Saudi Arabia's Heet Establishment for Industry, the only Gulf company to produce mobile racking systems for the storage industry, expects a 35 per cent increase in revenue in 2003.

The revenue could come from increased sales emanating from a planned 50 per cent hike in production capacity. The company has allocated $5 million for the expansion as well as for marketing

"The plan is basically to introduce a new system of production such as metal pallets instead of wooden pallets," said Kharbat. "This will be achieved by increasing our production machinery, manpower and investment in the new system and increasing the productivity of our main products."

Heet recorded a turnover of $2.55 million for 2001-2002, 35 per cent of which came from exports. Kharbat said advertising and the company's presence at local and foreign exhibitions had contributed to its performance.

The Dammam-based firm has signed a number of major deals and more are on the way.

The company took part in PackTech 2003, the Middle East's premier exhibition for the packaging industry, which was held at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre from January 12-15. It was its second appearance, the first being in 2000 when it won new deals and heightened awareness about its products.

"We generated a lot of business from Gulf countries as well as the local UAE market," said Kharbat.

Heet produced a new metal pallet system, which the company describes as being a very safe product and one that will not easily break or get contaminated. It would also lend itself well to decontamination. It worked well with conveyor systems and could be manufactured in different shapes and sizes. "Heet metal pallets give the optimal solution to problems by reducing overheads and increasing productivity," said Kharbat. He said the conclusions about the pallets' properties came from tests and comparisons with other pallets.

The department of Heet racking, handling, packing and storage aims to introduce substantial savings into commercial operations. "Our goal is to build systems that are ideally suited to the needs of customers," said Kharbat. "These heavy-duty systems are designed to strict specifications. A particularly important benefit of Heet systems is that they can be custom-made. Our company has the engineering department that can study requirements and customise a solution."

Multi-use cages produced by Heet can be used as packing to replace cartons, a major saving of space and money, according to Al Kharbat. "These cages can save 75 per cent more space compared to cartons due to more efficient stacking capabilities," he said.

According to Kharbat, Heet is on the crest of a wave. It recently signed a $548,000 deal to supply Sharjah-based InterGulf with racking systems. It has also implemented phase one of a $1 million storage system for Dnata and is negotiating for the second stage, according to Al Kharbat.

Heet Establishment, entirely owned by Nezar Andulrahman Al Zamel, encompasses a number of divisions including Heet Reinforcement Steel, Heet Scaffolding Probes and Support, Heet Packing, Racking and Storage, Heet Decoration Steel, Heet Steel Furniture, Heet Expanded Metal, Heet Lubricants and Grease, Heet Trenching and Trenchless Equipment, Heet General Contracting, Heet Wooden Furniture and Heet Green Houses.

The department of Heet Packing, Racking and Storage was formed to target and support different industries and services. The different systems include heavy-duty cages, cargo cages, folding cages, wire pallet converters and racks.

The company's engineering department is responsible for designing the systems.