An integrated and streamlined operation backed by some of the most sophisticated equipment in the region and managed by a professional team that is well versed in the aluminium cladding business in the region.

This is the foundation upon which specialist facade contractor Alumco launched commercial operations in mid-2003.
Already, this relatively new player is riding high in the booming construction market of Dubai, lapping up a string of key contracts – its latest being some of the towers at the Jumeirah Beach Residence and The Residences at Burj Dubai.
Alumco’s prime business is the design, engineering, manufacture and installation of all types of facade systems, including the most advanced curtainwall and cladding systems offered anywhere in the world. Its scope of work covers skylights, cladding, doors and windows, double-glazing, tempering, power coating and steel fabrication.
The company is a division of Al Shafar Industries.
According to managing partner Samer Barakat, Alumco’s vision is to offer the UAE and Gulf construction industries a full range of the most sophisticated and modern specialist aluminium architectural products.
Towards this end, the company maintains complete control, in-house, of all the processes involved – from the basic design and engineering work through the shopdrawings to the fabrication and installation of all types of facades and cladding systems and their requisite accessories, he adds.
Hence, Alumco’s new complex will comprise an aluminium fabrication plant, a glass factory, a powder coating division and a stainless steel and unitisation plant. It is situated on a 33,000 sq m greenfield site in the Dubai Investment Park industrial area.
The company was set up in June last year and the first element of the factory complex – the main building, which comprises a 3,300 sq m aluminium fabrication unit and the headquarters offices – was opened only at the beginning of this year.
Nevertheless production is in full swing and Alumco has already completed the prestigious Greens project for Emaar and is nearing completion of its work on the Al Murooj complex.
Alumco sees itself as a strong competitor to the existing large companies in the field. It envisions a bright future for itself and for the curtain wall/cladding/facade business, in general, with plenty of work available both in the UAE and the larger GCC area, according to Martin Mochan, the operations manager.
“However, ironically in spite of high demand and a limited number of quality suppliers, prices and margins are constantly being forced down while contractors are being presented with more and demanding schedules,” Mochan says.  “That said, with the benefit of the huge investment in the most modern plant and machinery and the built-in economies stemming from the design and integration of the processes, Alumco views the future with confidence.”

Integration
Many of the senior managers in Alumco have come from one or the other of the major cladding competitors in Dubai and have brought in a wealth of experience with them, both in terms of the market but also in the fundamentals of aluminium and glass facade fabrication. This has enabled Alumco to plan and build a state-of-the-art plant, which not only uses the latest high-tech machinery but also the optimal layout for production and shipping.
“Many hours were put into the specific layout and planning of the factory to ensure the smoothest and most efficient processing of raw materials through to finished goods,” says Mochan.
With its current equipment and staffing, the aluminium plant has the capacity to process about Dh120 million ($32.7 million) of contracts for aluminium products each year.
“As the unitisation plant will be a multi-purpose extension to the factory, throughput in regular aluminum fabrication can be considerably boosted by using the new plant when demand for unitised products is low,” he points out.
By the end of this year, Alumco will have opened its glass plant, which will deal with all the proprietary aspects of the glass used such as tempering and double-glazing. The unitised curtainwall system and stainless steel division will follow in 2005. The final part of the production line will be the powder coating plant.
Mochan continues: “The glass plant will offer Alumco more flexibility and control in planning production and supply to its projects. Stock sheets of glass will be bought in and then all the proprietary tempering and double-glazing work will be done in-house, eliminating most of the uncertainties and timing difficulties inherent in buying finished glass products from outside suppliers.”
Likewise, the stainless steel fabrication area will take care of all of Alumco’s needs in terms of finished accessories such as balustrades, decorative pieces, cable tensioners and so on. Stainless steel sheets, rods and tubes will be bought in as raw material and all the cutting, bending, welding, buffing and finishing work will be done in-house.
Practically no expense has been spared in equipping the factories with the latest CNC (computerised numerical control) cutting and machining equipment for the aluminium profiles and computer-driven laser cutting units for the stainless steel section, Mochan says.
“The investment in technology on the factory floor is more than matched by the company’s investment in the most up-to-date and complex CAD (computer-aided design) systems in the technical department which produces all of the engineering and design for Alumco,” he adds.
Alumco has a dedicated team of experienced engineers and technicians capable of carrying out all types of projects by employing industry standards in design engineering fabrication and installation. It currently employs more than 500 site workers and has a technical staff of more than 50, based at the main office in Dubai Investment Park. In spite of only being in business for less than a year, the company is already expanding and recruiting specialist aluminium workers to work in the factory and on site. Alumco is also actively seeking senior site managers from overseas.

Raw materials
As an authorised fabricator for Installux systems, Alumco has a very close relationship with Installux Gulf, the regional office of the France-based Installux Group, which specialises in high-quality aluminium systems for curtain walls, doors, windows, gates and conservatories.
A majority of Alumco’s work specifies profile systems, which are extruded by Alupco (Aluminium Products Company) in Dammam, Saudi Arabia and then shipped in raw form to Alumco in Dubai. The relationship is very close and beneficial to both sides.
Other raw materials and services are generally sourced from the UAE market with Emirates Glass supplying sheet glass and Jotun Powder Coatings (JPC) supplying powder coatings.

Unitised system
Elaborating on curtainwalling systems, Samer Halwani, technical manager, says: “There are two ways to clad a building with aluminium and glass. In the traditional ‘stick’ system, mullions and the primary structure are installed and then clad with the glass. In the unitised system, the entire panel is assembled in the factory and then taken to site for installation.
“Unitisation offers many benefits in terms of quality control – a majority of the work is done in the factory environment – and speed of installation on site. The unitised plant will be able to construct panels measuring 5.5 m by 3 m – effectively covering the floor to ceiling span in 3 m widths. The units will have all the required window components built into the panel.
“Generally speaking, the decision to use unitised sections versus conventional methods is largely controlled by the economics and programme timeline. In cases where site access is limited and time is short, it may be more effective to go with unitised methods.”   

Projects
“Alumco has just successfully completed eight buildings in the Greens development for Emaar and its biggest project to date is the Al Murooj Complex near junction one on the Sheikh Zayed Road,” says Barakat.
The Greens at Emirates Golf Course is well located with easy access to Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City and the American University of Dubai. It comprises low-rise residential apartments.
Al Murooj, being developed by Dubai International Real Estate, is a 14-storey hotel tower and eight distinctively-shaped 12-storey residential blocks connected by seven-storey buildings. Al Ahmadiah Contracting is the main contractor.
Alumco has also just won a contract for six towers at The Residences at the Burj Dubai. These residential towers will surround the Burj Dubai, which is designed to be the world’s tallest tower.
“The contracts for The Residences calls for the design, engineering, fabrication and installation of some 38,000 sq m of glass curtain wall, 7,000 sq m of composite cladding, 7,000 to 8,000 sq m of windows and sliding door assemblies and 7,000 m of balustrades,” says Barakat. “It is currently in the engineering and detailed drawing phase and Alumco will mobilise on site next month (June). It is a fast track project with a schedule finish date in the first quarter of 2005.”
Another piece of good news for Alumco is the order it has just received for the Jumeirah Beach Residence – where it has secured work for four of the total of 37 towers so far and is actively pursuing a further 13 towers.
Alumco is due to start work on site at the new Dubai Police general headquarters in Al Qusais. This landmark project, worth approximately Dh140 million ($38.1 million), encompasses 20,000 sq m of glass curtain wall and a further 20,000 sq m of composite cladding.
In September this year, Alumco will begin site operations at the Al Shaza Tower at Dubai Marina, being developed by Al Sayyah,
Alumco will be installing a total of 20,000 sq m of curtain wall and composite cladding at the 39-storey tower.