Gulf Manufacturing Company of the UAE will be showing its range of top-quality adhesives and glues at the Big 5 show.

"We will be promoting our contact adhesives, wood glue, lacquer thinner, turpentine, copal varnish and tile glue," says N K Suri, sales and marketing manager of the Sharjah-based firm. "We will be targeting new markets such as Yemen, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Nigeria, apart from other GCC countries."

GMC's contact adhesives come in four brands, Sado Kit, Sadofoss, Euro Fix and Euro Kit. Its white wood glue, lacquer thinner, turpentine substitute copal varnish and tile glues bear the GMC logo.

GMC was established in 1996 under a licence agreement with Akzo Nobel, one of the leading adhesive and paint manufacturers in the world having its operations in more than 50 countries with its headquarters in Denmark.

GMC is licensed to manufacture Akzo Nobel's brand of contact adhesives with exclusive rights to market the products in the Gulf. This wide range of neoprene-based contact adhesives is targeted at the construction industry and is specially formulated for the hot climate of the Gulf.

GMC also recently signed a contract with Switzerland-based Vantico (formerly Ciba) to refill and repack its well-known Araldite range of epoxy adhesives, with exclusive rights to markets in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.

GMC has a modern manufacturing plant in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi, spread over an area of 4,000 sq m. It has a 3,000-litre reactor with a high standard of safety and anti-explosion facilities. In addition, there are four bulk solvents storage tanks of 110,000-litre capacity. The plant capacity is about 3,000 tonnes of contact adhesives a year.

GMC recently installed two tube-filling machines for refilling Araldite into tubes along with a sealing machine to seal the tubes into blister packing. The machines have a capacity of refilling 300 tonnes of the epoxy adhesive per year. In addition, two new machines are also in the process of being installed. These machines are semi-automatic repacking units for thinner and wood glue and will be able to repack 3,000 tonnes of each product a year.

"GMC's aim is to support the development in GCC in construction, furniture, packaging and other related industries. GMC products are specially formulated for hot climates, and the company today is one of the leading manufactures in GCC with strong technology and human resources," says Suri.

GMC has diversified its business into three main divisions: adhesives, thinners and new products. "The addition of Araldite is expected to boost the company's business," he says. "GMC also plans to launch PVC glue, spray paint and silicon sealant in the near future."

One of GMC's strengths is said to lie in its professional team of executives. At the helm of the executive team is general manager S N Shad Ali, a veteran marketer who has a worked for 27 years in the GCC petrochemicals industry, including 12 in Shell Dubai. Production manager Waseem Ahmed has a strong background in R&D, production and operations, and has worked previously with Buxly Paints. And Suri, who also worked with Black & Decker, and has 20 years of experience in the GCC.

GMC recently opened a new sales and administrative office in Sharjah to cater to its Dubai and Sharjah accounts and remain in close contact with suppliers and customers.

"GMC has defined its standards in customer service for the millennium and beyond through the adoption of a 'total service' strategy which provides availability, quality, reliability and support to its customers," says Suri. "A network of distributors throughout the Gulf puts products with easy reach and at the convenience of customer and that is why GMC products are available in most leading outlets in the GCC."

"Another area where the company excels in is quality," says Suri. "GMC is committed to enriching its technologies to strengthen its marketing department so as to offer quality products and excellent service to customers. It is an environmentally-conscious company and it guarantees the safety and use of environmentally-friendly products and processes to protect the environment and the health of its employees."

"The ultimate objective of the company is to produce the products of high standard at competitive prices," he adds.

GMC will be at stand 7A-350.