On the fast track
Four months after beginning production, the Arabian United Float Glass Company is already looking at expansion. Mishaal Al Orayer talks to Gay Sutton about building a company through teamwork.
Located at Yanbu on the shores of the Red Sea, some 300km north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Arabian United Float Glass Company (UFG) is ideally positioned to supply top-quality glass into some of the most rapidly growing regions of the world. With a small port literally on its doorstep, and the major international port of Jeddah just down the road, UFG has a global export reach. In the four months since it began commercial operations, the company has not only been supplying high-quality glass to Saudi Arabia and the surrounding nations, but also exporting to Africa, Turkey, India and Singapore. And with opportunities arising in new markets such as solar panel glass, it is already examining the prospects for expansion.
The company was launched in June 2006 by the family-owned Meda Industrial Group (MIG). ÔÇ£We investigated the glass industry in Saudi Arabia and found that there was only one float glass plant, located in the eastern part of country. Further studies showed there was a good market for glass, and plenty of space for a second plant,ÔÇØ explains managing director Mishaal Al Orayer.
Once the studies were complete, MIG began looking for suitable investors. ÔÇ£We were fortunate enough to convince three publicly-listed companies of the concept, the study and the feasibility of the project.ÔÇØ The National Gas and Industrialisation Company, the National Shipping Company and the Saudi Real Estate Company were the first to make a commitment, quickly followed by Abdulrhman Al-Rashid & Sons Group, a global construction and real estate company. The four companies took a combined 70 per cent equity share in UFG, the remaining 30 per cent being owned by MIG and other business people.
With the financial backing sorted, things progressed quickly. UFG was formed in June 2006, and Shanghai Pony Technologies Company and International Technology Consultants were soon brought in to design the plant and the process. Construction began in March 2007 and just two years later, on 15 February 2009, the plant began primary production, followed by full commercial production in April.
The biggest challenge of the construction project, however, had been the supply of gas. ÔÇ£We had been promised a natural gas pipeline by 2008 but this was delayed, and is now scheduled for 2010. So rather than delay production, we made some modifications to the burners and set up and stabilised the equipment to run on liquid petroleum gas. It was a challenge, but it was successful.ÔÇØ
Setting up UFG has been a considerable achievement for Al Orayer, who had previously worked in a local glass company associated with two of the worldÔÇÖs largest float glass companies, Guardian Industries and Saint-Gobain. UFG is the first float glass company anywhere in the Middle East and Africa to be built and operated completely independently of the five global float glass giants.
The company also has another interesting achievement under its belt. Where many Saudi Arabian companies are usually set up with a 90 per cent expatriate workforce and just 10 per cent drawn from the local community, UFGÔÇÖs workforce consists of 55 per cent local people and only 45 per cent expats. ÔÇ£We currently employ 300 people in total. Only fifty of those are experienced in the float process industry and only 135 are expatriates; the rest are local people who we have sent for training to plants in Indonesia,ÔÇØ Al Orayer explains. "We eventually expect to be able to reduce our manpower to 240, and we will continue training our staff in the skills they require to become world-class manufacturers.ÔÇØ
The manufacture of float glass requires knowledge, skills and world-class equipment. The process works on the basis of floating a layer of molten glass on a bath of molten tin. As the glass gradually cools it achieves an even thickness and a very smooth surface on both sides, producing high-quality glass that has many applications.
At Yanbu, the glass furnace covers an area of about 3,500 square metres and extends 15 metres both below and above ground. Molten glass inside the furnace is raised to an incredible 1600oC and then released under gravity into the tin bath, where it spreads out and floats on the molten tin. The glass is then slowly cooled to around 700oC. Rollers transfer the glass to the annealing lehr (a specialised, temperature-controlled kiln) where it is cooled to around 70oC under highly controlled conditions to prevent the glass from stressing or fracturing. Finally, the glass goes on to a state-of-the-art cutting line and is cut to size before being packaged and shipped or stored in the warehouse.
The plant consumes about 6.5 megawatts of power and has been equipped with its own hydrogen and nitrogen plantsÔÇöthese gases are injected into the tin bath to prevent oxidisation of the tin. The plant also has the back-up of emergency diesel generators to guarantee continued power supply should an interruption occur.
The equipment at Yanbu is state-of-the-art, and has been purchased from around the world. The furnace and tin bath is a world-class design with refractory and equipment from Europe and the US; the batch plant is from Lhati of Finland; the annealing lehr comes from CNUD of Belgium and the cutting line from Grenzebach of Germany.
Running at capacity, the plant will be capable of producing more than 600 tons of glass a day. The production figures show that some 10,000 tons were shipped in JulyÔÇöaround two-thirds total capacity.
The marketing department is now looking to increase UFGÔÇÖs share of the market, and is currently exploring opportunities in the rapidly growing solar panel sector. Meanwhile, UFG has plans for expansion of the production facilities, the company having acquired a further plot of land. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre seeking to expand the company with a second line which will manufacture coloured glass. And weÔÇÖre also looking at installing a coating line alongside the first line.ÔÇØ
There are plenty of opportunities out there as the economy picks up, Al Orayer believes, and the company is well positioned to supply into all the major marketplaces. He explains that the excellent work relationship with the chairman and the board of directors has created a supportive environment, allowing the company to excel and making the project a true success.
ÔÇ£This is a great achievement for Saudi Arabia, for me personally and for our partners. We have built a company from nothing through team work,ÔÇØ he says. ÔÇ£I have played football all my life and I have tried to pass on to our staff the competitiveness and the team spirit of a football team. We have had problems but weÔÇÖve managed to overcome them through strong team spirit.ÔÇØ
