Mammut Building Systems, the largest manufacturer of pre-engineered steel buildings (PEB) in the UAE, says it has doubled its market share in the Dubai and the Northern Emirates and has just set up a sales office in Abu Dhabi to service customers in that emirate where it plans to acquire a 50 per cent of the PEB market by the end of 2003.

Muayyad Al Khudairi, general manager, says: "Our Abu Dhabi office consists of a sales manager, a sales support engineer and an erection specialist. This three-man team will work side by side with customers in Abu Dhabi emirate to ensure that we provide a higher level of service in the emirate than any of our competitors.

"This includes fast response to requests for quotation, daily tracking of jobs and technical support at every stage of the project. The erection specialist will provide technical erection support and also acts as an after-sales coordinator between Mammut and the customer for jobs that are sold on a "supply only" basis. He will also attend the delivery of our buildings at the jobsite and ensure that our components are properly unloaded and stored at the jobsite. He will make periodic visits to the jobsite to offer technical advice on the sequence of erection and on the proper erection tools and equipment."

For jobs that are sold by Mammut on a supply-and-erection basis, Mammut has appointed a construction manager - also based in the Abu Dhabi sales office - who is fully dedicated to such projects in the emirate. His main task is the execution of the erection for supply-and-erection projects in Abu Dhabi.

Mammut established a dedicated sales and sales support team for Dubai and the Northern Emirates in August 2002 and has since doubled its market share in that region from 25 to 50 per cent.

During the past year, Mammut has upgraded all its building components with the intent of becoming the highest quality manufacturer of PEBs in the UAE. Mammut will begin production of polyurethane injected sandwich panels using a continuous foaming process this month. By February next year, Mammut's monthly production is expected to reach 3,000 tonnes of PEBs, including 20,000 sq m of sandwich panels.

The exterior metal skin of the sandwich panels will be made of pre-painted AluZinc-coated steel or pre-painted aluminum panels in four standard popular colours - off-white (RAL 9002), Emirates Green (BS12B21), Shasta Blue and Arabian Beige - which are all stocked in sufficient quantities to meet demand immediately.

Mammut claims to be the only PEB manufacturer in the GCC that exclusively uses 19 mm diameter self-drilling fasteners for fixing roof and wall cladding to secondary "Z" members. "These fasteners are manufactured by SFS of Switzerland and are the highest quality cladding fasteners in the world," says Khudairi. "They have an integrated EPDM washer that creates the tightest possible seal to prevent roof leaks that frequently result from the use of inferior fasteners."

Last August, Mammut appointed Fawaz Haraki as regional sales manager for the UAE. Haraki has over 22 years in the PEB industry in the GCC. During 2000 and 2001, Haraki held the position of general manager at Amana Construction, Dubai, one of the three largest PEB contractors in the UAE. Prior to that from 1993 through 1999, he served as Zamil Steel's area sales manager for Dubai and the Northern Emirates. Haraki started his career as a structural design engineer at Kirby Building Systems, Kuwait in 1981 where he spent 12 years and became one of the best structural design engineers in the PEB industry, according to Khudairi.

"Mammut is dedicated to recruiting the best people in the PEB industry," Khudairi says. "Our aim is to become the premium supplier of pre-engineered steel buildings in the GCC. We know well that state-of-the-art machinery and a quality product will help us achieve our aim, but we also know too well that only a great team can sustain our leadership position and keep us at the top always".

The company participated at the Big 5 show which has strengthened its exposure in the UAE, according to Khudairi.

"We received several serious visits from foreign attendants who had not previously heard of Mammut. It was a very successful participation for us," he comments.

Mammut invites all contractors, consultants, developers and owners to contact the firm at sales@mammut.ae.