Zamil Architectural Industries (ZAI), recently formed after combining several Zamil companies involved in the construction and architectural field, expects to see a 20 per cent surge in exports following significant strategic decisions taken to respond to market needs.

New processes and new products introduced recently have raised the company's confidence in penetrating the Middle Fast and other Asian and North African markets, a senior official said.

ZAI consists of Zamil Garage Doors, Zamil Art Glass and Architectural Metal Works, Skylite Industries, Zamil Shade Guard and PVC Shades and Mirage Wardrobe Sliding Doors.

Products offered by these group companies, now termed divisions, include garage doors, industrial shutters, sectional doors, fast action doors, swing/sliding gates and boom gates, stainless-steel balustrades, cladding including titanium cladding, handrails, canopies, stained glass, fusion, acid etching, sand blasting, aluminium or steel skylight domes, shade guard, PVC custom design shades and mirage wardrobe sliding doors.

A significant development in one of the divisions, Zamil Garage Doors, over the past three years was appointing sub-licensees throughout the Middle East, a concept ZAI general manager Mohammed Hamdan said helped increase exports of the products by 35 per cent.

"The new concept is about giving control and power to each sub-licensee in his territory. We supply them with the complete assembly line and support them with stocks of different configurations and colours," said Hamdan.

The same system was adopted for the local market and proved successful.

The division has three assembly lines in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, By providing stocks to sub-licensees, the division has tremendously increased its sales volumes and reduced overheads, said Hamdan.

Zamil Garage Doors and Industrial Shutters are well-established brands in Saudi Arabia and overseas providing high quality products to meet the requirements of high-security areas in the Ministry of Defence, the National Guard, Saudi Aramco and the Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu.

"We have introduced a new model of perforated "see through" industrial doors, which we expect will become very popular for shop fronts within a short time. Additionally, we launched "fast action doors" which can be operated in a few seconds for highly sensitive and environmentally protected areas such as pharmaceutical factories, dairy farms, food processing factories and paint manufacturing industries. They are provided with all safety requirements including break-outs, vision-light and pneumatic safety edges.

ZAI's product range was enhanced with the addition of PVC custom shades. According to Hamdan, "we are the first company in the Middle East carrying out in-house designing, fabrication and installation of the membrane structure (PVC) shades."

PVC custom shades have applications as coverings for stadiums, auditoriums, car-park structures, sails and umbrellas. The company has the facilities to manufacture such structures in steel and aluminium.

ZAI"s specialises in high quality architectural skylight domes in different sizes and various applications from "standard fixed skylite" to "open-able skylite". These can be fabricated in high quality aluminium or stainless steel and decorated with a combination of standard glass or stained glass, fused glass and beat mirror and supported by extreme high quality space frames.

"Recently, we commissioned and tested a prestigious skylight project at Al Hokuir Mall in the heart of Riyadh Ñ a 110m-long dome from one corner to the other," said Hamdan, adding that the landmark projects would be instrumental in attracting foreigners to ZAI skills.

An architectural product ZAI recently added for the company is the Mirage wardrobe sliding door. The market for that is clearly promising, as the Gulf population is growing at a considerable rate, necessitating new constructions to take care of the needs of the new generation.

Discussing Mirage wardrobe sliding doors, Hamdan says they are manufactured in aluminium or wood, with mirrors or formica giving a special effect. "By enclosing one wall or an alcove one can create a complete storage facility and at the same time create a beautiful and dramatic room effect.

A wall of mirrors would brighten even the dullest room while giving the effect of doubling room space. Mirage wardrobe sliding doors match the colour scheme or choice of furniture and they simply reflect good taste."

To meet the huge increase in the demand of stainless-steel handrails, ZAI bought in new machinery, which is the first of its kind in the Kingdom and equipped with the latest features in buffing technology.

The now-generation heavy-duty polishing machine for stainless steel pipes and rods is capable of polishing diameter space of 10mm to 120mm diameter and up to 6m length to a mirror finish of 806 grits, making the products extremely acceptable in the market.

The major advantage of this new technology is that it can produce a uniform finish throughout the length of the pipe or rods and reduce the process time by more than 55 per cent. This process results in the delivery of high duality special-design handrails, column cladding, fascia's and canopies.

A sizable investment has also gone into Zamil Art Glass in the form of a fully computerised oven for improvements under "Fusion" technology.

It is an improved version of stained glass (pieces of glass are united by melting in a kiln). The technology is used to prepare such useful things as gift items, wall lampshades, wall frames, door partitions, vases, sinks and ashtrays. Fusion glass is attractive material and is versatile, the uses ranging from small decorative window panels, daylight domes and facades or buildings to auditoriums of five-star hotels.

ZAI capabilities include acid etching under which glass is treated with acid to create spectacular effects.

The factory also undertakes glass bending through which simple coloured glass is transformed into a cured form by using moulds in the kiln. A range of products less been crated for supply at affordable prices.

The company has a training programme for glass technicians and its products are tested to international standards. Hamdan says ZAI expects a huge demand in both local and foreign markets.