With two years to go before its silver jubilee, Saudi-based Qanbar Dywidag Precast Concrete Company Limited (QDC) is optimistic about prospects for further growth in the market and anticipates a good year in terms of business.

Says general manager Adel Gad: 'There are many new projects in the pipeline for the current year and we are quite confident of securing a considerable volume in addition to completing all spillover works from last year. This is achievable, thanks to our professional and dedicated team.'
'The demand of precast concrete has been on the rise with clients realising the benefits and advantages of using precast concrete in their projects. Precast does not only reduce the expenditure for the maintenance - owing to its zero maintenance value - but also helps to control the expenditure in the construction programme by enabling the early completion of the project.'
The company, which claims to have a approximately 20 per cent share of the Saudi market, meets the local demands through its production facility at Jubail that can produce up to 155,000 cu m a year of precast products ranging from standard elements to prestressed girders and slabs.
'A wide range of products roll out of the facility each year and we have continued to add new products to the list,' says Gad. 'In 2001 we produced 80,000 cu m of products, which was increased to 85,000 cu m in 2002. Last year we pushed our production further to touch the 110,000 cu m mark.'
QDC provides a comprehensive range of products, offering basically a one stop-shop for all precast and prestressed concrete requirement, right from precast elements such as high external claddings panels, hollowcore slabs, double-tee slabs, and precast domes, and prestressed long-span girders and slabs. These include elements in sandblasted, washed and various formliner finishes.
The company is currently supplying its products to a various projects in the kingdom.  It is close to completing work on the Al Ansari compound in Al Khobar called for the full building frame system including columns, beams and hollowcores, for 50 villas and four apartment blocks.
Other major projects in hand, which involve the supply of the full building frame, include:

• King Faisal university campuses in Al Hasa and Dammam;
• A 270-villa Saudi Basic Industries Company (Sabic) housing compound in Jubail;
• Al Dabbal Commercial Tower in Dammam;
• Al Zamil Compound in Jubail;
• Arabian Drilling Company complex, comprising offices and residential units; and
• Various industrial facilities for Sabic affialiates.                                      

Since 2002, the company has been running its operations from its new office - a three-storey precast building, also designed by QDC - adjoining its factory in Jubail industrial City.
Established in 1981 as a partnership between one of the leading businessmen in the Eastern Province, Sheikh Abdul Razzak Mohammed Qanbar Al Ansari and one of the largest German general contractors and precast concrete manufacturer Dycherhoff and Widmann (Dywidag), the company has grown in strength over the years both in terms of products and in terms of business.
Sheikh Abdul Razzak bought out Dywidag share in the firm in January 2002, to become the sole owner of QDC, and since then the German firm's role is one of technical support.
The parent company has two subsidiaries - Qanbar Stetley and Qanbar Readymix.
QDC started production in 1982, and has supplied precast products to diverse projects including hospitals, schools, factories, warehouses, showrooms, multi-storey offices, apartment buildings, single and multi-storey car parks, villas, shopping centres, mosques, supermarkets, boundary walls, and interlocking paving tiles.
In 1991 QDC boosted its range of precast concrete products with the launch of prestressed double-tee slabs and inverted beams and followed it up with the introduction of hollowcore slabs in 1994. 'In just over a decade, we have been successful in more than tripling our production capacity - from 40,000 cu m to 155,000 cu m per year,' says Gad.
He adds: 'Quality has always remained paramount in our operations and with the support of our director and CEO, Mohammed Al Ansari, we have been successful in maintaining a central, efficient control system in a permanent factory environment. A fully-calibrated and tested computerised batching plant, set up close to the casting unit assures the quality of concrete, eliminating the need for critical concrete transportation.'
The company uses locally procured materials for the production of its various products. Aggregate and sand is procured from local sources and so are cement (Ordinary Portland cement type I and V sulphate-resisting) and steel. Although a few embeds are manufactured locally, the company imports the rest from outside the kingdom, says Gad.
'With an objective of achieving the ISO certification, we started implementing ISO 9001-2000 quality procedures way back in 2001, and our efforts were rewarded by winning the certification in early 2002. This has allowed us to enhance the quality of our products and satisfy the needs and expectations of our clients,' says Gad.
To maintain quality at all levels the company has undertaken several training programmes in Autocad, erection procedures on site, production techniques and safety procedures.
QDC also extensively uses the services of its fully calibrated and tested quality control laboratory at the factory to ensure 'real-time' control at any time. Its quality assurance system ensures maximum control over the production process - thanks to the set 'factory-like' procedures - through maximising safety as on site work is minimised,' he says.
The company's sales network, headed by markting manager Ahmed Sameh,  includes offices in Jubail, Dammam and Riyadh. Although its main market is in the Eastern Province, the company has also supplied its products to several projects in Yanbu, Abha and Riyadh.
QDC's list of valued customers include the who's who of the kingdom and it reads out as: Saudi Aramco, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, Saudi Arabian National Guard, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Defence and various private sector clients.