Zamil Air Conditioners (ZAC) of Saudi Arabia recently won a prestigious award for achieving business excellence in the Middle East.

The business excellence award for product manufacturers in the Business-to-Business category was awarded to the Dammam-based manufacturer of air-conditioners by the Meed (Middle East Economic Digest) magazine

Along with ZAC, a number of other regional companies were bestowed similar recognition by Meed in a total of 10 business categories.

The awards for 'Business Excellence' recognised some of the most outstanding initiatives in the fields of construction, manufacturing, telecommunications, information technology, aviation, hospitality, and power industries in the whole of the Middle East.

From over 600 businesses, and a shortlist of some 31, the judging panel made up of eminent international dignitaries selected ZAC in the B-to-B Product Manufacturer category from amongst a few leading organisations such as Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), Equate Petrochemical Company and Dubai Cable Company (Ducab).

Zamil Air Conditioners achieved that recognition by focusing on business-critical functions and processes such as the high standards in the product itself, sales trends, competitive performance, exports and innovation. The panel focused on ZAC's early adoption of modern management techniques, heavy investments in research and development, intensive training and development and Saudisation programmes, and extensive customer care and quality control processes.

The panel noted that "Zamil Air Conditioners is a superbly managed and successful business that has worked hard to keep abreast of technical changes in a sector with huge potential for the future".

Abdulla Al Zamil, senior vice-president of Zamil Air Conditioners, accepted the award at a gala dinner ceremony in Dubai in March. "I am pleased to accept this award on behalf of the more than 2,000 ZAC employees," Al Zamil said. "Their efforts, their commitment and their vision to be the best they can be are what have enabled ZAC to be a true competitor in its industry."

Edmund O'Sullivan, Meed's publishing director and the developer of the awards concept commented: "Identifying the best businesses in the Middle East has been a challenging but extremely rewarding project for Meed. The winners have set a new regional standard for excellence in both strategy and management, and have created a benchmark by which future contenders will be judged."

ZAC, with 2001 sales of approximately $200 million, is the largest Middle Eastern based manufacturer of air-conditioning products and supplier of air conditioning services for residential, commercial and institutional buildings.

The company says it manufactures and markets the widest range of air-conditioning solutions in the region including new products for newer and niche segments such as clean room/hygiene applications. It has a production capacity of 440,000 window units, 60,000 mini-splits and 36,500 central units a year. Its quality systems are certified to ISO 9002:1994 and efforts are on to receive the ISO 9001:2000 accreditation.

Also, ZAC is believed to be the first company in Saudi Arabia to receive the Saso (Saudi Arabia's Standard Organisation) certificate for room air-conditioners.