< Previous TOP FM SUPPLIERS 2021 www.fm-middleeast.com60 December 2021 Dyson Johannes Mueller Head of Dyson Professional MEA Facilio Prabhu Ramachandran Founder and CEO, Facilio Despite the challenging business environment brought on by Covid-19 in 2020, Dyson has enjoyed growth in the last 12 months. “The pandemic put the spotlight on good hand hygiene being a critical first line of defence leading to facility management professionals prioritising the equipment installed in public areas,” says Johannes Mueller, head of Dyson Professional MEA. With the ability to dry a consumers’ hands in only 10 seconds while producing up to 85% less carbon dioxide emissions per dry than paper towels, the Dyson Airblade 9kJ hand dryer has grown in popularity to become a must-have for any upmarket and hygiene focused public lavatory including hospitals, hotels, museums, and restaurants. The Airblade’s energy efficiency coupled with greater performance as well as HEPA Talking about the company’s biggest achievement in the last 12 months, Prabhu Ramachandran, founder, and CEO, Facilio, says: “2020-2021 is a game-changing period for us. We witnessed a 5x growth over last year, and expanded to new regions like the UK, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Australia, and also opened a new office in Sydney. We have strongly established ourselves in the UAE market, which is setting the benchmark for global property owners on digitising and meeting sustainability goals. “Our presence in supporting property operations with our solutions, now extends to 85m sq. ft across 500+ buildings worldwide. Our partnership filters, which have been tested against particles and bacteria, have made it an attractive option for facility management across sectors. “With Dubai looking to welcome the world at the Expo 2020, we were delighted that our technology was chosen to improve the visitor experience, with 400 Airblade hand dryers installed with industry leaders continues to grow - this year we tied up with Belimo, a global market leader in the development and sales of field devices for HVAC systems. Despite the economic downturn, we added a number of ‘trophy’ buildings, landmark projects, and large enterprises to our client portfolio. Our portfolio of enterprise clients grew globally across North America, Europe & UK, the Middle East, Australia, and Asia Pacific region.” To spur innovation in the market, Facilio published a research report on the State of Property Operations & Maintenance Software 2021, benefitting over 1000+ readers, serving as a across 200 pavilions at the event,” says Mueller. Dyson Airblade technology has become a popular choice for facilities management in washrooms across facilities and business locations in the UAE, as one of the best ways to ensure a user’s hands are dried quickly and hygienically. cornerstone strategic document for progressive FM services and portfolio owner/operator enterprises.TOP FM SUPPLIERS 2021 www.fm-middleeast.comDecember 2021 61 Fine Solutions Seifeddine Beldi Country Manager Fine Solutions FSI Adrian Jarvis FSI Middle East Director Fine Hygienic Holding (FHH) specialises in hygienic product manufacturing, innovative hygienic solutions, and advanced, long-lasting germ protection products. Seifeddine Beldi, country manager Fine Solutions, says: “While the last 12 months were challenging, our team worked relentlessly to bag some major wins. We became the trusted supplier for hygienic products for major 5-star hotels in the UAE, such as Marriott group, Hilton, Emaar, Accor among many others. We also signed a contract with all properties, shops and businesses under Majid al Futtaim group, servicing more than 100 million visitors, to exclusively use Fine Sterilised Tissues. We were also chosen as supplier of hygienic paper products by the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai. We take pride in the fact that we helped businesses, “We’ve celebrated many achievements over the last 12 months, but our most significant to date is the acquisition of FSI by MRI Software, a global leader in real estate software,” says Adrian Jarvis, FSI Middle East director. The acquisition of FSI significantly enhances MRI’s facilities management capabilities with a comprehensive, modern software solution that and enhances the company’s ability to better serve owners, occupiers and contractors by delivering cutting-edge technology to effectively manage and maintain their facilities. FSI’s team of CAFM specialists have continued prove that remote solution delivery is now the norm amidst the continued challenges faced working events and venues to reopen safely and operate by providing a clean and hygienic environment. We aim to further expand our footprints in the northern emirates to be more closer to our customers and service them efficiently. “In 2020, we bagged the prestigious from home, with little or no face-to-face meetings. Jarvis says: “Our business development team have, however, secured and grown our regional client base throughout 2021, and our regional product specialists have implemented many projects across various sectors in the region during the last 12 months. “After an initial dip due to the onset of Covid-19 in 2020 we have seen a continued trend to adopt workforce mobility with user volumes now higher than before. There is a definite increase in the use of mobility for soft services, i.e. routes, scans of NFC and QR codes for time and attendance, and not just hard services technical FM. “Additionally, there is a continued interest in app-based technology, hence FSI launched @yourService to provide FM service providers with a B2B and B2C app to enhance their service provision offering and to cater for both workplace and community engagement.” and highly coveted ‘Sterilised Brand of the Decade Award’, by the Family Hygiene Institute (FHI) which further vindicate our efforts of ensuring a fully sterile and hygienic production environment and solutions by our patented technology – SteriPro.” TOP FM SUPPLIERS 2021 www.fm-middleeast.com62 December 2021 Netix Global BV Sanjeevv Bhatia CEO of Netix Global BV The Netix Novus Partner Program was launched, at an online and physical hybrid event, on 1st September 2021; with physical attendees at the Burj Khalifa, and online delegates from 20 countries joining via livestream. Sanjeevv Bhatia is the CEO of Netix Global BV, says: “This initiative aims to drive a Brownfield Revolution, through an ecosystem of certified service providers, and an open-protocol building management approach; initially within the region, and eventually at a global level. “ The program was inspired by the success of ODS Global – a Dubai-based master systems integrator and who are now the first Novus Platinum Partner, with a focus on connected buildings, sustainability and energy efficiency. ODS has been awarded the BMS maintenance and upgrade for 18 properties and 5 vertical communities by Emaar. Netix’s retrofit solutions enabled ODS Global to avoid replacing the entire BMS and help Mazaya Holding save 75% of upgrade costs. And Netix’s IoT and AI-based open protocol solutions led to ODS Global being awarded a three year maintenance contract for the BMS of 24 DAMAC Properties’ towers; the upgrade and maintenance of 3 Mazaya Towers’ buildings; and system integration projects at the Jafza Convention Centre, the BVLGARI Resort in Jumeirah Bay, the Pullman Hotel, and the Emirates Airlines Staff Accommodation in Dubai. ODS has established an office in Abu Dhabi and have big plans to grow that market, through 2021, and the next 5 years. Teknoware Middle East FZCO - the regional office for Finnish vehicle and emergency lighting manufacturer Teknoware Oy - launched the next- gen Seven Series line of centralised emergency lighting control panels, and other state-of-the-art luminaire solutions, capable of being fully and seamlessly integrated with the building BMS. The team is confident of picking up significant contracts for life safety systems, from new developments in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, says Bhatia. Talking about what the firm is looking forward to next year, Bhatia says: “There’s a global move to smart cities, smart integration, and digital transformation, in real estate. Netix is pioneering the ‘Android’ building approach; which will allow the industry to integrate existing and future solutions using the open-protocol, plug-and- play approach we take – which enables functionality comparable to the ease with which users are able to add apps to smartphones. This will make legacy buildings compatible with smart-tech. Enabling this transformation is at the core of Netix’s plans for the next year; in addition to introducing smart, connected, and sustainable next-gen technologies, across the key functions in real estate.” Headquartered in Schiphol-Rijk (Netherlands), Netix Global BV is a vendor-neutral iIBMS automation solutions provider, with a strong focus on sustainable smart buildings, smart cities, and energy efficiency.TOP FM SUPPLIERS 2021 www.fm-middleeast.comDecember 2021 63 Sanipex Group Lucy Holmes Marketing Director Demand for on-trend indoor and outdoor products has soared over the past 12 months, driving robust growth across SANIPEXGROUP’s categories. The urgency of rapid digitalisation earlier this year drove the launch of the new SANIPEXGROUP website and more recently, the e-commerce website which has accrued over one million visitors since its launch in August. Lucy Holmes, marketing director, says: “The enhancement of our online presence has significantly extended SANIPEXGROUP’s reach. In the UAE, our direct-to-the-door delivery within 48hours and the Click & Collect option from any of our seven retail showrooms added to the appeal of our unique premium lifestyle proposition.” SANIPEXGROUP’s physical footprint is also growing. Almost 12 months ago, the firm opened a showroom in Ras Al Khaimah in response to demand from customers in the Northern Emirates; featuring its brands BAGNODESIGN, AQUAZONE and outdoor living products from SANIPEX GALLERY. In Dubai, its fourth lifestyle concept store, SANIPEX GALLERY Umm Sequim, recently opened. The new store showcases products across its Outdoor Furniture, Outdoor Tiles & Slabs, Outdoor Spa, Lighting, Bar & Kitchen, BBQ, Planters, and Urban Landscape categories. The GALLERY’s mezzanine floor will soon hold its expanded lighting and kitchen collections plus a show apartment delivering an immersive lifestyle experience. Next, the firm will be opening another new store in Sharjah, again in response to rising local demand, says Holmes. Outside the UAE, global presence strengthened with the introduction of BAGNODESIGN products in Destinkt’s Cape Town and Centurion showrooms, and the renovation of our flagship London A&D Gallery. Holmes says: “We also increased our participation in trade shows, exhibiting with ETAB International at our first Hotel Show Saudi Arabia.” Talking about some of the challenges faced, Holmes says: “The Covid-19 pandemic has affected every industry, sector, and market in every country. Undoubtedly, retail took a hit with restrictions on movement yet, at the same time, exciting new opportunities emerged to meet changing demand. Going forward, brand success will be reliant on the adoption of a customer- first mindset, a focus on innovation and building operational resilience. “Now that lockdown restrictions have eased in most countries, consumers are looking for seamless experiences that encompass the best of both the virtual and bricks-and-mortar realms. We are also seeing a surge in interest in our spa and wellness products, from whirlpool and spa baths to rain showers, chromatherapy, and the innovative MILK system; private clients want to replicate the luxury spa experience at home, while the hospitality sector invests in and upgrading their spa facilities.” SANIPEXGROUP’s categories are expanding as the market evolves and opportunities emerge. In 2022, the firm intends to build on the success of its newly introduced brands, such as Surfaces by BAGNODESIGN and Bystro. TOP FM SUPPLIERS 2021 www.fm-middleeast.com64 December 2021 TechnoPurple Amit Jain Managing Director VERTECO David King Managing Director Amit Jain, managing director at TechnoPurple says that the FM market has been under lot of cost pressure in the last one year. He says: “There was cut throat competition and we feared technology would bear the brunt of budget cuts. Fortunately most FM companies in Middle East realise that reduction in cost, without compromising quality, is only possible through improving efficiency of their operations through use of technology. FM companies who showcase their good and bad performance in a transparent manner on a technology backed platform are seeing stronger stickiness and long lasting relationship with their end clients. “At this point our hands are full with a lot of challenging projects and hopefully we should be able to deliver Talking about the firm’s achievement in the past 12 months, David King, managing director of VERTECO, says: “One of our proudest moments was partnering with the Water Alliance Association as official sponsor of RENEW Our World, Student Water Innovation Challenge. It’s a cutting-edge school competition that encourages UAE students to produce creative and sustainable solutions for tackling today’s water issues. “Our biggest achievement though this year, and every year, is the impact we support our clients to create. Helping companies achieving huge operational efficiencies with our water saving solutions, and smart washroom technologies (IoT) in a sustainable way awesomeness to our clients the way we have done for last decade of our existence.” TechnoPurple has doubled the investment and team size to fasten the product development. The firm will be offering full-fledged CAFM Solution directly on TechnoPurple Platform and companies who love its field services app would have an option of using TechnoPurple at backend as well. Some of the highlights of its upcoming features are: End Customer App for easy raising of Service Requests; WhatsApp Integration for tracking Work Order status; Deploying Smart Sensors in communities on assets like Street Lights, Toilets, MEP Equipment for automatic creation of reactive tasks; Object Detection of images captured on App for automatic rejection in case irrelevant image is captured; and BI Analytics for capturing utilisation of FM workforce on ground and intelligent alerts. is core to why VERTECO exists.” “Water sustainability is a key focus not only for us, but around the globe. One of the questions posed at EXPO 2020 Dubai this year is, ‘How will we protect our most precious resource today, for tomorrow?’. VERTECO has been working for the last decade in the region to help corporations address this challenge. Now the demand is growing within private homes and rental properties too, as we all look to do our part for the planet.” King, managing director of VERTECO and the residential arm of the business, SaveWaterUAE, will be speaking at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi early next year about household water efficiency. This session with focus on policy and educational initiatives that have successfully changed consumer behaviour or incentivised technology/ equipment retrofits to reduce water use.TOP FM SUPPLIERS 2021 www.fm-middleeast.comDecember 2021 65 Virtual IT Andreas Hadjioannou Managing Director “The last twelve months have been very busy and challenging, for us, our customers and the industry in general,” says Andreas Hadjioannou, managing director at Virtual IT. “The biggest challenges were to manage the recovery from the Covid-19 lockdown, training staff, working together virtually, investing in new digital technologies and transforming processes and procedures to the new norm. As a company we were lucky enough to implement in early 2019 a state of the art Unified Communication platform that integrates voice, video calls, web meetings, chat, file exchange, email, remote diagnostics and mobility. This allowed our resources to effectively and efficiently communicate with our customers, and remotely implement and support our WebTMA CAFM system.” “Despite the Covid-19 issues the last 12 months have been very successful for our company achieving a substantial growth in our business with a number of new WebTMA CAFM contracts. Every CAFM project has its own challenges with customers of today being more informed on systems, more demanding than ever, requiring the latest technologies to be in line with their Facility and Asset Management business processes.” Examples of projects and challenges successfully implemented during this period include the Fakeeh University Hospital, Doha Oasis and the King Fahad Causeway CAFM projects. Fakeeh University Hospital provides state-of-the-art facilities with full range of healthcare service in line with international quality standards. One of the challenge in implementing WebTMA CAFM at Fakeeh University hospital was to incorporate the requirements of the FM department, Biomedical department and the Service Provider under one CAFM platform. Doha Oasis Project - Qatar, is a “city within a city” as it is called, with the incorporation of the needs of all five (5) different entities and their related operators covering Residential, Hospitality, Theme Park, Cinemas and Mall facilities. The main challenge Virtual IT faced during this project is was to satisfy the requirements of all the different stakeholders related to the project. These included the customer, project constructor, managing operators, FM Service providers, subcontractors and Supervising FM Agent of the overall operations. It included contract, space and asset management, each running their own internal maintenance teams and subcontractors and having different needs and expectations from the software. King Fahad Causeway is a marvel of engineering connecting Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Bahrain. This remarkable project consists of a 26km series of bridges, two islands, one of which them is includes customs and immigration facilities, a mosque, gardens and retail and hospitality outlets. The authority managing the project has a team of very sophisticated engineers with endless requirements on maintenance, constantly looking for the most efficient and effective ways to manage them. Hadjioannou says: “Our objective for the next 12 months is to focus on managing our growth, enhancing our implementation services based on international Facility and Asset management standards, focusing on digital transformation and launching the new WebTMA version 7 in the market. WebTMA 7 is a total refresh of WebTMA’s core product, associated modules, and interfaces. The development of the new version of WebTMA includes: a new user interface, upgraded core framework, improved workflows, improved performance, and a variety of new features and functionality that enhance the product and the user’s experience. “We believe that the way the UAE government handled the Covid-19 crisis has given a big boost to the industry that will make UAE a stronger country than what it was when it went into the crisis and we thank them for that.” 5 MINUTES WITH... 66 December 2021 What does your role involve? As Emrill’s general manager of support services, my role entails supporting the operations team across a diverse range of programmes and initiatives, including learning and development, training and engineering, to enable the team to meet Emrill’s world-class standards in the delivery of high-quality client service. THIS MONTH: JAMES SMITH, GENERAL MANAGER, EMRILL FMME delves into the roles and lives to understand what makes the region’s FM professionals tick 3.00 What is the most challenging aspect of your job? Emrill’s biggest asset is its people, and the most challenging aspect of my role is ensuring we have the right people in place who embody Emrill’s core pillars. Supporting every area of the business is a challenge. Without having an excellent team in place, it would be far more difficult to deliver a high level of service to our teams so they can continue to offer best- in-class services to our clients. What do you like to do in your spare time? You’ll often find me on the golf course dur- ing the weekends, trying to improve my game, which can be quite challenging! I’m also an avid football fan, and I try to spend as much time as possible with my family. 4.45 What is the most memorable project and why? Having previous experience dealing with significant business incidents, I was the lead for Emrill’s Covid-19 Crisis Management Plan and action committee. Together with other committee members, we ensured uninterrupted operations and the delivery of client services. Overseeing and executing robust risk mitigation and business continuity plans so clients could continue to rely on Emrill while we ensured readiness for any future event was incredibly rewarding. 2.05 0.00 Where do you see the FM industry in 5 years? We’re already seeing greater adoption of IoT and big data in facilities management, and I think we’re going to see this trend continue. Emrill has been using IoT and big data for a number of years, incorporating sensors and automation across projects to optimise manpower and workflows. We’ll also see increased utilisation of the cloud, so critical data can be shared in real-time, accessible from anywhere at any time. 4.05 www.fm-middleeast.com Managing Director Alex Reeve Group Sales Manager Vinay Ravindran Distribution and Circulation Manager Evijin Pathrose Distribution Coordinator Avinash Pereira Circulation Executive Rajesh Pillai 2021 What do you love most about your job? I love the variety — no one day is ever the same. Working with a full range of departments to ensure the proper levels of support across hundreds of projects throughout the UAE means every day presents new challenges and the opportunity to find new solu- tions, resolve complex situations and help drive continuous improvements across every level of the business. 1.45 Production Manager Denny Kollannoor Group Editor Carla Sertin• 1000s of brands & products • Accredited workshops • Live hack challenges • 6 world class conferences • Cyber Security Lab • Demos & presentations • Start-up zone • Tech disruption zones 16-18//01//2022 Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE www.intersecexpo.com/register Register to visit: A power packed 3 days Bringing the world of security and safety to Dubai • 1000s of brands & products • Accredited workshops • Live hack challenges • 6 world class conferences • Cyber Security Lab • Demos & presentations • Start-up zone • Tech disruption zones Supported byConcordia On-Demand is Live! Say Hello to Concordia On-Demand Your Digital Self-Service Portal from Concordia AC Services Disinfection Services Cleaning Services Painting Services Pest Control Services Maintenance Services Parking Management Commercial Fit-Out Management Scan Me! +971 4 368 8883 info@concordiadubai.com Next >