Zenith Power Controls and Switchgear LLC, a member of Oman's Galfar Group, is an up and coming manufacturer with ties to some of the world's leading companies as their representative in the Sultanate. The company also has an events department that provides high-tech entertainment including laser shows on special occasions.

The company is an agent for US-based Vivendi Waters, manufacturers and installers of water and wastewater treatment plants, General Electric Industrial Systems and GE Fanuc. Zenith markets GE Fanuc's process logic controls (PLCs) and also assembles PLC panels at its own plant in Muscat.

Since its opening in 1996, the company has been manufacturing all kinds of distribution boards, panels including Form 4 ones, feeder pillars and motor control centres, including draw-out and fixed type models and power control centres.

The fastest-selling items are main distribution boards, Form 4 panels and metering panels, according to general manager V.M. Abdul Raheem. The company sources many of its raw materials from GE while importing some requirements including enclosures, bus bars and hardware from elsewhere in the world.

One of the first exports was the sale of process panels to a UAE party. That order and successful business from other sales overseas have prompted Zenith to seek more sales in the Gulf market.

"We plan to expand in "speciality" areas such as Scada (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) where competition is less," said Abdul Raheem. The system he has in mind will constitute both product and system integration. "GE Fanuc supplies PLCs which can be programmed to suit requirements. The PLC and other equipment are assembled in the panel for the manufacture of the remote terminal unit (RTU). To allow communication, a modem can be integrated with the system. "We have the skills to perform the assembly and we have testing and staging areas to do the factory-acceptance tests," said Abdul Raheem. "We have done several PLC panels which can be used in various applications including automation and Scada." Zenith makes many PLC panels per month. Abdul Raheem said the company was concentrating on ones that could be used for Scada and instrumentation and these would be tailor-made to suit the requirements of projects.

The export of PLC panels could be a lucrative aspect of the business, as its value is rated high because of the engineering and improvisation involved in the assembly.