it between its 3,400 members caters for a very demanding from 92 countries,” says public. The 3.5 million Woods. inhabitants of Kuwait enjoy The latest figures from Citybus show that 95 per the fifth highest per-capita income in the world. cent of its scheduled services operate within the published CGC was listed on the Number of CGC Kuwait Stock Exchange timetable. Now, sharing the passengers in 2011 in 1977, and its primary Kuwaiti market with the objective has always been state-owned Kuwait Public to maximise shareholder value. This it has Transportation Corporation (KPTC), CGC done by driving excellence and unstinting is currently Kuwait’s second largest public customer focus, says its CEO Richard transport company, operating a fleet of 585 Woods. The Citybus division started its buses in Kuwait for scheduled and charter route operations on 8th March 2002 and operations. Much of this progress has been since then has been working to coax the achieved under the leadership of Woods, population of the kingdom out of their cars who was appointed CEO in 2007, having held and onto public transport. The image of senior positions over 25 years with leading public transport in the Middle East needed international multimodal public transport to be raised: before the millennium it was operators including Stagecoach and Arriva. characterised by frequent breakdowns, Reflecting his regional influence, he is also uncertain scheduling and a lack of comfort a member of the steering committee for that was increasingly unacceptable to setting up the new Transport Centre of
46 million
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Excellence for the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai. In 2011 the aftershocks of the world economic crisis began to be felt in Kuwait despite its massive oil revenues. “CGC weathered the impact of the global economic slowdown that began in 2008, with after effects that continued well into 2010,” says Woods. “Towards the end of that year, though, we began to notice a definite upturn in both the warehousing and transportation sectors, and CGC performed better than at any other time in our history.” He takes satisfaction from the fact that competition was as stiff as ever both from KPTC and unregulated operators running a few minibuses. Despite this, CGC has
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City Group Company
A Daewoo BH090 receiving a new transmission
maintained its growth. “We expect the regional public transport industry to continue to grow to meet increasing demand: that is why we have introduced efficient vehicles to our fleet, specified to European standards. Our strategy is to bring a really positive customer experience to the region, making it a pleasure to travel by public transport rather than just a means of getting from A to B.” The purchase of 50 ultra-modern, air-conditioned Yutong buses
from China in 2010 was a big step in raising CGC’s game, he adds. That said, reliability is just as important. A bus operator faces a number of challenges, and traffic congestion problems are severe, despite the nation’s modern and wellmaintained road system. Speeding, lax enforcement of traffic regulations and high density traffic leads to frequent and often fatal accidents on Kuwait’s roads. Kuwait has the highest per-capita rate of cellphone
“We expect the regional public transport industry to continue to grow” Middle East | 51
Ticketing system
Citybus driver in action
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ownership in the world and using them while driving continues to remain legal. Not surprisingly, this is found to be the cause of many accidents. For the bus operator, delivering a safe and enjoyable journey presents challenges not always within its control. “CGC has had a long and successful involvement in the development and growth of the public transport sector in Kuwait, and we are in a position to lead the improvements that really are needed. As one of the leading public transport providers, CGC is committed to maintaining world-class service delivery targets. We aim to help increase transport efficiency in Kuwait, as well as decreasing traffic and travel time getting to and from destinations around Kuwait.� As a major national player, CGC contributes to the Kuwait Public Transport Masterplan, which aims to address problems of congestion and provide Kuwait with transport infrastructure that reflects its status as a regional tourist hub. It has not achieved that status yet but embarking on megaprojects like the Madinat al-Hareer, a new $94 billion city aimed at bringing fresh sources of revenue into the country, will increase the need for a state-of-the-art public transport network such as CGC has shown itself capable of delivering. Another transformational project due to be delivered by 2016 is the Kuwait Metro, a 171 kilometre-long inner city transport system running across the city. The Metro aims to ease the increasing traffic congestion on the city roads in addition to improving the quality of life by resolving daily
City Group Company
Technicians carrying out general repairs on a Yutong
commuting problems. It is part of the $25 billion GCC railway project, which begins at Kuwait and runs to Muscat via Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar. At first sight this might be perceived as a challenge to road transport, as one effect will be to reduce bus passenger numbers. However, Woods sees it as an opportunity and is keen that CGC will play its part in the project. The Metro will have no fewer than 70 stations, and linking these with key destinations will call for
close collaboration with the bus companies. Not content to dominate the domestic public transport stage, CGC also has aspirations to be a leading regional player right across the Middle East and North Africa. “We were able to negotiate $30 million worth of funding for regional expansion on very favourable terms,” says Woods. “We are on the acquisition trail, looking for operations that can help us get there.”
“As one of the leading public transport providers, CGC is committed to maintaining world-class service delivery targets” January 2012 | 53
In 2010, advised by local M&A consultants Gulfmerger, CGC acquired a 51 per cent equity interest in Jordan’s Comprehensive Multiple Transportation Company (CMTC) for $21.5 million. “The acquisition of CMTC is part of CGC’s strategy to transform itself into the largest public transport company in the Middle East with a combined fleet of over 3,000 buses by 2015,” says Woods. “Our vision is to continue our regional expansion strategy either looking at commercial opportunities or gaining contracts and tenders.”
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Woods’ appointment in Kuwait inspired him to build a management team that would transform the organisation and develop a culture aligned to its corporate values. “We have completely focused on continually improving our standards as an organisation and the welfare of our workforce was at the forefront of our decision-making. I truly believe people are the only asset that appreciates in value, whereas all other assets generally depreciate!” Under his leadership, shareholder value has steadily increased, and CGC has
City Group Company
Team with Citybus vehicles
increased its share of the home market to 60 per cent. This has come about, he believes, as much through the empowerment and engagement of the workforce as by the undoubted benefits of investment in up-todate vehicles and systems. “We believe in training, developing and retaining our staff and have recently introduced a graduate training programme for local and international students to come and experience life in the bus industry. I hope to be able to serve Kuwait for many years to come, and look forward to bearing the fruits
of all our hard work with the development and implementation of the Kuwait Public Transport Masterplan, which will make travelling easier, speedier and safer,” he concludes. “I personally feel very privileged to have the opportunity to give our input in developing and shaping the future of public transport in Kuwait.” For more information about City Group Company visit: www.citygroupco.com
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Gulf Warehousing Company
From strength to strength Since opening its first warehouse in 2005, Doha-based Gulf Warehousing Company has grown at an impressive rate. Chief executive officer Ranjeev Menon talks to Gay Sutton about building the new Logistics Village and plans to replicate this highly successful business model internationally
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GWC is investing two billion Qatari riyal in the construction of a one million square metre logistics facility known as the Logistics Village Qatar
Gulf Warehousing Company
Q
atar is a peninsula of land some 100 miles long, surrounded on three sides by the warm and salty waters of the Persian Gulf and linked to the Arabian peninsula by a narrow 35-mile border with Saudi Arabia. As a consequence, its summers are not only very hot but also very humid, while the winters are mild. Like its Arab Emirates neighbours, the country has a reputation for enormous oil wealth, and has translated this into phenomenal growth. Its per-capita GDP is among the highest in the world, and this is likely to continue for a considerable period of time following the discovery of significant gas reserves off the north-east coast. Meanwhile, Qatar has attracted and hosted such international sporting events as the Asian Games in 2006 and the Pan Arab Games this winter, and won the bid a year ago to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. New logistics trends are beginning to take shape in the Qatari business world, pioneered by Gulf Warehousing Company (GWC), a Doha-based warehousing and logistics company that listed on the Qatar stock exchange in 2004. The company began operating in 2005 with a single small warehouse and a few vehicles, and has grown to become Qatar’s largest logistics provider
in terms of infrastructure, employees and range of services. “We do everything in-house—we don’t outsource any of our core activities,” explains chief executive officer Ranjeev Menon. “This means we train all our 1,100 staff to provide a customer-oriented service, and focus on delivering the job right.” Finding the necessary skills sets for these specialised areas is always a challenge, and GWC addresses this by appointing people with in-depth logistics experience and then providing extensive and ongoing training in the appropriate specialist areas. “Our operations are broken down into various departments or solutions, and we have a separate specialist team within each department,” Menon explains. Warehousing and transportation and freight management lie at the heart of the business: there are five major warehouses located in the key industrial areas, and two of them provide chilled and frozen temperature-controlled zones for the food industry. Meanwhile, the company operates a fleet of 351 trucks and over 700 trailers maintained and serviced by a staff of 25 engineers. Freight forwarding services and transportation management is provided throughout the GCC states. Over the years, the company has added a range of more specialised logistics and
“We do everything in-house— we don’t outsource any of our core activities”
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Gulf Warehousing Company
Logistics Village Qatar is a self-contained logistics hub
warehousing services including the storage of hazardous chemicals at Ras Laffan for the oil and gas industry in the north of the country. The state-of-the-art flagship chemical facilities are the first ISO-certified and government-approved chemical storage facilities able to service third parties, providing segregation of chemicals in accordance with the stringent US CFR 49 (Code of Federal Regulations) standard; temperaturecontrolled storage; fire-rated walls and doors; explosion-proof lighting; and separated spill tanks. The company also provides relocation services; rack-up management—an archiving service for the banks; asset management; and consultation services. With Qatar increasingly prominent as a global sporting event destination, the
company has developed a sport and events logistics service which includes freight and transporting event equipment along with expertise in managing the event. The most recent addition to the service portfolio is the Fine Art solution: this involves packing and transporting valuable museum items and fine art from around the world, under high security, and then installing them in the Qatar museum. Doha is very much a growing market, says Menon, and GWC aims to carve out an even larger market share by identifying and exploiting future gaps in the marketplace, and promoting a wider use of outsourced logistics. “Awareness of third party logistics (3PL) is still not very widespread here in Qatar. Many companies believe in setting
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up their own warehouses and running their own logistics operations. Our strategy, going forward, is to educate them about the benefits of using a 3PL provider, so they can reduce operational costs and increase efficiency by forgetting about the logistics headache and focusing on their core business.” As part of the drive for greater efficiency and an integrated and comprehensive service provision, GWC is investing around two billion Qatari riyal in the construction of a
large integrated one million square metre logistics facility, appropriately named the Logistics Village Qatar. Phase I became fully operational in May 2011 and includes eight new warehouses, a container yard and storage facility, a fully equipped repair depot for maintaining the fleet of vehicles, and a data centre. Phase II is in progress, and the final phase should be completed by 2013. “When completed, it will enable us to offer a unified distribution service from a single location.”
“If there is an acquisition that will really work for us we will look at it: we don’t want to shut that option out” 62 | Middle East
Gulf Warehousing Company
When completed, LVQ will offer a unified distribution service from a single location
IT plays an important part in running a seamless operation capable of providing complete 3PL services, and the new data centre is integral to that. “The data centre is the hub of our IT infrastructure, and houses the warehouse management, transport and freight management systems that manage all arms of the operation, and these are linked through our business process management system, giving us a dashboard and summary of all our activities.” Extremely high standards of performance are expected from each area of the business. The hazardous chemicals facility, for example, is used by many of the global petrochemical and oil and gas companies. It has recently been awarded the contract to store hazardous materials for the various leading oil and gas companies operating
the world’s largest GTL plant, converting petroleum gas to liquid. From a quality management perspective, the company currently holds ISO 9001:2008 for general management, ISO 18001:2007 for health and safety, ISO 14001:2004 for environmental performance and ISO 22000:2005 for hygiene and food storage. Menon believes that organic growth creates the greatest stability. “However, down the road if there is an acquisition that will really work for us we will look at it: we don’t want to shut that option out,” he concludes. For more information about Gulf Warehousing Company visit: www.gulfwarehousing.com
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Optimising the links 64 | Middle East
CEVA Logistics Middle East
Warren Angus, regional sales and marketing director for the Middle East operations of leading supply chain specialist CEVA Logistics, talks about the vibrant market environment and CEVA’s response to this region of opportunity Middle East | 65
C
EVA was formed in August 2007 as a result of the merger of TNT Logistics and EGL Eagle Global Logistics. United as a single entity, the organisation is one of the world’s leading supply chain management companies. CEVA’s first office in the Middle East opened in 1993 as Eagle Global Logistics in Dubai. Since then, it has rapidly expanded throughout the region, now offering multiple centres in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordon, Qatar and Iraq as well as the United Arab Emirates. Warren Angus joined the company in 2003 and is based in Dubai as the regional sales and marketing director for the Middle East. He is delighted for the company’s rapid progress in the region. “We have recently expanded our operations in Qatar with relocation to new premises next to Doha International Airport. It is an ideal location which will allow for future growth, especially in the oil, gas and energy sectors as well as catering for the many projects related to preparation for the World Cup in 2022,” he states. The company has also recently begun direct operations in Sohar, Oman. “We needed to invest further in Oman to support the aggressive growth plans we have for 2012 and Sohar was the obvious location to do so,” he adds. Business in the emirate of Dubai is equally buoyant. “At the end of last year, we launched our third multi-user facility in the Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone, taking our logistics footprint to over 90,000 square metres in Dubai alone. We took this major investment
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CEVA is a pioneer in the construction of a new generation of eco-friendly warehouses
CEVA Logistics Middle East
CEVA Logistics Middle East
Hyster Following a warehouse expansion programme in the UAE, CEVA Logistics selected Hyster and Kanrent as the materials handling partners for its new warehouse facility in the port town of Jebel Ali. CEVA Logistics, one of the world’s leading logistics companies, has undertaken an extensive selection process to find a suitable materials handling equipment supplier in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Hyster and Kanoo Machinery’s rental division, Kanrent, were chosen as the successful partners and have recently introduced Hyster equipment to CEVA’s new warehouse facility in Jebel Ali, a port town just 35km southwest of Dubai. In the selection process, CEVA was looking for a company that would not only provide the right equipment, but fulfil their needs for professional account management together with excellent after sales support. Kanrent provided some of the latest Hyster forklift trucks and warehouse equipment as part of the lease to meet CEVA Logistics’ requirements. Hyster, one of the leading global brands of materials handling equipment, provided technical and application support in the equipment selection process to ensure the equipment matched CEVA Logistics’ needs. Hyster Matrix R2.0W reach trucks were specified to handle the double deep racking operation in the warehouse and new Hyster K1.0L AC medium/high level order pickers were selected to allow operators to pick items from both ground and first level pallet locations in order to build a pallet load. To help move pallets around the warehouse
facility, to and from the marshalling area, Hyster platform rider P2.0S FBW pallet trucks were supplied, providing fast acceleration and productivity for CEVA. Hyster J2.0XNT three wheel electric counterbalance forklift trucks are now also in operation unloading and loading containers and trailers, which have a choice of maximum energy efficiency ECOeLo mode or high performance HiP mode. CEVA will benefit from the energy efficient intelligent design of the latest range of Hyster battery powered equipment in operation, helping to support environmental plans and increased battery shift life. Operators have stated that the machines are performing in line with their requirements providing excellent reliability. In support of the fleet, all maintenance work is covered by Kanrent helping to give the customer peace of mind. Kanrent also agreed to strict engineer response times in the event of a breakdown of just two hours during the working day and four hours outside of working hours. Intensive training was also provided for all the operators for the full range of equipment supplied, which will continue every four months. The machines provide a low cost of operation and have been leased on a contract hire basis, helping the customer have good control of the materials handling equipment costs, and the feedback over the last year of operation has been extremely positive. www.kanoo.com/machinery.html www.hyster.eu
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decision in order to be able to offer a worldclass service to support our global customers who are increasingly looking to the region for new business opportunities,” he states. The new facility, known as CEVA number ‘four’, is located in one of the world’s largest and fastest growing free trade zones. It covers 63,000 square metres and comprises two discrete units with a temperature controlled environment. Within the industry, it has been recognised as incorporating a number of state-of-the-art
design features and has been certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) initiative. This is an internationally-recognised green building certification system, which provides a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. CEVA is a pioneer in the construction of this new generation of eco-friendly warehouses, which feature in-built photovoltaic panels.
“We have recently expanded our operations in Qatar with relocation to new premises next to Doha International Airport”
Delivering continuous improvement to the efficiency of the supply chain
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CEVA Logistics Middle East
World class warehouse facilities
Within the Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa region (SEMEA), this kind of investment is enabling CEVA to save 10 million kilos of CO2 emissions each year. As the company expands across the region, many other programmes have been adopted for reducing waste in operations as well as optimising network efficiencies to reduce the environmental impact of transportation. The drive towards more efficient operations has also led to the development of many new IT solutions. “IT is fundamental in securing a competitive advantage in this business and advanced IT infrastructure will play an integral part in the growth of our business in the Middle East,” he declares. “Real time visibility in the supply chain is a relatively new phenomenon in the Middle East. These platforms already exist across the CEVA network globally and we believe
that by extending them to this region, we will be able to far exceed the current service expectations of our customers.” As part of the service package, CEVA engineers have identified and standardised the core supply chain processes. The company’s SMART Solutions are a set of modules built on CEVA’s vast experience of logistics around the world and a thorough understanding of the specific industries it serves. “Every supply chain is different, but designing each logistics solution from scratch takes a long time, involves lots of unknowns and invariably comes at a high price. Our SMART Solutions are a set of established and proven processes which help us identify common areas where customers are able to standardise their core processes. Using this approach enables our engineers to customise supply chain solutions according
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Rigorous management of global supply chains
CEVA Logistics Middle East
“Visible performance management is how we ensure the effectiveness and consistency of our operations across the globe” to specific needs while applying proven best practice experience,” he explains. To drive strategic advantage for customers through every link in the supply chain, CEVA has also launched its new End-To-End SMART Solution. This is a standardised, consistent and configurable process that delivers value at every stage, and when coupled with CEVA’s commitment to operational excellence, it provides rigorous management of global supply chains for both finished goods and production and spare parts. Under this new solution CEVA is able to manage everything from components and inbound logistics, through to moving the finished product. Several leading global customers in a variety of sectors are already implementing the End-to-End solution to their benefit, including General Motors (GM). “They are using our SMART End-to-End Solution to manage their global inbound and outbound flows of materials across multiple different locations across the world and it is delivering continuous improvements to the efficiency of their supply chain,” says Angus, adding that the solution is capable of delivering average year-on-year savings of up to 15 per cent when twinned with CEVA’s Operations Excellence programme.
“Visible performance management is how we ensure the effectiveness and consistency of our operations across the globe. Our operations excellence programme is based on the following building blocks: SMART, Zero Defect Start-Up to deliver complete compliance at the start of a new project, measurable lean and performance management programmes, and health, safety and environmental targets. These all combine to drive us further towards a culture of operational excellence,” he adds. With this sort of infrastructure in place, Angus is convinced that CEVA is ideally positioned to increase its footprint in the region through straightforward organic growth. “In those countries where we do not currently operate in our own right, we will definitely be looking to either establish new centres or possibly acquire established businesses which have synergy with our own values. However we proceed, this region is one of the most exciting prospects for CEVA,” he concludes. For more information about CEVA Logistics Middle East visit: www.cevalogistics.com
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Sohar Aluminium
Testing their metal
Henk Pauw, CEO of Sohar Aluminium, talks to Gay Sutton about the company’s role in promoting industry in Oman and creating jobs for local people
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Plant exterior
Sohar Aluminium
O
man is perhaps one of the most impressive but least widely recognised success stories of the Arabian Peninsula. Rich in oil and gas, and occupying a favourable position on the eastern coast of this dry and desiccated land mass, it has a long and distinguished history as a trading and seafaring nation. Small wonder, then, that when the Sultan of Oman initiated a campaign to diversify the nation’s economy and make it less reliant on oil revenue, much of the industrial effort centred around the port of Sohar, which has a shipping heritage dating back millennia. “Sohar’s history goes back over 5,000 years. Moreover, at one time it was the capital of Oman,” explains Henk Pauw, CEO of Sohar Aluminium, a company that is spearheading the modern industrialisation and the trading renaissance of the region. In ancient times copper was mined and smelted in the mountains behind Sohar and exported to the great Sumerian and Persian empires of the era, while food was produced and exported throughout the Gulf region. Today, copper mining continues in the mountains, but it is aluminium smelting and the manufacture of downstream products that is taking over as a revenue generator and acting as a trigger for a national industrial development. Being a heavy consumer of electricity, aluminium smelting is in the process of moving away from the older industrial nations of the West where energy is relatively expensive, to the Middle East where power is cheap. With a ready supply of gas that would
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Sohar Aluminium
Sohar aims to be a role model for industry in the Gulf
previously have been flared off from the oil scattered around the region. “His Majesty, wells, many of the oil producing countries the Sultan of Oman’s vision is to restore are capable of generating large amounts of Sohar to its former glory as the nation’s power at a relatively low cost, and this is shipping centre,” Pauw continues. The Sultan’s programme to diversify the ideal for the power hungry smelting process. Sohar therefore has it all—low cost gas Omani economy and create wealth and jobs piped in from the vigorous oil industry and through industrialisation is embodied in the a location on the Arabian Sea that lies on the Vision 2020 document. And the development direct shipping route between the Suez Canal of a new modern deep water port at Sohar and the Far East providing easy access to along with a strong aluminium industry is a the major global trade routes for importing major element of that. Supporting both port materials and exporting and industry, the internal finished products. In transport infrastructure has also been updated and addition, the choice of Sohar continues to be developed. as a location for Oman’s new A modern expressway to industrial centre is even more pertinent in view of Muscat and a new airport are its distinguished cultural both under construction and Year Sohar Aluminium history, the archaeological will be completed this year, was founded evidence for which is widely while there are ambitious
2004
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Production line
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plans for a railroad linking Muscat and Sohar to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Currently, Dubai is just over two hours’ drive by road; by ship the journey is much longer and involves navigating through the tortuous, narrow and congested waters of the straits of Hormuz, all of which places Sohar in a very strong position as a global shipping port, providing timely and cost effective access to the Gulf States. The f lagship enterprise in the industrialisation of the region, and the new port’s first major customer, is Sohar Aluminium. The company was launched in September 2004 through a powerful alliance between three well established businesses, each of them bringing a significant level of expertise and knowledge to the project. Oman Oil Company, which owns a 40 per cent share in the company, is a commercial body wholly owned by the government of Oman and charged with pursuing investment opportunities in the energy sector, both in Oman and further afield. TAQA, 51 per cent owned by the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC, another government body, has a further 40 per cent share in the company, while the remaining 20 per cent is provided by Rio Tinto Alcan, the aluminium division of the global mining and metals group, Rio Tinto. The plant currently produces 375,000 tonnes of aluminium per annum, and employs a workforce of 1,000 people. But the aluminium smelting facility is just the starting point for a growing industrial base. Pauw believes the company indirectly employs some 3,000 people, across a range
Sohar Aluminium
The number of Omani nationals in the workforce is set to increase
of downstream industries. A considerable proportion of the plant’s output is cast into ingots and exported around the world through the Port of Sohar. However, part is supplied in liquid form to an adjacent factory that produces aluminium cables for high voltage power lines. These cables are then either supplied to Oman’s growing aluminium industry or exported. By manufacturing from liquid aluminium direct from the smelter, the cable factory is able to operate at a markedly reduced cost as it bypasses the metal melting process most of its competitors go through.
The downstream industry is still growing strongly. A new aluminium rolling mill is currently under construction close to the smelting facility. “Our target is to pass 60 per cent of our output on to Omani companies. We’re not there yet, and there’s still room for improvement. But when the rolling mill is up and running we will be getting close to that target.” Based on cost and output figures, Sohar Aluminium is calculated to be the most competitive and cost effective smelter in the world, although Pauw is characteristically cautious about such claims. “I always take
“Our target is to pass 60 per cent of our output on to Omani companies. We’re not there yet, and there’s still room for improvement” Middle East | 81
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Housekeeping Services. • Operating in more than 15 location all over the country. Laundry Services: • Operating ten branches all over the country. • Providing our services to many private and public clients such as Sohar Aluminium, Ministry of Health, Hotels…etc. Please contact us at: info@goldenjeed.com or call us on +968 26763233
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Sohar Aluminium these numbers with a pinch Golden Laundry of salt,” he comments. At Golden Laundry started operations in 1997 in the Al Bathinah the heart of this energy region of Oman. Golden Laundry is focused on timely efficiency is a 1,000 MW delivery and quality laundry services, achieved via its team of combined-cycle captive qualified, experienced and committed professionals. power generation facility We have been providing laundry services to Sohar constructed and owned Aluminium for the past four years, with a dedicated customer relationship management team meeting Sohar’s needs by Sohar Aluminium, on a just-in-time basis. During the project period we have which produces abundant successfully implemented a unique tracking system as per low cost energy fuelled Sohar Aluminium’s requirements and have achieved a high by natural gas that is percentage of Omanisation. We also follow good industrial supplied under the terms practices as agreed in our contract with Sohar Aluminium. of an agreement with the info@goldenjeed.com government of Oman. “Another factor in our competitiveness is that the plant employs Rio Tinto Alcan technology. Engineered in France and constantly under development, it is the most reliable and consistent smelting technology on the market today. We are currently operating with the AP36 version, and we are now looking at the AP40.” This latest iteration of the technology will certainly be utilised in any planned expansion of the plant, and may well be part of future upgrades or updates. “It’s what’s known as creeping your plant,” he says. As a greenfield development, the plant is
“This latest technology will be utilised in any planned expansion”
Sohar takes part in local beach-cleaning efforts
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also free from the constraints of previous projects, and therefore includes a number of a number of innovations such as the world’s highest capacity ingot caster, and a specially designed elevated walkway that separates man from machinery, and ensures the highest level of safety for the workforce. The third element that has contributed to the company’s highly competitive performance is what Pauw calls using resources wisely. To achieve this he has been introducing the concept of lean. Developed for the automotive sector, lean has become a universal business improvement process, used with great success in almost every conceivable area of business from manufacturing and engineering through to health services and banking. “The principles are always the same,” Pauw says. “Lean is about focusing on waste and empowering people on the shop floor. It’s about toolboxes and data, about taking responsibility and doing something about it—not blaming other people.” As with everything the company does, training plays a key role in introducing and maintaining the lean process. The company runs what it calls the Sohar Aluminium Academy at the plant and this provides a comprehensive portfolio of training,
ranging from welding and technical courses through to safety, management and leadership training. “We started our first lean workshops about a year ago and we’re now rolling it out over different departments. Almost all our leaders have completed a three-day lean session where they have learned about the principles of lean and about the lean toolbox.” Lean is a relatively new concept in Oman and in many ways Sohar Aluminium is
“Almost all our leaders have completed a three-day lean session where they have learned about the principles of lean and about the lean toolbox” 84 | Middle East
Sohar Aluminium
Plant at night
pioneering the change. The experience has certainly been interesting. Having worked in the automotive industry for 10 years and gained a plethora of experience in lean implementations and operations, Pauw has observed that its introduction has been less difficult at Sohar than in many businesses, industries and locations. “The response here has been good,” he says. “And that’s partly because our local employees have no previous industrial experience, so there is very little resistance to change.” Much of lean implementation is about changing mind sets and culture. And again, Oman has presented a slightly unusual challenge. “With lean there is no right or wrong, just a problem that needs a solution. Nobody has a better solution than anybody else, and this is what the Omanis find difficult.
They find it hard to criticise a leader because the leader is, traditionally, always right. With lean, we are turning the traditional hierarchical management pyramid on its head and creating a serving leadership and not a boss leadership.” And this new mindset is being instilled successfully by completely engaging management and tasking them with leading by example. A major part of Sohar Aluminium’s original remit, of course, was to generate growth and prosperity for Oman, and to provide jobs for its rapidly growing population. The population demographics in Oman are similar to those in many Gulf States: the average age of the population is around 25, and families continue to have four or five children, so the requirement for more jobs does not look likely to abate any time soon.
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The plant currently produces 375,000 tonnes of aluminium per annum
Sohar Aluminium Currently, around 70 per cent of Sohar continues to be very dynamic in spite of Aluminium’s 1,000 workforce are Omanis, the recent economic uncertainties, and and the company is well on the way to countries like Oman are in a good position its goal of Omanisation of the business. to increase output to meet this growing “When we began the project phase of site demand. “If you look at the predicted development, we employed just one per growth in demand for aluminium cent of Omanis. But we have continuously worldwide, it stands in the region of five been taking on and training local people,” per cent, depending on which figures you Pauw says. “We embarked on construction look at,” Pauw says. “We’re talking of four of the power generation plant and smelting million tonnes of aluminium per year at facilities in 2005 and by the time we went present and that’s expected to increase to into full production in April 2009 our close to 10 million tonnes by 2020. That Omani workforce had increased to around means the world needs to build five or 40 per cent. They now comprise around 70 six plants the size of Sohar Aluminium per cent of our workforce to keep up with demand.” and our aim is to increase This creates considerable that to 85 per cent in the oppor t unities for companies like Sohar next two-and-a-half years.” Aluminium. In line with The standards at Sohar its mandate to provide Aluminium are world class, Proportion of Omani wealth generation and conforming to all Rio Tinto nationals in Sohar’s jobs for Oman, the Alcan’s global targets for direct workforce company is currently in quality, health and safety. the planning phase for The training department is therefore provided with a significant a major programme of expansion that budget to ensure newly recruited Omanis would more than double the plant’s output and longer-term employees are provided from its current rate of 375,000 tonnes with the relevant skills and mindsets to per annum to one million tonnes. “We’re operate at globally recognised levels of currently in talks with the minister of oil best practice. “The educational system in and gas to secure an allocation of gas for Oman is still based on learning things by the power plant. The trick is to get it at heart, but we want our people to think for the right price.” If the gas allocation is themselves. And that can be a challenge agreed and the expansion goes ahead, a because it’s not what they’re used to. new 1,600 MW power plant, new AP40 However, we have a large training budget, pot lines, carbon plant and casthouse will and we’re achieving a great deal of success be constructed adjacent to the current with this type of training.” facilities, and all of this is likely to cost in The global aluminium market the region of $4 billion.
70%
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“We’ve been working to reduce our emissions, reduce our power consumption and increasingly recycle waste” Beyond the remit of its own business, the company is very active working with the local community, both at a social and economic level, and also in promoting the growth of business and industry in the wider sense. Its involvement ranges from simple events such as cleaning up the local beach in conjunction with the local community through to major projects such as building a centre for the blind and contributing to local schools and hospitals, or targeted efforts such as supporting women’s groups
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and training women to drive trucks. As Oman migrates from an oil-based economy to an industrial one there is a much wider need for education and support to stimulate growth. “There is a need for different skill sets, and for an understanding of what it is to work in industry,” Pauw explains. “And we see our role as one of the educators. One of the things we’re currently focusing on is supporting and promoting SMEs, and this is where the real job creation will come in Oman,” he adds.
Sohar Aluminium
The company is currently planning a major expansion programme
The percentage of SMEs in Oman is very low in comparison with Western countries so there is plenty of opportunity for expansion. By providing a mixture of financial support, business knowledge and training over a two or three year period, the company aims to get a number of new businesses off the ground and ensure they reach a standard where they can compete at a global level in terms of quality, cost and financial stability. “Our aim is to ensure they will be sustainable businesses, and not depend on us in the long term.� Interestingly, many of these new businesses are not associated in any way with the aluminium industry. For example, the company has worked with new SMEs in the food, safety clothing and
tourist industries, and is currently looking at the production of artificial reefs for the fishing industry. Environmentally, the Batinah area in which Sohar is located is highly sensitive. Among the rare and endangered species is an Omani breed of the giant blue whale, which is believed to not take part in the species’ annual migration because of the sheer abundance of food in the region. The island of Masirah is the second largest breeding ground for the loggerhead turtle. Meanwhile, the endangered Arabic leopard can be found in the Dhofar mountains along with the oryx, almost hunted to extinction at one time. Sohar Aluminium works with the ESO (Environmental Society of Oman) to help protect these precious species.
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Worker in action
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From an operational perspective, the plant has been constructed to the highest levels of environmental performance, exceeding even those required under European law. “In addition to that, we’ve also been working to reduce our emissions, reduce our power consumption and increasingly recycle waste,” Pauw comments. In this essentially dry part of the world, water supply is a major environmental and social issue. In ancient times, Oman and many of the Persian-influenced Gulf States achieved phenomenal feats of engineering, constructing a series of underground channels that stretched over many miles to bring fresh cool water from the mountains or from springs and wells, to the centres of agriculture and population. Known as qanats across the wider region and falaj in Oman, the systems predated Roman aqueducts by hundreds if not thousands of years. Today, these systems are being renovated as part of the campaign to address water shortages. Desalination plants are also being built around the coast to convert seawater to drinking water, and Sohar Aluminium has a role to play by condensing the steam generated in its power plant into fresh water. “We have three generators, and this provides us with enough power to take one down at any time for maintenance. However, during the summer months when the weather is at its hottest and national power demand peaks, we run all three generators at peak capacity and export the excess power to the grid. This also helps us produce more than enough water for our needs. In the winter, however,
Sohar Aluminium we do the majority of our major maintenance and don’t export anything to the grid.” Looking to the future, Pauw has a number of major objectives. The first is to achieve the planned expansion. “The second is to stay cost competitive,” he says. In spite of the economic troubles of recent years, the company has remained firmly in the black and intends to stay that way, maintaining it s cost reduc t ion process through further implementation of lean. “Thirdly, we are not only about making money, but about creating future leaders for Oman. And that’s not something you usually find in your yearend financial objectives. We believe we have a job training role to play, and I would like to see some of our Sohar Aluminium employees find jobs in other companies and to be recognised as the best employees to have. “Finally, our vision is to be the very best. We want to be a role model for industry in the Gulf. We haven’t achieved that in every department, but we have made big strides in getting there.” As a Dutch man with worldwide business experience, Pauw believes Oman is a great place to work and live, for a number of reasons. Under the leadership
Part of the company’s mandate is to create jobs
of the current Sultan the country is diversifying and its people flourishing. As a result, the country has seen little of the tumult that has recently taken place in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Certainly Oman retains its unique character, even down to the scenario that many ex-pats will instantly recognise— camels, goats and donkeys wandering in and occupying the parking lots. “The Sultan has brought Oman to where it is today,” Pauw concludes. “And it’s something I’m proud to be a part of.” For more information about Sohar Aluminium visit: www.sohar-aluminium.com
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Qatar National Cement Company
Winning the bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup has generated a construction boom in Qatar. One company that will be ensuring that demand for construction materials is met is Qatar National Cement Company
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Qatar National Cement Company
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QNCC offers prompt and efficient delivery
nvestment in infrastructure in Qatar is set to boom over the next few years as the Middle Eastern state prepares to welcome the world onto its soil for the FIFA 2022 World Cup. The event might yet be a decade away, but Qatar has already announced it expects to complete its first stadium by 2015—just three short years from now. The state’s $4 billion stadium building programme will see the construction of nine new eco-friendly football stadiums in total, as well as the expansion of three existing stadiums. Add to this projects such as the creation of the $3 billion Doha Metro, and it is clear that no time is being wasted in getting infrastructure programmes off the ground. One company that will benefit hugely from all the construction activity is Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC). Established in 1965 by the Qatari government to produce sufficient ordinary Portland cement to meet demand, QNCC is now a major producer of ordinary cement, washed sand and lime. It manufactures and distributes ordinary Portland cement (OPC), sulfate resistant Portland cement (SRC), Portland pulverised fuel ash cement and hydrated and calcined lime. If production figures are impressive now, they can only improve as 2022 approaches. The company’s production in both OPC and SRC reached 3.8 million tons during 2010, with production of washed sand reaching 5.6 million tons. Both calcined and hydrated lime production reached 18.6 thousand tons. Sales of all types of cement (OPC, SRC, slag blended cement and fly ash blended
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Qatar National Cement Company
“The company has now started taking primary steps to increase cement production capacity” cement) reached 3.8 million tons during 2010. Sales of washed sand amounted to 4.7 million tons and sales of lime in both categories amounted to 17.2 thousand tons. QNCC has said it now wishes in particular to improve its sales of washed sand to maximise profitability within that particular segment. QNCC’s manufacturing facility is situated at Umm Bab, 82 kilometres from Doha—an ideal location when you consider the rich raw material deposits on the Western coast of Qatar. The facility is equipped with raw materials testing laboratories and water desalination plants processing 3,000 cubic metres of water per day to cater for the water needs of the cement plant and the residential employee compound. Other New cement plant QNCC sites include a sand plant at Al-Rakiya, a gypsum IBITEK Group quarry at Abu-Samra and a IBITEK Group is composed of three sister companies: head office in Doha. IBITEK-France in Marseilles, CA2E-Maroc in Casablanca In 2011, QNCC began and IBITEK-Czech, with a worldwide network of trial operations of its QR22 partners. We offer solutions for industry in the electricity million calcium carbonate & automation and business intelligence fields, for plant at the Umm Bab construction, revamping, maintenance and optimization of industrial processes. We provide a complete range facility. Specialising in of skills to ensure the success of your industrial project the production of calcium and our vast experience to maintain the performance of carbonate for use in water your installation throughout its lifetime. We are currently treatment operations, the focused on the Middle East market, where we have already plant has a production spent the first semester of 2011 promoting our services. capacity of 250 tonnes per www.ibitek-group.com day, with operations to be
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Why Qatar National Cement Co. trusts in Fives FCB Fives FCB, 70 years of experience in managing turnkey contracts
Fives FCB is recognized by both major world cement manufacturers and regional producers as a general contractor and innovative equipment supplier capable of adapting to their specific needs anywhere in the world, while respecting delivery times, performances and safety requirements. From 1995 to 2006, Qatar National Cement Co. and Fives FCB developed a high level of cooperation leading to the turnkey supply of three complete production lines (2,000 tpd, 4,000 tpd and 5,000 tpd) in Qatar. Thanks to Fives FCB’s experience and know how, the Umm Bab plant is one of the largest and most modern cement plants in the Gulf region, producing up to 15,000 tpd of cement. www.fivesgroup.com
Driving progress
Qatar National Cement Company supported in part by the Ras Fives FCB Girtas power station at Ras Fives FCB is a French company with 70 years of experience Laffan. dedicated to the cement industry and mineral grinding QNCC general manager applications. It provides efficient and reliable industrial Mohamed Ali al-Sulaiti said solutions to producers for both new production lines and the company had entered the revamping of existing plants. into an agreement with Fives FCB designs and supplies turnkey cement plants integrating reliable and sustainable proprietary equipment Kahramaa, who will buy for grinding and pyroprocessing. Innovative technologies the calcium carbonate for a such as the Horomill® grinding mill, the Zero-NOX period of 25 years. “QNCC precalciner, the low-pressure drop cyclones and the is carefully growing and TSVTM classifier enable customers to reduce energy and expanding to play its national water consumption, gas emissions and the carbon footprint role in supporting the of their plants. infrastructure development In Qatar, where Fives FCB supplied the Umm Bab no.2 (2,000 tpd), no.3 (4,000 tpd) and no.4 (5,000 tpd) complete in the state, especially after production lines to Qatar National Cement Company, the use Qatar won the bid for hosting of the unique Fives FCB Zero-NOx precalciner enables the the 2022 FIFA World Cup,” plant to be among the most environmentally friendly plants he commented. with reduced NOx emissions. The company has now www.fivesgroup.com started taking primary steps to increase cement production capacity by replacing the old cement mills of plant 1 with a new cement mill, in order to meet the expected requirement of cement for the development of infrastructure needed for the hosting of the World Cup. Cement plant 4, completed in 2010, already has a capacity of 5,000 tons
“QNCC is focused on encouraging Qatari nationals to join the company”
Pre heater
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Water plant
Reclaimer
“At the heart of QNCC’s activities will always remain the principle of providing good quality products at reasonable prices” of clinker and around 5,500 tons of cement per day, with the company’s total production remaining at around 12,000 tons of clinker per day and around 15,500 tons of cement per day. QNCC may yet further expand its cement production capacity, having declared its intention to focus all its efforts on enabling Qatar to become self-dependent in cement production in the near future.
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QNCC has a firm reputation in the local area for its competent management, dedicated and professional staff and its support of the Qatari government and associated infrastructure plans. QNCC employees are well looked after, taking part in the various social upliftment activities of the Qatari government and regularly attending training and seminars to ensure
Qatar National Cement Company
Kiln
they remain at the cutting edge of their industry. Excellent working conditions are maintained in plants, and sport facilities are provided to ensure employees remain in optimum health, along with a clinic and canteen facilities for use by all workers. QNCC is also focused on encouraging Qatari nationals to join the company, in line with the state’s policy of targeting nationals for employment in the workforce. QNCC contributes towards and supports national activities as part of its commitment towards the community, commensurate with the state policy, by contributing 2.5 per cent of its annual net profits towards social upliftment programmes. However the company wishes to
maximize its position as a supplier of construction materials during the construction boom, at the heart of QNCC’s activities will always remain the principle of providing good quality products at reasonable prices. Its fleet of tankers will continue to provide prompt and efficient delivery and distribution of products to its customers—and the crucial role the company will ultimately play in the country’s biggest ever sporting occasion will be clear for the world to see. For more information about Qatar National Cement Company visit: www.qatarcement.com
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Qatar Concrete Company
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Site deliveries
Qatar Concrete Company
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atar is currently being furnished concrete and to contribute to the state of with much needed infrastructure Qatar’s effort to promote products and such as harbours and ports, a new solutions for sustainability,” states executive international airport, a metro system and director Antoine Abboud. rail network, thanks to recent and projected QCC is an innovative hybrid concrete future growth in the construction industry. producer that is adopting a new European But this is just the prelude to a further phase cooling system developed by an Austrian of construction that includes truly ambitious company. “We are investing in acquiring this developments such as the new city of Lusail new green technology to realise our vision along with residential, commercial, retail, to support the Green Building concept,” sports, industrial, tourism and leisure explains Abboud. This new green cooling projects throughout the country. Much has technology reduces the consumption been learned from the experiences of 2005 of energy, chemicals and other natural and 2008 when the previous boom resulted resources such as water by an average of 25 in a shortage of raw materials per cent, while improving the quality of the concrete and resources; and now in terms of consistency, forward resource planning and a focus on supply chain durability and sustainability. management has established Furthermore, it ensures the continuity of the greater security of supply Maximum advised construction process, even throughout the region. temperature for the during the hottest months Qatar Concrete Company laying of concrete (QCC) is a pioneering of the year. company carrying a new “The climate in Qatar technology that supports the Green Building can be described as a hot desert, with concept, ensuring continuity of supply, temperatures exceeding 50oC during the fulfilling market demand and helping to summer months, stretching from April to raise the concrete industry to new heights. September,” explains Abboud. “That’s no Established in 2007 as part of leading good for concrete, which should be laid at a Lebanese construction group SEG, QCC temperature of less than 31oC.” As concrete has a head office in Lebanon and offices hardens, due to a chemical reaction between in Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Morocco and the cement and water, heat is produced. The Saudi Arabia. With a capacity of 3,500 cubic hotter the concrete mix, the less the concrete metres production of concrete per day from strengthens. This leads to uncontrollable two batching plants situated in the Lusail cracking, and this can be a major concern area, north of Doha, QCC has a futuristic for contractors and consultants, leading to vision: “We are determined to be a major the rejection of supplied concrete with all player in establishing a new era of ‘green’ the related consequences of discontinuation
31 C o
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of construction on-site, in addition to the financial implications. To avert this catastrophic outcome, the process of cooling the concrete should start as it is mixed, and the curing continued on-site while it’s hardening. The conventional method for cooling the fresh concrete, so that it can be used at higher ambient temperatures, is to add ice flakes and chemical additives to the mix. “Our technology doesn’t use ice flakes. We cool the coarse aggregate component of the concrete, which accounts for around 40 per cent of the mix, reducing its temperature to around 10oC,” Abboud says. “The mixed concrete leaves our plant at 24oC under any ambient circumstances allowing a significant lead time to sustain a longer
Qatar Concrete Company
On-site production
delivery to the construction sites.” The plant’s location at Lusail, which is within easy access of projects at West Bay and the Heart of Doha, as well as the new city of Lusail, does not limit QCC delivery to destinations around the capital. “We are also delivering further afield to places like Dukhan and Al Khor, where we are achieving excellent results,” Abboud says. This method of cooling has several other
engineering benefits. The concrete used in major construction projects of this nature is produced to very exact specifications, which are defined at the engineering design stage. As part of its business practice, QCC offers consultancy and advice on the mix design. Another benefit is the treatment of coarse aggregate. It is usually covered in dust or fines, which introduces an element of uncertainty to the mix design. QCC’s
“We are delivering further afield to places like Dukhan and Al Khor, where we are achieving excellent results” Middle East | 107
new cooling system works by passing chilled water over the coarse aggregate so the fines are washed away, leaving pure and uncontaminated aggregate. “This gives us much greater control over the qualities within the mix, and consistency of production. Although the new technology is a bit expensive, we could see its economic viability through the saving of energy and other natural resources by approximately 25
per cent compared to conventional systems, so it is indeed a green process.” The last—but not the least—benefit is seen on the construction site rather than in the factory. The hardening process starts taking place as a result of a chemical reaction between cement and water, resulting in heat being generated. The concrete is then cured on-site to reduce the heat and prevent uncontrollable cracking. By using a
“Our intention is to be the marketing and technical arm for the new cooling technology ”
Batching plant and cooling system
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Qatar Concrete Company
Concrete pumps
significantly cooled concrete mix, less curing is required while the concrete hardens. “We are still in the process of accumulating the data to have evident records to prove that to contractors and consultants. It will take several years before we can demonstrate this definitively. But I believe we can reduce the number of curing days from seven to five, and therefore reduce the amount of water used. So the environmental benefits will not be ours alone.” Environmental sustainability is certainly a primary focus for construction projects, and this is especially true for Qatar. “I see this process creating a shifting paradigm in
concrete production as we move to producing better concrete with better sustainability and durability,” Abboud declares. “We are now ready to implement this new technology elsewhere: our intention is to be the marketing and technical arm for the new cooling technology and I believe we will be able to make it the new standard in concrete production for hot countries,” he concludes. For more information about Qatar Concrete Company visit: www.qatar-concrete.com
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Qatar Technical
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Lintel beam in production
Qatar Technical
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or those with the ambition and vision to rise to new challenges, a new era in development within Qatar is creating infinite opportunities. One such enterprise is Qatar Technical. Take a look at some of the impressive new projects that have risen from the ground over the last few years—the Diplomat Tower, the Movenpick Hotel, and the Golden Bay Tower to name just a few. The stainless steel works such as decorative hand rails and guard rails, design elements, kitchen equipment, cladding and skirting— essentially anything the architect cares to imagine—have all been manufactured in Qatar and installed by this family owned and run business. The company dates back to 1992 when the current managing director, Gabi Mitri, established Alfa Industrial Refrigeration, continuing in the family tradition of industrial refrigeration. “Then in 2004, we recognised that there was an increasing demand for engineered products that were manufactured locally rather than imported,” explains deputy managing director Michel Mitri. “And that was the beginning of our expansion and diversification into a knowledge-based, quality-oriented manufacturing and service business.” Significant investment has gone into expanding Alfa Industrial Refrigeration, developing new areas of expertise and capability, upgrading existing production lines and adding new ones. A skilled workforce has been drawn from around the world, and the very latest technology imported and installed. All of this has been moved to an impressive new 10,000 square metre facility
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at the New Industrial Area. With the opening of the plant early in 2011, the business was relaunched as Qatar Technical. The vision is to continue growing the company, to offer exceptional product quality and reliability, and to further develop staff skills, exceeding technical achievements to encompass development in other nontechnical aspects of human potential. This will be a long-term process realised through the provision of knowledge and awareness towards achieving an advanced, safer and greener work environment. “We will do this in line with His Highness’s vision for 2030, to shift Qatar’s economy to non-oil exports,” says Mitri. “One year from now, we hope to begin exporting to the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries. Then after a period of reflection, if the venture has gone well, we will start targeting the Middle East, North and South Africa and possibly the Mediterranean countries. But there are possibilities around the globe.” The business is currently managed through four divisions. The original Alfa business has become the Industrial Refrigeration Division, and continues to design and install cold rooms and refrigeration units such as refrigerated boxes for the logistics industry and cold rooms for different business sectors, the Hassad Food and Mawashi companies
being just two examples. The division also supports its customers by offering ongoing maintenance services for its products. The Steel Fabrication Division adds to Qatar Technical a wide range of services and products that are constantly in demand. Almost any architectural drawing can be transformed into final products—many of them works of art, believes Mitri. Among the division’s many achievements have been decorative items, door and elevator architraves, customised rails and stainless
“One year from now, we hope to begin exporting to the GCC countries” 114 | Middle East
Qatar Technical
Mass production of custom accessories
steel kitchens for some of Qatar’s iconic new developments, such as the Aspire Zone. The Machining Division, with its stateof-the-art machines and skilled engineers, designs and fabricates custom manufactured skids and moulds of up to 6,000 kilos in weight to meet the everyday needs of a variety of industrial facilities. Services provided include repairing steel moulds, tools and mechanical machine parts. Finally, the Standard Products Division, including one of the largest automatic powder coating plants in Qatar, manufactures a wide range of items including cable support systems, interior fixtures, cabinets and enclosures, and structural support systems. “The Industrial Refrigeration and Steel Fabrication Divisions are both project-based,
so we manufacture, supply and install,” says Mitri. “However, as we currently only provide maintenance services for our Refrigeration Division customers, we’re working to expand that side of the business. We’re currently looking to provide mechanical and electrical maintenance services for joineries, carpentries, business towers, industrial and water treatment facilities. All those maintenance activities will then become a fifth division of the company.” Qatar Technical currently has a workforce of 55 people and assets comprising over 120 of the latest machines ranging from laser cutting and water jet machines through CNC production lines. Quality and reliability are the company’s hallmarks, and work is underway to verify this through
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A new product—aluminium ceiling air diffuser
Stainless steel kitchen equipment and decorative elements
“There is a lot for us to do, so we are currently just scratching the surface” international certification of all the products. 2012 is likely to be another landmark year in the company’s development from a management perspective. “I am currently restructuring the organisation,” Mitri explains. “Within the coming months, I shall be launching a new corporate structure. By then, we will have training programmes in place across all levels of the company, including technical, health and safety, and environmental training.” The company is fully committed to
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becoming a green organisation. “It’s something we all have a duty to do,” Mitri says. “But we are really just at the beginning of the environmental process. We have started by providing orientation for our employees regarding the disposal of harmful waste products such as lubricants, oil and refrigerant gas.” Some recycling initiatives are already in place. Waste steel is segregated into zones, depending on the type of raw material. This is then collected by contractors hired from
Qatar Technical
Qatar Technical’s best-selling product—Kahramaa water service cabinet
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the government, recycled where possible or disposed of. And there are more initiatives at the development stage. Refrigerant gases, containing CFCs, have a very damaging effect on the environment, and the company is in the process of implementing a system to recycle refrigerant gases and prevent leakage into the atmosphere. “When we install refrigeration units for a cold room, for example, one of the steps in the installation process is to charge the system with refrigerant,” Mitri explains. “We have acquired the equipment to recycle the refrigerant, and we’re working with the government to get the necessary training.” In a similar way, the company is working with the Ministry of the Environment to identify ways to safely dispose of waste oil and lubricants.
Looking to the future, there are some megaprojects currently out to tender in Qatar. There is the Heart of Doha project which is an urban renewal initiative for the residential centre of Doha. The new city of Lusail is a massive project that will include luxury residential, commercial and leisure facilities, occupying some 37 square kilometres of waterfront, and there is a new Metro system planned for Doha. “There is a lot for us to do, so we are currently just scratching the surface,” Mitri concludes. “This is just the start.” For more information about Qatar Technical visit: www.qatartechnical.com
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Making ready Robert Tarazi, managing director of Qatar’s leading ready-mix concrete company Beton WLL, talks to Gay Sutton about preparing the company for significant growth
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Beton WLL
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Beton WLL
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Batching plant and KTI ice and chiller plant
atar is undergoing a remarkable period of construction and development as it prepares to host the world’s most prestigious sporting event—the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Millions of visitors from around the world will flock to this iconic Arab state and already the first wave of World Cup-oriented construction is underway. Over the next few years construction will begin on the football stadiums and hotels to house the influx of sports people and visitors. “The football World Cup in 2022 is certainly a booster for development, but is only one of many,” explains Robert Tarazi, managing director of Beton WLL, Qatar’s leading supplier of ready-mix concrete for the construction industry. A subsidiary of the Lebanese ready-mix concrete company Liban Beton, Beton WLL has been in Qatar for more than 12 years. Its origins were small. “Our parent company, Liban Beton, was originally awarded a contract to build the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha in the year 2000. We built a manufacturing plant on the beach for that project which lasted for two years. But then we stayed.” Over the intervening years, the company has grown to become one of the largest and most highly respected players in the field, working on such prestigious projects as the Ras Laffan common cooling seawater project (which included building a temporary concrete plant on site for the duration of the three-year project); the Khalifa stadium and sports city; the massive Heart of Doha project; and the Barwa Financial District.
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Today, Beton has moved beyond being simply a supplier of ready-mix concrete, and is now a tier one contractor and service provider to the Qatari construction industry, employing some 400 staff including a team of high calibre engineers and technicians. Concrete is currently produced at three concrete production plants strategically located close to major ongoing construction projects. The newest production site is located at Al Rayyan and consists of two batching plants producing a total of 225 cubic metres of concrete per hour. Opened just three months ago, it was installed to supply all the concrete required for the Dukhan Highway Project, and is another example of the company’s capacity to locate production alongside a major project. “This plant is only temporary and will be closed in two or three years’ time, once the project is completed.” The two other Beton plants, however, are permanent facilities and their output is transported for use around the country. The Mesaieed plant occupies a 20,000 square metre site in Mesaieed Industrial city, a rapidly expanding industrial region clustered around the deepwater harbour to the south-east of the country—a location that is often referred to as the ‘gateway’
to southern Qatar. Capable of producing 250 cubic metres of concrete per hour, it supplies ready-mix for projects in Mesaieed, Al Wakra and the Doha Airport area. The second permanent plant is in the northeast at Lusail, some 15 kilometres north of central Doha. It is ideally located to supply up to 260 cubic metres of concrete per hour for a wide range of current and future projects associated with the construction
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Beton WLL
Beton operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week
of a completely new planned city of Lusail which will eventually occupy some 38 square kilometres of waterfront. “Lusail City will be huge,” says Tarazi. “At the moment we are working on the infrastructure, but it will eventually include marinas, business centres, an energy city, a media city, a golf course and a range of retail and residential properties to house 200,000 inhabitants.” All of these will require concrete, and the projects will be a tremendous growth opportunity for Beton. In the short-term, there are several major projects on the horizon. These include a light railway for Lusail—a 28.8 kilometre four-line light rail transit network, with 7.6 kilometres and eight of the 32 stops underground. There will be connections
with the planned national rail network at two stations on Al Khor Highway, eventually linking Lusail with destinations across the Emirate. The second major project is the Doha Metro, an 85 kilometre railway network linking central Doha with Lusail, Education City and West Bay as well as the new international airport and the football stadiums. “And these will be very large projects for us.” Beyond Lusail, Beton is deeply involved in the Qatar Development Programme. “It’s a fast-moving situation here at the moment,” Tarazi comments. “Over the past two years we have been focusing on developing infrastructure across the State of Qatar.” And the volume of work is set to increase: considerable investment is being ploughed
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Beton is a tier one contractor and service provider to the construction industry
into upgrading the network of highways across the country, and these are either in the planning or construction phase. New harbours and ports are in progress, a new international airport is under construction and a new sewerage system is being laid. In a few years, once the infrastructure is completed, construction will begin on
new industrial, retail, academic, tourism and leisure facilities as well as football stadia and hotels for the World Cup and the growing tourist industry. The opportunities for Beton are enormous, and the company is already gearing up in preparation. “We have been investing considerably in equipment, manpower and training so that we will be able Qatar International Automobiles to meet the increase in Qatar International Automobiles (QIA) is the sole demand over the coming distributor of MAN Truck & Bus in Qatar. With Qatar’s growing construction sector, MAN has become a strong years,” Tarazi says. In player especially in the Beton Ready-Mix business, both 2010 and 2011 the supplying chassis as well as complete vehicles inclusive company spent around $5 of mixer bodies and pumps. QIA’s highly trained sales and million on new equipment aftersales staff as well as constant vehicle availability and plant, bringing in and short delivery times guarantee the most effective the latest technology in customer support. mixers, truck-mounted and www.fahedgroup.com stationary pumps, cement
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Beton WLL bulkers, silos, chillers and ice machines, and expanding the company’s operational capacity. “We recently bought the largest mobile pump in the Middle East: a 68 metre boom pump,” he continues. “And we plan to invest a further $3 million in 2012.” The pressure for speed and quality on all these projects is intense and in tandem with the rest of the construction industry, Beton operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to comply with this demanding schedule. However, the company has built its reputation on delivering a high quality and reliable service, and is committed to exceeding its customers’ expectations. ISO 9001-compliant, Beton is continuously
striving to improve its processes and standards. As an example, Beton’s large maintenance department has developed and implemented a stringent and highly complex preventive maintenance system across all the batching plants and equipment. With well planned expansion and investment alongside continuously improving processes, Beton has maintained its position as a major player in Qatar’s ongoing development and dynamic growth. For more information about Beton WLL visit: www.betonqatar.com
MAN knows what makes the world go around. When it comes to transporting concrete from the mixing plant to the construction site, money on, go with MAN. Whether it‘s an extremly light chassis with optimum payload speed and reliability are crucial: after all, the concrete has to be delivered just in time that you want, a truck with high load reserves, or a havy duty vehicle with maximum if the construction work is going to progress. If you‘re looking for a safe bet to put your transport capayity, we have the solution you‘re looking for. Qatar International Automobiles P. O. Box: 23550 - Doha, Qatar - Tel.: 44503930 mandoha@qatar.net.qa - www.fahedgroup.com
.I.A.
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Building the Arab spring ECG Engineering Consultants Group S.A. is a group of highly qualified consultants whose expertise in large and complex projects lies behind some truly outstanding building throughout the Middle East and beyond
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ECG Engineering Consultants Group
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Microsoft Corporation office, Smart Village, Egypt
ECG Engineering Consultants Group
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011 was quite a year in Egypt. The revolution of January 25 promised a much brighter and freer future; however the uncertainty it caused has put a brake on the economy. Nowhere is this more apparent than in construction, which has seen inward investment put on hold and a moratorium on new government commissions, says Ashraf Khalil, ECG Engineering Consultants Group (ECG)’s vice president and head of Business Development. “I think it will take a couple of years for the market to recover to its former level,” he says, reflecting the widespread fear that although a provisional constitutional assembly is scheduled to come into being by April this year, the need to write a new constitution and then hold a national referendum means that presidential elections will probably not be held until well into 2013. Despite the circumstances, ECG has achieved a great deal. For a start, it has managed to avoid making any of its 2,000 employees redundant. This is a firm that employs professionals: its USP is providing an engineering consultancy, design and supervision service as good as any available in the US or Europe—where, after all, many of its staff were trained and got their first experience. It also managed to keep its level of turnover during 2011 at the same level as in 2010, a very solid achievement following six years in each of which it grew by 25 per cent. All its personnel based at the Cairo headquarters are Egyptian citizens, while 50 per cent of the people employed in its
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CONSOLIDATED CONTRACTORS COMPANY CCC Egypt works openly with its clients, partners and stakeholders to find practical and quality solutions for a wide range of business segments and activities. Our Core Business is construction services across the EPC Chain Value. However we also capture all aspects of the Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) value chain, starting with Feasibility Studies, into Design, Procurement, Construction, Commissioning, Operations and Maintenance as well as Project Development. We supply innovative solutions across the market and industries, by combining our immense construction & engineering expertise and experience gained over the last 60 years, with our diversified services and commercial acumen.
CCC is the Partner of Choice for all your Global Needs Consolidated Contractors Group S.A.L (OFFSHORE) (CCC) | Tel: +20 2 272 60 300 | www.ccc.gr
ECG Engineering Consultants Group branch offices in Dubai, CCC Egypt Doha, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Our diverse portfolio encompasses oil and gas, heavy Arabia and Sudan are of civil, buildings, infrastructure, mining, energy, power other nationalities. But and real estate services. A proven track record with nationality is secondary to clients for successfully executing the most challenging expertise, says Khalil. “Our projects is facilitated by our expertise, diverse services, firm has all the disciplines experienced workforce, ample resources and the highest dedication. The Engineering News-Record (ENR) has under one roof and this is ranked CCC consistently in the top 20 international what makes us flexible. In construction contractors for nine straight years. CCC the construction sector offers a wide range of engineering and construction you need mainly civil and services in line with the highest commitment to HSE, mechanical engineers, and quality and social responsibility. architects: in the industrial A proud history, an active present and a promising future. sector you need industrial www.ccc.gr engineers as well. We have all these disciplines on our payroll and can switch them from one sector to another.” ECG was founded in 1969 by two Egyptian engineers, Mahmoud Sami Abdelkawi and Ashraf Hassan Allouba. In those days it focused on infrastructure work, especially water supply and waste water projects; however in 1985 it was restructured into an employee-owned company, the founders retaining a controlling interest, and started to take on more general industrial work. It was during the boom years of the 1990s,
“Our firm has all the disciplines under one roof and this is what makes us flexible”
Park Towers, Dubai International Financial Centre
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when the real estate industry in Egypt really took off, that the firm had to diversify to meet the variety of demands the market was making and established the breadth of competence it enjoys today. ECG is one of very few firms in the Middle East with the depth and breadth of experience to design and manage projects to international standards of best practice. It is ISO certified, and has 10 qualified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) engineers and architects. “LEED was started in America, but now global companies want to reach this standard wherever in the world they are building,” says Khalil. ECG has already designed some outstanding new LEED buildings in Egypt including the Silver-rated Crédit Agricole Egypt (CAE) head office which delivers outstanding performance in water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials, resources and indoor environmental quality. These days, ECG can draw on a very wide portfolio of hotels, factories, pharmaceutical plants, airports, power plants and infrastructure projects. It represents the ‘E’ in EPC (engineering, procurement and construction), Khalil explains. “We are consultants. We provide programme management, project management,
architectural and engineering design, construction management and supervision.” Though the amount of work in Egypt cannot be predicted, there are active projects, many of them approved before the revolution. Two years ago ECG completed the masterplan, designed and supervised the construction for the new Terminal 3 at Cairo Airport; recently it did a similar job for Terminal 2. The project to renovate
“LEED was started in America, but now global companies want to reach this standard wherever in the world they are building” 132 | Middle East
ECG Engineering Consultants Group
Terminal 2 building, Cairo Airport, Egypt
the existing buildings and construct new ones including a new departure hall is financed by the World Bank and involves the construction of all ancillary buildings, services, electromechanical works, baggage handling systems and IT installations. The work is now ready to be put out to tender for completion in 2013. And some important new projects in the home market were landed during the course of last year. Four pharmaceutical plants are under construction, with ECG providing design and construction management and supervision services, a Turkish investor has commissioned a textile plant and a Belgian fertiliser manufacturer has asked ECG to design a new factory. “Private investors are still
coming to Egypt—not as many as we would like, but enough to prove that there’s still a good level of confidence internationally.” For the time being though, Khalil is looking to regional markets where economic activity is more active. Projects don’t come much bigger than the Granada Hotel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. This was a headache for its Saudi owner Abdul Latif Jameel Real Estate Investment Company (ALJREIC). Construction of the hotel, one of the largest in the world with 1,700 rooms, was stalled for four years because of contractor problems, when ECG was called in to get it completed by 2013. Its services include project improvement restructuring and programming, structural assessment and electromechanical technical support
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“Private investors are still coming to Egypt—not as many as we would like, but enough to prove that there’s still a good level of confidence internationally” services. ECG has 15 people on site handling this sensitive job, which will stand only 50 metres from Mecca’s Holy Haram once the $21 billion expansion—the largest ever expansion of the Grand Mosque—is opened by King Abdullah. Internationally-funded infrastructure projects in a variety of places are helping keep ECG buoyant. UNICEF allowed it
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to get a foot into Iraq early last year, entrusting it with developing the masterplan for solid waste management for Erbil governorate, in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). This followed a World Bank financed sewerage scheme for the cities of Bokhara and Samarkand in Uzbekistan, where broken down systems dating back to the 1960s
ECG Engineering Consultants Group
Marassi project, Egypt
are being replaced. ECG is providing engineering design services as a member of a consortium led by UK-based Corporate Solutions. In all, nearly 500 kilometres of sewer are to be replaced, 22 wastewater pumping stations rehabilitated and five wastewater treatment plants upgraded. Qatar is planning to spend $15 billion on infrastructure alone over the next few years, in preparation for the FIFA World Cup in 2022. ECG is already designing two stadia in collaboration with an American design firm, and is involved in some road projects for the Qatari Public Works Authority Ashghal, though infrastructure contracts are coming along rather more slowly than Khalil would have anticipated.
Nevertheless, with the large amount of work in the pipeline in the region, not only in the Gulf but also in Syria, Libya and Egypt itself, as these important economies move from revolution to reconstruction, he believes ECG will soon be expanding at its former rate or faster. In the coming year he will be targeting contracts funded by the World Bank, various UN agencies and the African Development Bank, which is helping to kick-start projects in francophone Africa. For more information about ECG Engineering Consultants Group visit: www.ecgsa.com
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Making an impact
Dr Adel Hamad, CEO of GARMCO, shares some of the strategic insights that have enabled the Bahrain-based aluminium rolling operation to become a leading global player
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GARMCO
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The mill in Bahrain produces 165,000 tonnes of cold-rolled aluminium annually in coil, flat-rolled sheet, circle and foil
GARMCO
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n an age obsessed with dwindling natural resources, aluminium enjoys a wonderful natural advantage. Bauxite, from which aluminium is extracted, is the most abundant metal element in the earth’s crust. It also enjoys a unique versatility, finding its way into countless applications ranging from moon-bound exploratory shuttles to curling foil in the hair salon. Upstream activities begin with mining, and initial processing typically occurs close to the point of extraction. Moving down a level are the smelters; and then downstream activity diversifies into plants which carry out extrusion, rolling, casting and powder and cable production. Then there are products destined for direct consumer use. Aluminium foil, for example, has generated a dedicated industry in its own right. Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mill Company— or GARMCO—is positioned in the middle of this market. The mill in Bahrain produces 165,000 tonnes of cold-rolled aluminium annually in coil, flat-rolled sheet, circle and foil, all in an enormous range of sizes, alloys and tempers. Each segment has a distinct geographical, competitive and application profile. Demand for flat-rolled sheet is particularly buoyant, driven by factors such as its growing usage in the new generation of flat screen TVs. It is also widely used in all kinds of electrical and home appliances, transportation, construction and civil works, as well as in the hulls of high speed boats, where it is favoured for its lightness. Dr Adel Hamad has enjoyed a 20-year career with GARMCO and has been CEO
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Steely Performers Control Techniques high power, high efficiency AC and DC drives are used in numerous steel and metal producers processes around the world, providing the motor control to improve the process performance, enhance system design flexibility and optimise the energy efficiency. For more information visit: www.controltechniques.com
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GARMCO for the past four years. Emerson Control Techniques He has witnessed its Emerson Control Techniques is a world leading supplier of expansion from a localised intelligent variable speed drives and the natural automation milling operation to an partner for critical control areas of GARMCO’s main production international enterprise and foil plants in Bahrain. Their engineering design teams serving 2,200 customers have in-depth process and application experience of metals across 45 countries with a manufacturing from casting through hot and cold rolling to finishing and are unsurpassed at improving manufacturers’ two per cent share of the finish quality, productivity and yield. fiercely competitive global From standalone machines to complete master reference, market. Given that there AGC & critical tension control of multi stand rolling mills are less than 500 mills in and process lines, including level-3 integration, Emerson the world, this positions Control Techniques offers the most cost-effective solution GARMCO as an important backed by a global network of drive engineering & player with world-class distribution centres. www.controltechniques.com status that the company is determined to preserve. In 2011, upgrading of the coal mill took place at a cost of US$5 million; the previous year saw upgrading of the hot mill at a similar cost; and the mill is now in the process of acquiring a new tension levelling line which will require capital expenditure of US$12 million. “Our rationale for these investments is very simple,” Hamad explains. “The plant is 25 years old and requires upgrades to take us into the future. As part of our five-year plan we make regular assessments of how we can
“The plant is 25 years old and requires upgrades to take us into the future”
GARMCO is an important player with world-class status
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Proud supplier of hot rolling oils to GARMCO We are able to tailor a rolling product to meet the unique needs of a mill for the entire sheet producing process from casting to finishing. • Aluminum Hot & Cold Rolling Specialties • Aluminum Cleaners • Scalping Lubricants • Corrosion Preventives • Fire Resistant Hydraulic Fluids • Machining & Grinding Coolants
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GARMCO respond more effectively to Quaker customers’ needs and these Why does GARMCO prefer Quaker? investments will impact During a three-month, successful trial on a single-stand at many levels. They will reversing mill, QUAKEROL® AHR 100 GAB has improved reduce bottle necks and surface quality, yielded lower consumption and lower total improve our productivity, cost. Quaker is a leading player in the aluminum hot rolling cost control and quality. market, serving some of the largest reversing mills, single and multi-stand tandem finishing mills, and combination Increased output will also mill systems. And now proud to serve GARMCO. enable us to respond even www.quakerchem.com more rapidly.” Previous investment in areas such as quality and health & safety has seen GARMCO handed an impressive number of awards and certifications over the years, including the British Safety Council Award as far back as 1990; the 1999 Excellence Award from the Bahrain Ministry of Labour; ISO 9001:2000 in 2006; OHSAS 18001:2007 in 2008; and the International Stevie Award at the Eighth Annual International Business Awards earlier this year. Looking to the future, Hamad anticipates an additional plant in Oman which will become operational in 2013. “We are very eager to be in a position to more fully meet demand with the expansion of our foil mill in Bahrain. This will see us produce 35,000 tonnes next year as well as expanding our recycling capability to GARMCO has won an impressive number of awards
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WORKER’S SAFETY IS OUR PRIME CONCERN
Kooheji Industrial Safety (KIS) is a well-renowed company in Bahrain. We have precious goodwill for Personal Protective Equipments (PPE) supplies in the region.The company is concentrating only on PPE to take care of the industrial workers.
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GARMCO
Aluminium is increasingly acting as a substitute for iron and steel
produce 100,000 tonnes from scrap.” recycling rate in some countries like Brazil Aluminium, he points out, is increasingly is as high as 78 per cent.” acting as a substitute material in products But despite buoyant global demand and that would have traditionally relied on an abundance of raw material, it is not an iron and steel. “Technical innovation has easy market in which to create an impact. enabled aluminium to be produced that Because of the advantages enjoyed by stateduplicates the strength of steel but without protected Chinese mills, great strategic the weight,” he comments. insight is required to make “Also, unlike steel, it does any headway. not have a tendency to rust “There are 478 rolling mills globally and 267 are or disintegrate over time in China; this fact has a and it can also be recycled, which has very positive very significant effect on the cost and environmental market,” he declares. “China Annual production of implications. Already we does not comply with free cold-rolled aluminium are seeing 15 m. tonnes market trade ethics and in the Bahrain mill re-used every year and the exporters receive an 18 per
165,000 tonnes
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cent rebate from the Chinese government, creating an instant price advantage. Chinese mills also have lower labour, land and energy costs. Another barrier is the strong price differential in China’s favour between the London Metals Exchange Index versus the Shanghai Index—so you can see it is not an easy market to operate in,” he says. Many mills in the West have been unable to withstand the pressure and have closed. “To
respond, we have had to find other ways to compete and the only route open to us is via superior service and quality, which are the values that lie at GARMCO’s essence,” he adds. In response, GARMCO has developed an international network that takes its output directly to customers. Approximately half of the mill’s output is sold directly in the Middle East where proximity has created an immediate synergy with customers.
“We have had to find other ways to compete and the only route open to us is via superior service and quality”
Approximately half of the mill’s output is sold directly in the Middle East
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GARMCO
A large stockholding capacity enables GARMCO to meet demanding just-in-time delivery schedules
The remaining 50 per cent is sold through subsidiary companies. “All of our subsidiaries operate under a detailed corporate governance code and comply with all local regulations,” he explains. “But we have a local management team and board of directors, as well as shareholder agreements in place in each location. We want a flexible balance between centralised management to maintain the highest standards of corporate integrity and autonomous practice which enables us to address local issues, in terms of language, time zones, cultural and business practice. A local presence and large stockholding capacity also enables us to meet very demanding just-in-time delivery schedules and meet a very wide range of specifications.”
With an international network already in place, the next stage of development will focus on a shift upstream to reduce material costs. But Hamad also sees further downstream opportunities—and one is very close to home. “The government of Bahrain has announced a development initiative that will see 26 projects become available for investors in the region which will all take flat-rolled aluminium products. We want to do everything we can to support this venture that will bring further growth and prosperity to the region,” he concludes. For more information about GARMCO visit: www.garmco.com
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United Engineering Construction
Building through bust to boom
United Engineering Construction (UNEC) is responsible for some of the most innovative and iconic buildings in the United Arab Emirates. Now, it has its sights set on neighbouring Arabian markets and the Maghreb
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U
nited Engineering Construction (UNEC) is above all a family company. Halim Muwahid, an engineer of Jordanian origin but with many years’ experience of construction in Dubai, founded the company as a concrete fabrication supplier in 1976. He has grown it into the general construction company it is today and now leads it as its very hands-on managing director. His brother Jamal is deputy MD and another brother, Abdullah, is general manager of the Abu Dhabi branch. Family members occupy other key roles and head up the subsidiary companies such as Safemix, a ready mix and concrete block supplier, and the UNEC carpentry factory. As in most successful fa mily bu si n e s s e s , professionalism comes first above all else, and every manager is a qualified engineer, explains contracts manager Robert Hartle. The advantage is seen in a sense of shared purpose, the ability to make fast decisions and shared loyalty. “Everyone who works for UNEC is treated like a member of the family,” he says. Hartle, a UK citizen, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building and has been in Dubai for three years, heading UNEC’s tenders and contracts department which manages anything from industrial buildings, showrooms, low cost housing and villas through multi-storey residential
and office buildings, hospitals and schools to high specification hotels, mosques and military installations. Oil revenues have not shielded the Emirates or their neighbours from economic pain. Construction projects need the support of governments and they need inward investment too. A number of projects have been mothballed—including some of UNEC’s—and Hartle believes this situation will persist until the banks become willing to get behind large projects again. “Investors from every part of the world have been putting their money into the UAE so when Europe or Australia is hit by recession it affects Dubai too.” It is not all about oil, he says. From having a turnover of some $38 million and employing 10,000 people, UNEC has reduced its workforce to around 5,000; but it is still a very busy company, having just handed over to its client Nakheel the 26 apartment blocks that form the Emirates cluster of International City, that remarkable and visionary development over 800 hectares. The $170 million contract covered the construction work only—external services and infrastructure work is being carried out by other firms for the developer, M/s Nakheel. “Though we have our own joinery and concrete companies we use subcontractors for electrical work, heating and air conditioning, and plumbing,” says
“Everyone who works for UNEC is treated like a member of the family”
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Dubai Silicon Oasis HQ
ALKO is established in 1998. A firm specialized and committed in the execution of electro-mechanical works (HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical, BMS and Fire Fighting) in residential, public, and commercial buildings, as well as heavy electrical and mechanical works in industrial complexes and factories. ALKO carries out an extremely wide variety of prestigious projects from multi-storey buildings, towers, shopping malls, villas, schools, factories and consequently become one of the leading quality electromechanical contractors in UAE.
Current Major Projects: • Capital Tower (ADNEC) • Sheikh Zayed Military City @ Sweihan, Abu Dhabi • Union Cooperative Shopping Mall @ Al Barsha • Yaquob Tower • International City, Package 15 (Emirates Cluster)
We devote ourselves to providing our client with quality, and personalized incomparable service to others. We strive towards our business methodology, which is to create a unique business partnership with our client with an answering view to achieve absolute client satisfaction.
Dubai Branch P.O Box 26428, Dubai | Tel 04-2652020 | Fax 04-2652021 Abu Dhabi Branch P.O Box 46546, Abu Dhabi | Tel 02-6508133 | Fax 02-6508132
United Engineering Construction
American University Sharjah Library
Hartle. UNEC generally commits its own and to a similar timescale, this time in Abu workforce of labourers and tradesmen, Dhabi, is the 450,000 square foot Al Rawda including qualified carpenters, masons, Arjaan for Rotana Hotels. plasterers, tilers and other structural trades. In the Muwahids’ native Jordan there’s Other current projects include the five- a five-star Hilton Hotel Resort and Spa, star Bab Al Bahr hotel in Ajman, due to due to be handed over in July 2013. Unlike be completed in mid-2012. The 202 room the luxury hotels this is a sprawling development rising to five luxury hotel for the Ajman or six storeys at the most Ministry of Public Works is over a large footprint and worth AED 250 million to UNEC (around $68 million) including swimming pools, and is just one of a number spas, restaurants and other of such projects that are still facilities as well as access being pursued in the region. roads. One of UNEC’s great Year UNEC was founded Another with a similar value strengths is its versatility,
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though the essential common denominator is a commitment to quality, says Hartle. “The level of finish demanded in these luxury projects may be very high, but it is even higher when it comes to building mosques and Islamic centres.” Not surprisingly, the Emirates do commission a lot of mosques—every residential development needs one, just as you might include a church in the UK, and the requirements are not very different in that they tend to be idiosyncratic in design and call for specialist decoration. One such is the magnificent AED 200 million ($544,500) Sheikh Zayed mosque in construction on a greenfield site in Fujairah. It will be the second largest mosque in the country when completed in July 2012. “The Fujairah mosque has some very elaborate ornamentation with a lot of stone outside, and marble and granite finishes inside,” says Hartle. The new mosque will be a contrast to the small neighbourhood mosques that characterise the northern Emirates. Set among fountains and palm-dotted gardens on a large site in the heart of Fujairah city, the mosque will be roughly the size of three football pitches and hold 13,500 people in its prayer hall. While work in the UAE has dwindled, big
UNEC has a sh
civic projects like the Fujairah mosque ensure that UNEC still has a healthy cash flow. It retains a good pipeline of projects and looks forward to some excellent opportunities in neighbouring Arab states. Since it won the bid for the 2022 World Cup, there is an air of expectancy about Qatar. “We have nothing there at present but they are still working on the infrastructure,” he explains. “I don’t see any construction tenders coming out of
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hrewd eye on emerging markets
Qatar for 12 months—then, I’d expect to see a lot coming in a short period of time. All the regional contractors will be looking at Qatar over the next few years.” There is no lack of emerging markets in the region. Syria may not seem much of a prospect at the moment but UNEC has a shrewd eye on that market. And though he admits there’s a lot of dust still to settle in Libya, Hartle is enthusiastic about Libya’s potential. “Just look at how Libya lies: it has the longest coast on the African Mediterranean, faces across to France, Italy and Greece, and it just has to be a huge holiday area for the future.” Egypt is marking time, but once it has an elected government it will also start to attract major investment, Hartle believes.
One of UNEC’s great strengths is its versatility
UNEC has built up an amazing track record since 1976, he points out. It built the exquisite Sharjah Chamber of Commerce building, the palace of Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi ruler of Sharjah, and the remarkable ‘pineapple’ tower at Dubai Silicon Oasis. Its most recent contract win, a $24 million Islamic centre in Sharjah, proves that it is the first choice for new public works in the Emirates, with the critical mass needed to cope with the volume increase that is likely once short term austerities have run their course. For more information about United Engineering Construction visit: www.unec-uae.com
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Saudi Arabia’s rising star Khnaiguiyah Mining Company (KMC), a joint venture between United Arabian Mining Company and Alara Resources, is one of the most exciting projects in Saudi Arabia’s newly established mining industry. Chief operating officer Sohan Singh Rathore talks to Jane Alverca
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The Arabian Shield is one of the richest geological territories in the world
United Arabian Mining Company: Khnaiguiyah Mining Company
S
audi Arabia may be best known Resources Limited and Manajem. Alara is for its oil and petrochemical a publicly listed company in Australia with industries, but the Arabian global interests and was chosen as a partner Shield in Saudi Arabia is one of for its technical expertise and financial the richest geological territories strength. in the world. It is a vast treasure chest “We believe this project will yield 1.5 containing gold, silver, copper, zinc, million tonnes per annum of zinc-copper ore chromium, titanium, nickel and iron ore, when the mine comes into full production,” often in unequalled concentrations and states Sohan Singh Rathore, chief operating grades. Moreover, exploitation of these officer of KMC. “There are bigger projects resources has barely begun. than Khnaiguiyah globally, but these are Not until 2004 did the Saudi government the first combined zinc and copper mines in give permission for private Saudi Arabia and a landmark investors to begin mapping project in the emerging and extracting the country’s mining industry.” mineral wealth. In the Work on the definitive same year, the United feasibility study is being Arabian Mining Company managed by the Australian Year the Saudi (Manajem) was formed to firm Ausenco Minerals and government gave permission for private act as the lead developer Metals—the subsidiary of investors to begin of a new mining sector Ausenco KMC is dealing mapping and extracting within the country. To date, with. The final DFS results the country’s mineral Manajem has obtained 10 should be ready for release in wealth licences which are typically March 2012. A 5,000 metre, developed through joint 40 drill hole programme ventures with established mining experts. began earlier in Q2 this year to re-validate One of the most exciting prospects in the historical knowledge already held on the Manajem portfolio relates to a 30-year the mineral inventory. A survey completed almost 20 years ago mining licence issued by the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals Resources by BRGM, the French Office of Geological to explore develop and exploit the most and Mining Research, showed in-place extensive zinc and copper deposits yet minable reserves of 10.23 million tonnes discovered in the Arabian Shield—a project containing 7.46 per cent zinc and 0.80 per known as Al Khnaiguiyah. cent copper (source: BRGM Geoscientists This task has been entrusted to 1993, Khnaiguiyah Zinc-Copper deposit— Khnaiguiyah Mining Company (KMC). It is prefeasibility study 1, 2 and 3, Saudi Arabian a joint venture company registered in Saudi Directorate General of Minerals Resources Arabia and held on a 50/50 basis by Alara Technical Report BRGM TR 13-4, 651p,
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United Arabian Mining Company: Khnaiguiyah Mining Company 209 figs, 171 tables, 78 Alegra Safety appendices and 23 photo Although based in Western Australia, Alegra Safety is plates). Earlier surveys also a boutique consultancy with a reputation as a leader in showed the presence of gold specialist safety, emergency, risk and security consulting and silver, but subsequent and management that has spread around the world. This exploration has proved that is down to the company’s decades of experience in helping these traces are too small to various industries, including the mining and resources sector, manage safety, risk, security and emergency make commercial extraction concerns, and prepare companies for project risk and worthwhile—so the focus is compliance measures all over the world. on zinc and copper. All of Alegra Safety’s consultants are committed to Exploration to the delivering both the best customer service and the best south-east of the major standard. Regardless of the situation or location, advice is mineralised Zone 3 of on hand to help all companies reach their potential. the project has already www.alegrasafety.com.au extended the mineralisation beyond historically outlined parameters and has found an exceptionally high thickness of zinc mineralisation starting at a relatively shallow depth of just 45 to 50 metres below the surface. Geological mapping of major mineralised Zone 2, which lies approximately one kilometre from the main area has indicated that the mineralisation there extends by at least 600 metres further to the north than was originally known before it disappears beneath recent sediments. The biggest challenge facing Rathore in
“We believe this project will yield 1.5 million tonnes per annum”
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completing the definitive feasibility study and then bringing the mine to production is obtaining permits for the use of land and water. “As everyone knows, water is a scarce and highly valued resource in Saudi Arabia, but we are very lucky to have the Saq Sand Stone aquifer within 25 kilometres which will give us sufficient water by digging wells in adjacent land. Getting the permission to draw water is time-consuming, but we do not believe this will ultimately be a barrier,” he comments. Infrastructure is not a problem as the mine is located next to the Riyadh – Makkah main highway. Fuel is extremely cheap, costing just 15 cents per litre, meaning that the cost of transporting the mineral concentrate to rail and shipping points is very low. Beneficiation will take place on site and there are no plans for additional smelting facilities at the moment. However, the availability of skilled labour is an issue, particularly as Saudi Arabia has no significant mining heritage of the type to draw upon. “The mining operation will require highly skilled manpower and our thinking at the moment is that we will probably outsource this operation. The other area where we will need skilled labour, although to a lesser extent, is in the
beneficiation plant,” he says, adding that KMC will simultaneously use this initial phase of the mine’s life as an opportunity to train indigenous talent with a view to making much wider use of local labour in the long-term. Funding is unlikely to be an issue and Rathore expects it to be in place by June or July of 2012. “During extraction, we anticipate certain technical challenges, but
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United Arabian Mining Company: Khnaiguiyah Mining Company
The establishment of a new metals industry will generate new revenues for the government
these are not new to mining and we already have the technical solutions available. It will be a traditional open-cast mine. Geologically, the area has suffered intense geological disturbances causing numerous fault and joint planes but also silicification and thus hardening of the host rock. There are zones of weak and friable rock. This means we will be paying special attention to the design of bench slopes and the safety of personnel working in the area.” With the Khnaiguiyah project progressing according to expectations, Rathore will turn his attention to the Marjan Project, another joint venture with Alara. This consists of three other smaller projects spanning an area of 260 square kilometres in the same locality which are currently in the
exploratory pipeline. He sees great future potential for economies of scale as these will be able to make use of existing beneficiation facilities at Khnaiguiyah. “In the longer term, we are delighted to be contributing to the establishment of a new industrial sector which will help to diversify the Saudi Arabian economy. The establishment of a new metals industry will generate new revenues for the government in taxes and royalties and also create many employment opportunities for the people of Saudi Arabia,” he concludes. For more information about United Arabian Mining Company visit: www.manajem.com
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P&G employees packing Ariel packs into boxes, at one of the product lines at P&G’s Cairo plant
Procter & Gamble Egypt
E
ven if ‘Business management to inwardly investing businesses. P&G during periods of revolution’ employs about 1,500 talented Egyptian men actually existed as a module in and women, in addition to about 10,000 MBA programmes, it’s unlikely through indirect employment. The jobs that many would ever have to P&G is providing and those in the process put it into practice. Yet this is the very real of being created by P&G suppliers who have situation that managers at Procter & Gamble also decided to invest in Egypt are sending (P&G) have had to face during the Egyptian a message to the wider business world that Egyptian workers can be relied upon.” chapter of the ongoing Arab Spring. In the end, fighting on the street had In the West, P&G has a stable of over little or no direct impact on the running of 300 different brands across three different the business but in times of volatility, who categories: beauty & grooming, health & knows what could happen? wellbeing, and homecare. From Cairo, “We have two locations in Cairo,” though, only a tiny fraction of these brands explains external relations director Yassin are sold, concentrating on such commodity Attas. “Our head office is items as washing detergent in downtown Cairo but the and soaps—in fact the Egyptian factory has factory itself is out of town, on a purpose-built industrial become the main producer park. As soon as unrest of Ariel washing detergent occurred on the streets, we for all of the Middle East. Number of P&G Egypt closed the office and asked But P&G Egypt is far direct employees from just a logistics hub staff to work from home. At the factory, there was some warehousing products made disruption to deliveries of elsewhere: from a modest raw material and some workers had trouble US$2 million venture in 1986 (the company travelling but in the main we were able to celebrated its 25th anniversary in Egypt last function quite well.” year) and with just 50 employees handling Politically, the future is far from clear; but two brands, P&G Egypt has become the commercially, P&G’s plans for the Egyptian country’s biggest exporter of packaged business continue unabated. Next month, for goods and one of Egypt’s top 10 exporting example, a new regional Business Planning companies dealing with more than 37 Centre will become functional, where a staff countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. There of 300 will manage the logistics for all P&G are now two major manufacturing plants in activity in Africa and the Middle East. Cairo—the original 120,000 square metre “At a corporate level,” says Attas, “Egypt factory where Ariel is made and which boasts is seen as the hub of activity thanks to its the largest synthetic detergent tower of its strategic location and favourable incentives kind in the Middle East; then, thanks to a
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Procter & Gamble Egypt
P&G employees packing Egyptian Food Bank (EFB) boxes. EFB aims to eradicate hunger in Egypt by 2025
fine productivity record there, the business employers by the independent international felt justified in investing in a second plant HR consultants Hewitt Associates. Even four kilometres away which will eventually though some businesses closed during the be 2.5 times the size of the original. revolution, life at P&G continued unchanged The first stage of the new plant came with no lay-offs anywhere. on-stream last year—just a month or so The first stage of the new plant is dedicated behind schedule, despite all the prevailing to making Pampers disposable diapers. Some disruption, and has so far created another could argue that in Egypt—where the level 560 badly needed jobs. “These are quality of affluence in low and limited cash in hand jobs,” says Attas. “Here in is best spent on necessities Egypt, we follow the parent rather than luxuries—that disposable diapers are company’s principles, which incongruous. But in fact, aim to respect and nurture employees, very closely.” their usage is supported by In 2011, for the second many august medical bodies round in succession, P&G which see disposable diapers Number of jobs created was recognised as one of as a much healthier option by new plant to date the Middle East’s top 10 than continually re-using
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cloth diapers, particularly where facilities to wash at high enough temperatures and dry the cloth thoroughly are lacking. To ease the transition, P&G funds educational promotional material of a generic nature. It also ensures that it has a range of products from the very simplest, low-cost diaper to more sophisticated designs that are common in developed markets. On the other hand, it has to be
remembered that Pampers made in Egypt are also destined for much more affluent markets in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. In the meantime, P&G Egypt is on another quest, namely to meet the corporate sustainability targets which require all sections of the company to reduce environmental impact by 20 per cent by the end of this year. So far, Egypt is doing well and should have no problem meeting the
“What we can’t recycle ourselves is sold on to other manufacturers who can make use of the manufacturing waste”
El-Gorah girls displaying embroidery pieces they crafted themselves. P&G supported El-Gorah’s Community Development Association
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Procter & Gamble Egypt
P&G Egypt’s Cairo plant, the Middle East’s biggest detergent plant
deadline. To date, it has cut waste by 57 per cent and water usage by 22 per cent with work in progress ahead of target on other performance indicators. “The Pampers plant,” says Attas, “is expected to be the first factory in Egypt with zero waste-to-landfill. What we can’t recycle ourselves is sold on to other manufacturers who can make use of the manufacturing waste.” Levels of employment at P&G Egypt are established on purely commercial grounds and therefore will only ever be what is needed to do the job; but it doesn’t mean that benefits don’t trickle down to other parts of the population. P&G has a whole raft of initiatives, including the company’s global cause programme ‘Live,
Learn & Thrive’, which aims to improve life for children and youth around the world. Its activities include the provision of life-saving vaccinations and safe water in Africa, safe homes across Europe, educational opportunities in Asia, essential nutrition in North America and early childhood development in Latin America. It’s not exactly creating a pampered existence for all; but the manufacture of Pampers in Egypt is spreading some good over and above the babies that get the immediate benefits. For more information about Procter & Gamble Egypt visit: www.pg.com/en_EG
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