< Previous10 MEP Middle East | September 2022 www.mepmiddleeast.com VALUE ENGINEERING into smart homes with our gadgets instead of building completely new smart homes. Today, our customers prefer us for helping them make this transition into smartness.” He continues to talk about how the brand stays ahead of the curve and stands out from the competition despite the constantly evolving electrical industry where companies compete for market share and new entrants enter into the market. Differentiation is at the very core of Himel’s strategy that is refl ected in the four cornerstones of its approach to the market: accessibility, availability, reliability and affordability. “Reliability and affordability are part of our value engineering approach to the whole product design, technology, manufacturing, etc. Accessibility is all about the channel network. We would like to build an extremely capsular model of channel distribution so that irrespective of the size of the market, if a consumer needs a Himel product, it is accessible. Availability is all about the backward and forward supply chain. Our global supply chain ensures we do not affect our lead times to deliver when an order is placed. We work very closely with our partners to keep these products available through a very effi cient distribution system. “We spend a lot of time making sure this basic hygiene is established. Apart from the brand building, brand marketing, channel management, channel marketing, etc. that we do, we make sure that the key hygiene factors which are accessibility, availability, affordability, and reliability, are kept in place. We are a people’s brand because we refl ect them and the markets we serve.” In addition to maintaining the four cornerstones of the Himel approach, the brand also believes in giving its well- informed customers a retail shopping experience they can count on. Throughout the process of researching a product September 2022 | MEP Middle East 11 www.mepmiddleeast.com VALUE ENGINEERING and spending time browsing the internet in search of it, the brand provides all the necessary information to its retail customers. In the physical world, since touch and feel are a big part of a buyer’s journey, Himel has built customer experience centers. Chebbi explains “We have a Customer Experience Center that exists in Dubai where one can walk in and test the products. There are also resources, product literature and staff who can help you understand how and where the product can be used. So, without really buying or going through the commercial process, one can experience the product. “We believe in empowerment and enablement which make for the two big parts of our customer experience journey. We empower our customers to make the right decision after enabling them completely with respect to all the information they need to know to make that decision. We expose them to what is available, give them the opportunity to discover, and based on that they can make a very comfortable decision at their own pace and in their own style. So, this is our way of creating a differentiated customer experience.” While discussing empowerment, Chebbi passionately spoke about the company’s vision for promoting skill development for designers, technicians, manufacturers, etc. He says: “We are big on training and believe that the knowledge of technology, skills and access to information must be at the point in the value chain where the moment of truth happens. While we as manufacturers and our engineers know a lot about this technology and products, we believe that our partners’ engineers and our partners’ competencies must be at least equal to ours if not better so that we are able to provide the best of the technology that is available to our customers all the time.” The brand provides training and works closely with trade associations, their channel partners, electricians, retail communities and the government. Historically, UAE has been the key strategic location for the electrical vertical and it remains so for Himel as well. The country is an important destination for the brand owing to its emergence and booming tourism. “UAE is a great example of where ambition is built and executed. We work very well with our strong channel network over here. A lot of our new products are being launched here with many new engagements made. Many of our staff who serve the Middle East Africa market of Himel are based in the UAE. So, it’s a very important country in our market geography,” he says. A number of ambitious plans are also in the works for the brand across the Gulf region. Himel has started operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and is already establishing its partner and channel networks. Chebbi believes that Himel can scale at a very fast rate in the kingdom since the brand builds strong collaborations with the market structure of the country and then joins hands with them. He says: “We bring our strengths to them and then leverage their strengths to us so that together we can serve the market spreading our network in the Middle East.” “So, we are quite ambitious about this region and are looking forward to serving our discerning customers in this part of the world,” concludes Chebbi. “We have strong chromosomes of Value Engineering in our DNA.” Shrinivas Chebbi, the global head of Himel Business12 MEP Middle East | September 2022 www.mepmiddleeast.com DUCTING AND INSULATION MORE FOR LESS: AN ACHIEVABLE GOAL Considering their specifi cation, location, requirements, storage, brand, quality, cost, time, and cost-benefi ts, the ducting and insulation industry is huge with a lot to discuss. opportunity to take on new challenges and experiences. An effective way in which this can be achieved would be Factory Fitted Insulations (FFI). Taking into account the whole picture of procurement to installation for a project, FFI has a very good time-to-cost ratio. As the ducts are manufactured, the insulation is machine cut in the factory, making the process precise and reducing the waste. The insulation is then applied to the ducts and then delivered to the site. By doing so, the contractor’s procurement team will have less work to do and will make By Nabeel Rayees Patel, technical manager, Gulf Duct Industries In light of our current situation, we are recovering from a pandemic-hit market with a strong focus on cost savings without compromising on quality. Achieving this goal will enable us to branch out and bring us to a point where we will have the September 2022 | MEP Middle East 13 www.mepmiddleeast.com DUCTING AND INSULATION Nabeel Rayees Patel, technical manager, Gulf Duct Industries cost are win-wins in all aspects of the project, which is useful in the current market environment. Not just ducting, this is also applicable in other applications where insulation can be done in the factory like pipe insulations, making project management much easier and project deliveries a lot faster. A step further could also be cladding after insulation which can help make installation and execution faster. Moreover, understanding the design standards for duct construction can provide another perspective. As there is SMACNA and DW144, we can also use our industry experience to understand how ducts can be manufactured in a way that can reduce sure that deliveries are made to the factory where the ducts are manufactured. Also, the site will be cleaner with more storage space and fewer hazards. The manpower required by the contractor on site to install the FFI ductwork will be much lesser since they will be ready to install, which in turn helps to move from one zone to another at the end reducing any delays and achieving the target quicker. We can also see a reduction of wastage at the site and thus, a reduction in waste management costs. This explains my time-to-cost theory, in which time and installation times. An example can be of how the elbows are manufactured. We could extend the lengths on both sides or on one side which can make the installation quicker and easier. From another angle, we could also focus on the construction of the ductwork itself. For instance, we could use spot welding on the fl anges instead of rivets or clenchers making the production process easier. As a whole, the modular system makes it possible to accomplish the majority of the work in a matter of days with just a few members needed to install the system. By combining the ideas, we can complete the desired zone in a matter of days. In addition to ductwork, modular systems can also be used for electrical cable trays and fi refi ghting lines, reducing the amount of legwork on site and keeping consultants satisfi ed with deadlines and quality. 14 MEP Middle East | August 2022 www.mepmiddleeast.com DUCTING AGIS since its inception, and answered our questions in a candid discussion. Here are edited excerpts from our sit-in: What does the current economic situation of the iron and steel industr y in the MENA region look like? How do you see it evolving in the future? The steel market is very cyclical and does not follow a particular pattern. In the first half of this year, the market was booming. We saw the prices going up and demand picking up and then it went to a stage where the demand stopped due to the increased prices. B Sadashiv Shetty, general manager - Commercial at Al Ghurair Iron & Steel, on all things steel and how the top-notch steel maker remains buoyant despite the doom and gloom in the industr y Al Ghurair Iron & Steel (AGIS) is the largest fl at steel rolling & hot-dip galvanising complex in GCC. With a signifi cant foothold in the region, the facility has been catering to the requirement of the construction, fabrication, and other non-automotive industries in the MENA region. AGIS is a joint venture of the Al Ghurair Group, UAE, and Nippon Steel Corporation, Japan. MEP Middle East sat down with the industry veteran B Sadashiv Shetty, general manager - Commercial at Al Ghurair Iron & Steel, to talk numbers and prospects. He has been involved with Despite an end-user requirement, buyers are postponing the actual purchase until prices are lower. Today, most steel makers have ready deliveries available and the buyers are aware that a one-month delay in buying steel will not affect the final delivery time. At the moment, market sentiments are a little weak, but the demand in this region is expected to be strong. Saudi Arabia and UAE are booming right now with projects and have got ambitious plans. I see positivity in a short-term duration, at least, because the projects are not on hold. August 2022 | MEP Middle East 15 www.mepmiddleeast.com DUCTING barrier tariff or a non-tariff barrier. There should be criteria for quality certification, like the SASO mark in Saudi Arabia. Today, our threat is not so much in terms of pricing, but in terms of quality as well, because today people pass off a lower quality product into the market which is not too good for the economy and not good for the consumers either. Until we have strict guidelines for imported steel in place, the way we compete with these products is purely on the basis of quality. However, the imports have not dented our market share much because the industry that we deal with respects quality. The quality of our products makes us unbeatable in the market. To maintain quality and reduce costs, are they opting for AGIS steel with a thinner zinc coating? Does that differ from what is stipulated in their contracts with consultants and project owners? We, as steel makers, don’t know the end user’s requirement. We supply what is asked for. When we provide steel with a 275 GSM, it is marked on the sheet since that is our standard product. The thickness of other coatings is not marked since they are made according to the customer’s specifications. Although the sheet will not be stamped with the coating details, our trust certificate will still provide that information. Now, this is where the consultants come into the picture. They must insist on seeing 275 GSM specified on the product. Our 275 GSM steel sheets always carry the marking on the product and we have MTCs (Material Test Certificate) which back it up. We are available for any kind of verification on that. Our competition is with the lower quality products that are being imported and repackaged with the AGIS trademark. That is another issue that we are facing. September 2022 | MEP Middle East 15 www.mepmiddleeast.com Right now, they’re consuming from the inventory that they have but the inventories are fast getting depleted. Later, when they need the steel deliveries on a short notice, mills will be able to meet those needs since their order books are not overloaded. AGIS is one of the biggest suppliers of coated steel in the UAE. What makes you stand apart from your competition? We are the top-notch steel makers. Our strength has been quality from day one. We’ve been in the business for over 15 years and have created a benchmark standard. We’ve gone through an entire process of innovation, building up our reputation, making changes to the product, sourcing the right raw material, etc. We don’t compromise on the quality of the raw material used. Our product is our biggest strength. We provide the best quality at an optimum price and are approved by almost all major consultants. Talking about production, what percentage of the steel produced by AGIS is supplied to the MEP industr y? How much of it is exported to countries like Oman and Saudi Arabia? Our export volumes are slightly bigger in terms of percentage compared to what is supplied domestically. Annually, we produce close to 150,000 tons for the domestic market and that’s for construction as a whole, out of which 80% goes towards MEP. Our biggest consumers in this market are manufacturers in the HVAC space. We are the largest shareholders in the UAE market and also have a significant presence in the GCC. Where is the industr y going in terms of better products with higher corrosion rates such as Aluzinc? Aluzinc has been evaluated for many years but surprisingly in the Middle East, there’s not much demand for using it for ducting purposes, and we don’t see that changing. In our case, despite UAE being a high corrosion area, the ducts are not exposed to the outside environment. All of it goes into a closed room above the ceiling. For use in external applications, instead of Aluzinc, the industry here uses galvanised steel with a thicker zinc coating. The thickness of the zinc coating can go up to 350 GSM. How is the price volatility of steel affecting the ecosystem? How has this impacted AGIS? For us as steel makers, there is a direct correlation between raw and finished galvanised iron. Because of our buying cycle, we are always exposed to some kind of price volatility. Since our nearest supply of raw material is in a three-week shipment zone, we buy our raw materials three months before we have to supply the finished product. So, we are always exposed to that volatility. There is a different challenge faced by project owners and MEP teams. Between the initial tender, the award, and actual execution, they are exposed to price fluctuations. We provide a solution to that by insulating them against any further risk by holding the prices for a longer period. After the price is quoted, we stagger the deliveries over a period of three to four months. In cases of products like aluminium or zinc, you can always hedge it against ESE. Unfortunately, in the case of steel, we don’t have a perfect correlation to any kind of index. It is difficult to hedge prices or have that security in terms of taking care of these fluctuations. How is imported steel affecting the demand for AGIS steel in the UAE? Our biggest competition is with imports. It is an open market economy here and there are no restrictions on the imported material coming in. So, it is possible for anybody to import the raw material here by paying 5% duty, or sometimes even avoiding that by claiming it to be raw material. We have approached the government for protection for the domestic industry, either in terms of a trade “As a responsible and quality-conscious manufacturer, we are willing to take up challenges on product quality and provide it at a ver y competitive price next door.”16 MEP Middle East | August 2022 www.mepmiddleeast.com DUCTING How can the stakeholders involved be educated to dif ferentiate between the steel procured from AGIS and that from other sources/suppliers? Our biggest strength has been quality and we have a brand name to protect. AGIS is a registered trademark of Al Ghurair Iron and Steel. If somebody is misusing it, we would definitely be interested to know and get more details and take action against it. From our end as responsible manufacturers, we are going to be educating all the consultants, the customers, the supply chain and the industry as a whole. Consultants and project owners should insist on seeing the AGIS trademark. They can always crosscheck with us because we have perfect visibility for each and every coil that goes out of our company. It is easy for us to verify or trace it back to the origin in order to confirm whether it is ours or not. Have you had the chance to see steel that does not really belong to AGIS but has the AGIS trademark on it? We have not seen or come across one but we would encourage our channel partners to let us know of that. If they can come and show us, we will surely take it up with the right authorities and stakeholders. How does using thinner steel sheets and thinner zinc coating layers on the steel af fect the life of AC ducts? You may save on the installation cost, however, your replacement cost will go up since you don’t have the fitness and the coating required, requiring you to replace it sooner. This is something every owner should be aware of. How does Al Ghurair Iron & Steel include sustainability in the project lifecycle of the product? We invest heavily in making our products sustainable in the market. Right from the sourcing of our raw material to the processing and delivery, we make sure that there are minimal carbon emissions. We source raw materials from the nearest possible sources and therefore reduce carbon emissions in the supply chain. We are trying to look at products which are primarily produced from recycled materials so that the end product is entirely recycled. We don’t use any fossil fuels as of now and are trying to look at more efficient carbon in the burning systems. We do have burning systems that we are upgrading to make sure that there is minimum emission. We have invested hugely in pollution control mechanisms in the process to make sure that we have a cleaner environment. We ensure that emission into the air is minimal. Our water is hundred per cent recycled. We have invested in water treatment which makes sure that the process water which is being generated here goes back into the system. So, the only loss we have is evaporation losses. Other than that, we use treatable, portable groundwater for irrigation purposes. So, everything is done in-house. Also, we have switched over almost a hundred per cent of our lighting requirements to LED. What is your message to the MEP industr y? Go local. Go for the quality that will last longer. Today, the world has a commitment to becoming carbon neutral. Firstly, for a building to get greener, you have to reduce your carbon footprint on every product that you use there. There is no better product than one made in the country. The carbon footprint is the lowest. You must look for quality certifications and billing certifications. We have done our certifications in environmental protection. We have a green footprint. We also have an LCA (life cycle assessment) certificate. We make sure anything we use has got the lowest carbon footprint. Now, when you source your GI from within your country versus imported, you are always at an advantage and that is going to www.mepmiddleeast.com 16 MEP Middle East | September 2022 DUCTING B Sadashiv Shetty, general manager - Commercial at Al Ghurair Iron & SteelAugust 2022 | MEP Middle East 17 www.mepmiddleeast.com DUCTING help you when you’re trying to get your LEED certification. It is only when the domestic industry survives that there is more business and there is sustainability. I’m not saying that importing is bad and you must compromise on quality, but if you get the same quality in the domestic market, go for that. If you need a quality that is not manufactured by us, let us know and we will make it for you. As a responsible and quality-conscious manufacturer, we are willing to take up challenges on product quality and provide it at a very competitive price next door. Also, with just-in-time deliveries, you reduce your inventory and save on carrying costs, working capital, etc. These are all benefits of buying locally. DUCTING September 2022 | MEP Middle East 17 www.mepmiddleeast.com18 MEP Middle East | September 2022 www.mepmiddleeast.com INSULATION AND DUCTING Offsite Insulated and Cladded Metal ducts A strong case for adopting new practices in GI ducts, with factor y-built insulation and cladding reduces the need for expensive cross bracing and accessories for dropping thread rods in industrial settings. Similarly offsite cladding of ducts allows: Improved quality for the client: Offset cladding results in a signifi cantly higher quality of cladding since the entire duct surface area is cladded in the factory compared to the site where there is a need to cut openings for the support Reduction of scrap: There is a signifi cant reduction in Al cladding scrap due to factory conditions Better cash fl ow: Contractors benefi t from an improved billing cycle with multiple services, which also reduces issues during DLP Despite their distinct advantages, these practices have only been adopted by a small number of customers. Challenges in the adoption of these practices are: Integrating the offsite strategy into the overall project delivery strategy: An early mandate by clients and consultants helps alter the project environment to suitably plan, adopt, sequence and collaborate between multiple stakeholders Culture and changed ways of working: When timelines are short, stakeholders are blinded by the need to deliver the project, and lateral thinking is scarce. The ability of the project teams to re-imagine constructing the projects off the project locations is critical in improving the adoption rate of offsite fabrication Re-orienting the approach of consulting engineers towards offsite construction: The approach and attitude of consulting engineers can be a roadblock or the path to the success of projects depending on their understanding and orientation towards prefabrication Early stakeholders buy-in: Adapting prefab MEP successfully requires early, multi- stakeholder buy-in, as it impacts collaboration, project sequencing, project control, and certifi cation of work completion in a way that differs from traditional construction A good understanding of material planning: Unlike traditional sites where there is a sequence of material arriving at site, upfront material planning is very critical for offsite construction since all the materials are required at a time together Sequence of work and contract packaging philosophy: The ability of MEP consultants or contractors to positively infl uence all relevant stakeholders to convey the benefi ts to the project in a way that impacts activity sequencing across multiple stakeholders which necessitates changes to the project program and milestones. These need to be agreed upon and suitably adapted. By Rejil Kumar, head of Weathermaker Limited (Voltas Limited Subsidiary) Today, when the construction industry is discussing fi re codes and related use of materials, one of the product lines that gets least discussed, but is omnipresent, is metal ducting and insulation. Depending on the type of project, the industry has been exploring various combinations of materials. In recent years, there has been a trend to shift to self- adhesive nitrile rubber insulations due to their ease of application. Glass wool, stone wool, and ceramic fi bre-based open cell insulations are also popular, owing to their superior fi re properties such as smoke spread and droplet test. While there are many material options, little has changed over the years, in the way we build these insulated ducts. Recently, a few players have explored off- site fabrication of metal-insulated ducts, and they have been successful with industrial jobs and villa projects using off-site insulating and cladding solutions. Some of the advantages of offsite insulations on metal ducting are as follows: Quality: The quality of factory-built insulation is unmatched by that of traditional in situ insulation Installation time: Reduced dependencies lead to a signifi cant reduction in installation time, thereby positively impacting the project duration Reduced equipment and scaffolding cost: As minimal time is spent by the site team on working at heights, this results in a considerable reduction of lifting equipment and scaffolding costs Ease in use of alternative insulations: Ease of application of glass wool type of insulation in factory conditions, which is also a compelling solution, considering its cost versus benefi t compared to nitrile rubber insulations Reduction in scrap: A controlled environment leads to a substantial reduction in the waste of materials, resulting in savings for the subcontractor Easy installation in building roofs: Due to the summer work season, where access to the worksite is limited, this solution is more practical for roof installation Worker safety: As it’s built in a controlled environment where workers are exposed to fewer risks, it signifi cantly improves worker safety Reduced steel support requirement: This solution not only improves aesthetics but also Rejil Kumar, head of Weathermaker LimitedNext >