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The rapid
development of the United Arab Emirates
since it was formed in 1971 has seen a massive construction boom
with the nation developing from a
collection of small, underdeveloped towns
into the modern cities as evident today.
Alongside the construction of buildings,
offices and industrial projects, the
country has established an infrastructure
to rival that of any developed country in
the world.
With so much
building activity taking place, there has
also been the need for paint-whether for
marking roads, protecting buildings from
the elements or simply for decoration -
and one Arab company, National Paints, has
developed
alongside the UAE
to become a major player in the regional
market.
The company
celebrates its 25th anniversary in the UAE
in 2002 and in March 2001 opened a new
state-of-the-art, computerised factory in
the emirate of Sharjah - which
at one million square feet is the biggest
paint factory in the Middle East.
The facility
employs 525 people and has a production
capacity of 120,000 metric tonnes -
almost 350 tonnes of paint a day - as well
as a separate plant to produce
the resins used in the production of
paint, and a plant to produce the
powder coatings used in aluminium and
steel protection. The range of
products manufactured by National Paints
is extremely varied and includes paints
for
the  decorative,
protective coatings, automotive and
furniture finishes, road marking paints,
epoxy flooring, swimming pool
system, marine paints, water proofing and
all types of thinners and primers.
Partner and
Managing Director, Saleem Sayegh, as he
reflected from his spacious, modern
offices,
is
proud of what National Paints has achieved
in such a short period of time, and the history
of the family company he started with his
brothers in Jordan over 30 years ago.
“National
Paints started production from a little
warehouse in Amman in
1969,” he
explained. “The ambitions were high and
the dreams were big and by
1973 we had built
a modern, well-equipped factory, which was
able to produce a big
variety of
paints. “We are
committed to operating at the highest
levels of the industry and
found it
necessary to be in touch with, and benefit
from, international
companies and so
we signed agreements to give us access to
their experience
and technology.
“Our repeated
success in the market made it important
for us to spread our
wings and
develop. As a result of our ability to
produce new product lines, the consumer demand
and our motive to supply the outer
markets, a new branch was
built in 1977 in
Sharjah under the name National Paints
Factories (National
Paints). We
started small - at that time our business
was only aimed at the
local market and
it was a small factory with one machine.
But after two
years we
expanded.”
The facility in
Sharjah has now been rebuilt four times to
cope with the
expansion of the
company which currently markets 60 per
cent of its
products locally,
with the remaining 40 per cent being
exported
to 35 different
countries in the Middle East, Africa,
Russia and the former
Soviet countries,
which make up the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS).
“In the UAE the
biggest market is for decorative paints
because there is so
much of
building construction taking place,
although it is not just for new buildings,
but as well as
the maintenance
of old buildings,” Mr Sayegh said.
“There is also a
growing demand
for industrial paints as the country
becomes more
industrialised.
There are a lot of furniture factories in
the UAE and
we make many
types of coatings for this industry.”
Along with growth
in the UAE, National Paints has expanded
by opening new
facilities in its
key markets, and further agreements have
been signed with
other
international companies.
“After our
great success in the UAE, and to fulfil
the founders' dream,
a forth branch
was established in Qatar in 1989,” Mr
Sayegh explained. “Another was
established in Sudan in 1998 followed by
others in Bishkek, Kyrghystan
and Almaata,
Kazakhstan during 2001. A bigger and more
sophisticated factory
was built in
Amman in 1988 and we are currently
modernising the facility
there, and also
the one in Qatar.”
"there
is also a growing demand for industrial
paints
as the country becomes more industrialised"
He says product
quality and customer service are the prime
reasons for the
company’s
success, with all the raw materials and
each batch of
paints undergoing
rigorous laboratory testing to ensure it
is of the highest
standard.
“If you have a
problem during production then it becomes
a big problem when
you are servicing
the local market and 35 other countries.
If the problem is noticed
only
after 10 days, you will have 3,500
tonnes of affected product
in the market
which will be a big headache and damage
your reputation, so
quality is
extremely important and each batch is
carefully checked at every
stage of
production.
“We manufacture
different types of paints - decorative,
industrial and
marine, as well
as different coatings - and for each type
we have specialist
laboratories and
chemical engineers. In the main office we
also have a research and development
laboratory”.
The hi-tech,
futuristic laboratory puts each product
through its paces with
complex
scientific machinery used to simulate the
extreme weather
conditions,
humidity, temperatures, light conditions,
exposure to salt, and
other factors
which it will be exposed to during its
lifetime to ensure it
is up to the job.
The weather
machine, for example, subjects paint in
one day to the different
conditions it
will be exposed to during a month of use
which allows the
company’s
chemical engineers to study how it will
react over extended
periods of time. “We have the
knowledge and expertise to produce the
right material for the
local market,”
Mr. Sayegh said, "but we also make
paints for specific countries
depending
on their climatic conditions".
Safety is another
key issue at the factory, which is ISO
9002 certified and
will also be
seeking ISO 9001 & 14000 accreditation
in the near future.
“Paints raw
materials are highly inflammable and
safety is
a major
concern.”
Another reason
for the success of National Paints is its
ability to fulfill orders rapidly,
with computerised mixing machines able to
produce paint in
any chosen colour
or match any existing colour.
“We keep a big
stock of raw materials so any big order is
executed
immediately,”
Mr Sayegh said. “The raw materials are
chemical and
previously we
were ordering them from overseas, but now
a lot is produced
locally in the
UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iran.”
With so much
having been achieved in the past 25 years,
what does Mr Sayegh
hope National
Paints will achieve in the next 25 years?
“We have been
very pleased with the way the company has
grown,” he said. “In
25 years we have
achieved so much and every year we have
consistent sales growth."
“In 1999 the
UAE branch produced about 85,000 tonnes of
paints, coatings and
finishes, and the
total production of our three factories in
1999 added up
to 170,000 metric
tonnes. We expect this figure to have
reached 200,000
during 2001.
“In 2002 we
will be opening new factories in Saudi
Arabia and Egypt and
in the coming
years we will be expanding to other
countries as well.
In
the next 25 years we want National Paints
to become a totally international company
and be
known all over
the world - we want people coming from
Europe or America to be familiar with
the
name National Paints.”
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