The Gulf office of multinational First International Inc of the US has been serving the markets of the Middle East for several years and is fast earning a reputation for supplying quality equipment for drilling and construction.

The company has been active in tapping the Middle East market to offer a wide range of equipment and expertise in several niche areas, says Tarek Abou El Ela, managing director of the  Dubai office.

First says that the cornerstone of a successful company is its commitment to the customer.  The company, which was established in 1988 in the US, has an annual turnover of $550 million and employs more than 1,200 staff.

It supplies excavator attachments, electric vehicles, personnel carriers, burden carriers, utility vehicles, tow/push back tractors, tow tractors and belt loaders, hi-lifts, horizontal directional drilling machines, utility truck bodies and tunnel boring machines (TBMs) that have a wide range of applications in the construction, aviation and mining segments.
The company has partnered with some of the big names in the industry including Wimmer, Taylor-Dunn, United Tractor, Tiger Tractor, Tesco, Prime Drilling, Royal Truck Body and Lovat Inc, and has plans to promote these services at SaudiBuild 2003.

Although this will be First's first time at the expo,  it is confident that the event will give it the additional leverage that it has been looking for in the region.
The expo will not be just about targeting at a new market, but will also involve the introduction of new products and services.

'Our company is known to strongly back its products through a system of prompt service and timely delivery,'' says El Ela. ''Our company has become one of the largest firms serving the Middle East only on the strength of its products and services.''
Having tied up with Prime Drilling for drilling equipment in the region, First is confident that the expertise of its partner will hold the company in good stead.
Prime has several years of experience in the field of drilling and develops and produces the full range of horizontal directional drilling rigs.

Currently the company can deliver a range of drilling equipment that starts from the 250 kN (25-tonne) mark and exceeds up to 4,000 kN (400-tonne) pull back force. Prime Drilling also manufactures and supplies mixing and recycling units, mud pumps, drill pipes and HDD accessories for the entire range of rigs that it currently services.

First has partnered with Wimmer for providing equipment for excavation. Wimmer has a range of products that can equip hydraulic excavators with a quick coupler, A-Lock, grapplers, clamshells, drills, shears, pulverisers, breakers and an assortment of buckets.
Under the industrial and aviation equipment segment, First offers a range of services that includes maintenance, catering, cabin service vehicles and industrial lifts.

In association with Tesco, the company offers a complete line of maintenance, catering, cabin service vehicles and industrial lifts. Tesco's 50 years of experience in design and manufacture of scissor lifts has helped the company to emerge as the industry leader in its segment.

According to First, the hi-lifts offered by Tesco are among the smoothest that are currently available in the market. The patented booster arm of Tesco is said to allow lower operating pressures within the hydraulic system. Combining this feature along with the emergency-lowering stabiliser retract system, Tesco has been producing safe and reliable products.

The tunnelling and micro-tunnelling equipment division of First, in collaboration with Lovat, provides quality tunnelling equipment.
Lovat manufactures self-contained tunnelling machines that are complete with conveyor, lining erection system, and integral power pack. The systems are said to give greater machine reliability, quicker start-up, and extremely fast shaft-to-shaft turnaround.
Each tunnel-boring machine  is fully assembled and shop-tested prior to shipment.

Already, the company has built over 200 TBMs and completed more than 380 tunnelling projects worldwide. According to First, the machines from Lovat have excavated more than 1,000,000 m of tunnel in over 25 countries from Seattle to Singapore.
Lovat manufactures micro-tunnelling systems ranging from small diameter auger machines, right up to slurry systems with a diameter of several meters.

The vehicles division of First provides commercial and industrial vehicles as well as tow tractors and ground support equipment that are used for a wide variety of applications. Much of the equipment is procured from Taylor-Dunn. But, with the recent acquisition of Tiger Manufacturing Company and United Tractors, the company presently has a complete line of products that will fulfil the needs of the industry.

The range of products currently extend from industrial tow-tractors, personnel and burden carriers to ground support equipment, which includes push back tractors, baggage tractors, belt loaders and trailers.

First also provides custom-made trucks in partnership with Royal Truck Body. Royal Body has been in business since 1971, and has been a premier manufacturer of custom work trucks in the US, providing a variety of truck bodies and accessories designed to meet the needs of its customers.

According to Royal, the management team has dedicated itself to delivering quality products at competitive prices.
The company has been a major innovator in service body design, anticipating the needs of its customers.
It has a 5,000 sq ft design studio and 145,000 sq ft of manufacturing and warehousing space.
Royal pushes this space even further with an additional 40,0000 sq ft at its satellite locations.
Currently, First International is operational in the markets of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE and Oman and there are plans to spread out further.