Water heater firm expands on demand
01 November 2001
Dubai-based Al Huraiz group of companies, among the pioneers to set up a water heater manufacturing facility in the UAE, is expanding to meet the growing demand for its products.
It is adding a second automated unit to boost its manufacturing capacity by 125,000 units per year.
The company, which produces Everhot water heaters, was established in 1975 at the Al Ramool Industrial Area. To meet the increasing demand for its products, the company moved to its present premises in Al Ghusais in mid-1995. This facility has a built-up area of 57,140 sq ft and 200 employees, and houses an advanced fully-automatic water heater manufacturing unit. It has a production capacity of 250,000 units per year.
''Al Huraiz Establishment has always focused on adopting new technology and keeping abreast of the developments in the field of water heaters. The manufacturing plant has highly qualified and experienced quality control personnel equipped with the necessary laboratory equipment to exercise strict vigilance over the quality of raw materials and the end-products,'' says a spokesman. ''Products are subjected to stringent quality tests in accordance with the relevant local and international standard specifications.''
Its factory has the following state-of-the-art plants:
The spokesman attributes the growth of the company to efficient management and a well-experienced and trained staff in all sectors of the facility including production, marketing and sales, purchasing and administration. .
''To support the development of the company, the management has been provided staff with advanced technology including a total computerised software solution (ERP) and advanced communication systems. In addition, Al Huraiz has a dedicated website about the company's products, services and other activities. This website also allows customer to place enquiries over the Internet, thus enhancing customer service.
The company attributes its long-standing popularity in the water heaters industry to its quality-consciousness.
''In a quest for excellence, the management has established a quality assurance department staffed by dedicated quality professionals and has achieved ISO 9002 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environment management) certification, says P S Philip, general manager who is a mechanical engineer with a wide experience in multinational companies like L&T .
"We decided to acquire these certifications essentially to confirm that our quality matches that of our European competitors. In this competitive climate, internationally-rated quality counts for a lot. We are proud to be the only water heater manufacturer in the Gulf certified for ISO 9002 quality and ISO 14001 environment management system,'' he says.
These high quality standards have helped the company penetrate into export markets and presently 25 per cent of its production goes to countries including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the Far East, besides some former Soviet countries. The company intends to broaden its export arena.
"The quality of a water heater depends to a large extent on the quality of the metal used to manufacture the inner tank. The thicker this metal, the longer it takes to corrode, given that the joints are properly welded. The Everhot SS range of water heaters is made in a uniform standard thickness,'' says Philip.
The company also manufactures and markets two other models of water heaters under the brand Excel and Centour.
Philip elaborates: "The essential difference between the two is the thickness of the galvanised iron sheet used for making the inner tank. It is 1.5 mm thick in Excel and 1.2 mm thick in Centour. Consistency of the quality in these two models have been steadily maintained over the last 26 years.
Its Everhot, Excel and Centour water heaters are offered in capacities ranging from eight gallons to 50 gallons. For the Omani market, the company produces under the brand names Sabah and Sohar which conform to the Omani standard OS83. All products come with a warranty, according to Philip.
Additionally the company has another division manufacturing aluminium cookware under the brand name Everbright and Camel. This cookware is manufactured on computerised fully automatic machines in various sizes and also as per individual customer requirements. The raw material is specially sourced from Dubal Aluminium Company (Dubal) and the aluminium used is of 99.7 per cent purity.
Another division of Al Huraiz manufactures LPG cylinders under the name of Universal Cylinders. In addition, the company has a LPG bottling plant at Sharjah Industrial Area, which caters to the local market and domestic users.
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