Gulf Construction Online - Dorma celebrates success of global partnerships

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King Hamad University Hospital ... prestigious project.

Dorma celebrates success of global partnerships

01 August 2013

AT A recent event in Bahrain, Dorma, a leading global company providing premium access solutions and services enabling better buildings, underscored the importance it attaches to the role played by its partners in its continuing global success.

The market leader in door controls, movable walls and glass fittings celebrated a decade of partnership with its Bahrain partner Masy Holding at a joint event held late June at the Kempinski Grand Hotel at the Bahrain City Centre.

In attendance at the high-profile event were senior members of Dorma’s management in the region including Mohammed Nawarah, Riyadh-based country manager for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain; Altaf Afridi, Dubai-based regional marketing director, Middle East and North Africa (Mena); and David Tudor, Dubai-based regional director of service and maintenance, Mena. Representing Masy Holding were Yazan Zurikat, director, Tariq Ahmed, general manager of Masy maintenance, Safa Sharif, and Nabeel Faraj, general manager of Masy International and other executives as well as invitees from key architectural practices and the contracting sector.

Dorma places emphasis on forging long-term partnerships and developing strong subsidiaries worldwide, which has been a key driver for its continuing global success, and this ongoing strategy underpins its 2020 vision introduced at the end of 2010 aimed at further enhancing its competitiveness and increasing its market share over the next decade.

Its partner Masy Holding, which specialises in the provision of a wide range of high-quality architectural and building finishing components and systems, has been serving the Bahrain market since 2003 with automatic doors through the Dorma Arabia Automatic Doors in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

To date, through this partnership, Dorma has successfully supplied and installed more than 800 sliding doors in the Bahrain market, and more than 30 revolving doors in prominent projects. One of the most prestigious projects handled by Masy and Dorma in Bahrain is the landmark King Hamad University Hospital featuring 40 automatic doors, one of the largest single public health projects ever undertaken in Bahrain. Other Dorma projects executed through Masy include the Bahrain World Trade Centre with four revolving doors and 30 automatic doors, Regency Hotel, the Gulf Hotel, Crown Plaza, Kempinksi Grand Hotel, Ministry of Interior buildings, Seef Mall and many others.

Zurikat emphasised the key aspects of the decade-long Dorma-Masy partnership. “From the outset our partnership with Dorma has been about building business and establishing a long-term partnership to deliver value and quality to customers. Dorma is a prestigious global company with sophisticated technology and our challenge is to create a centre of excellence in Bahrain which reflects the importance of our partnership and our commitment to the market.

“We are confident on delivering on Dorma’s 2020 vision in building more market share and providing competitive solutions by educating the market in Bahrain. Masy adds value to the customer through our active support of Dorma and with our continuous investment in training, spare parts inventory and technical knowledge of the product range and innovative smart technologies through design, installation, maintenance and specialist services to the end-user,” said Zurikat.

Nawarah is leading the Dorma business in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and is spearheading ambitious growth plans for the region. “Dorma has the best range of premium products available for delivering access solutions, with the company focused on product development and innovation. Dorma has a project management team and offers consultation in the early stages of design and project development. Also, during a project we are closely involved in the approvals status after submittals. In Saudi Arabia, we have nine teams involved in the back office dealing with projects and this is increasing. We place great emphasis on serving our customers as well as aligning our business processes and products through certified business partners. Dorma has a close relationship with all its partners including Masy and we look to employ the best people and deliver the best technical training to provide premium access solutions,” Nawarah added.

FROM LEFT: Afridi, Nawarah, Tudor and Zurikat ... making a decade of partnership.

The Saudi Arabia office was launched 11 years ago as Dorma Arabia Automatic Doors initially as a joint venture between Dorma and Zamil Group. Three years back Dorma acquired a majority stake in the company thus becoming a 100-per-cent foreign investment from Germany.

Dorma supplies, maintains and installs automatic doors and enjoys 70 per cent of the market share in Saudi Arabia, according to Nawarah.

“To date, it has supplied more than 70,000 automatic doors in the kingdom in a diverse portfolio of projects including malls, universities, schools, office and public buildings, hospitals, restaurants,” he said.

It has also tied up with Universal Building Materials (UBM) for exclusive hardware supply and together they enjoy more than 25 per cent share of the hardware market.

Among the prominent projects completed recently by Dorma Saudi Arabia is the Tamkeen Tower, the second tallest building in Riyadh, where it supplied and installed security access control and automatics including “more than 1,500 doors in hardware and 500 in security and one revolving door at the main entrance”, Nawara said. It is also working on the Burj Rafal project, also in the Saudi capital, where it is installing movable walls.

Nawarah added that Dorma is a major supplier to the highly prestigious King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh, where it is involved in many aspects of the projects including hardware, security doors, glass accessories, movable walls, and automatic doors.

Dorma launched its PMT (project management team) 10 years ago to support its partners. This department aims at helping architects and consultants in writing specifications where Dorma offers comprehensive advisory services right from selection of hardware and special applications to specification writing, to installation and site inspections.

Dorma’s PMT has helped realise some unique concepts for clients, which have since been incorporated into the company’s products range, said Afridi.

“Unique projects executed include a circular meeting room in the middle of the hall for RMJM, Dubai; as well as doors to guest rooms at Giorgio Armani Hotel in Burj Khalifa, Dubai; and a tornado-shaped glass structure in the Mall of Arabia, Jeddah,” said Afridi.

Afridi also pointed out that Dorma continues to innovate and recently launched the CS 80 Magneo on the regional market. The new automatic door, patented for Dorma, uses a new technology called magnetic levitation instead of motor and belt and is 100 per cent silent.

All of Dorma’s global partnerships focus on the provision of best practices and processes at the local level to meet customer requirements in terms of engineering solutions, technical supply and maintenance services. Comprehensive service level agreements (SLAs) are customised to client requirements.

Regionally, Dorma Gulf continues to witness significant double-digit growth across the Middle East. Its key market in the Middle East is Saudi Arabia followed by the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.

The company has provided solutions to a reference list that includes Burj Khalifa, Meydan Racecourse, Dubai Metro and the Dubai Mall in Dubai; the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), and the Emirates Palace hotel, in Abu Dhabi; the Qatar National Convention Centre in Qatar; and the KAFD in Riyadh.

Tudor is responsible for maintenance and services across the region and is witnessing significant demand for these specialist services.

“Dorma is seeing a 25 per growth in maintenance and service provision, reflected by the increasing numbers of projects across the region but also, importantly, by the increasing focus on safety and security. There have been well-publicised accidents such as the fire at Villaggio Mall in Qatar in 2012 and lessons are being learned to rigorously apply safety procedures. An increasing part of our business is after-sales service and service level agreements as public safety is of paramount importance for all access solutions.

“For example, specific access points in buildings and facilities can be operating and opening and closing millions of times per year – whether it is shopping malls, hospitals, offices, airports, stations and sporting facilities. Access doors must also be linked to fire alarms and the building maintenance and facilities management systems too.

“These are increasingly complex systems that require comprehensive service levels, technical training and technical support to ensure the integrity of the access systems at all times. Many facilities such as Dubai International Airport have onsite Dorma staff on permanent duty to handle maintenance and service requirements on demand,” Tudor concludes.

Dorma, recognised as a leader in specialist access solutions and services, has been operating for more than 100 years. Headquartered in Ennepetal, the group has more than 7,000 employees worldwide with 77 wholly owned companies in 50 countries. With major production facilities in Europe, Singapore, Asia, China, and North and South America, Dorma registered a record $1.3 billion in global net sales in 2012.

Its head office for the Mena region is located in Jebel Ali, Dubai, and in addition to its office in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Dorma has an office in Kuwait and has recently opened one in Qatar. The company plans to expand by opening its own offices in Jordan, Egypt and Morocco, to support its dedicated partners in these markets more effectively.