Another “veteran and longtimer” with Zamil Steel is Nazih Aynati, general manager, Pre-Engineered Buildings (PEB) Division.

Aynati joined Zamil Steel in April 1982 and has completed 25 years with the company. A Lebanese national, he graduated from Sacramento State University, USA, in 1981.  He held various positions in Zamil Steel before he became the general manager for the PEB division in June 2002.
Looking back over the years, Aynati has witnessed many changes and been a part of the exciting local, regional and worldwide development of the company. “When I became GM in 2002 it was at a time when Zamil Steel introduced their ambitious vision to become a global player of the PEB industry and it was important that we developed and innovated new systems to improve our efficiency and technical capability,” said Aynati. “With Zamil PEB, our future which lies ahead depends on providing better economical and aesthetical solutions to contractors and clients.”
With this in mind, Aynati set about trying to provide solutions which were non-standard. “The objective is to meet the challenges of major and complex projects to which other people cannot offer solutions. This requires better software and engineering solutions,” he said.
As a result of Zamil’s applications in terms of both software and engineering, the company is able to meet virtually any requirements including the more complex designs such as heavy industrial buildings, residential complexes and commercial centres.
With a staff of approximately 1,800, Aynati believes that the end objective is client satisfaction and this is achieved through a combination of teamwork and investment in engineering system development which has helped the company to create its own proprietary software.
The division has witnessed significant developments in recent years. In 2002, it launched a proprietary engineering system called eZ-Build which can generate design calculation, proposal drawings, approval drawings and price estimates in one process for any project at one time. Also in the same year, Zamil Steel introduced “MaxSEAM, its new standing seam roof system, to the Asian market.
In 2003, Zamil Steel’s proprietary web-based Project Information System was launched in all area offices enabling the sales staff to transmit the inquiry and project information to engineering through the web. All PEB production capacity increased to 450,000 sq m per month by investing in state-of-the-art machinery and new technology in the production of built-up and cold-formed sections.
In the following year, Zamil Steel expanded PEB production capacity in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Vietnam by 30 per cent. Also in 2004, Zamil Steel opened a new engineering office in HCMC with 40 design and drafting engineers.
In 2005, the company launched its strategic alliance programme with some reputed multinational organisations. Curved rafters and curved panels were introduced within the PEB system offering more architectural features for PEBs. Zamil Steel launched its new Dx and Ex flat insulated wall and liner panels. One of the developments of the year was that the first shipment from ZS-Vietnam went to Japan for a manufacturing plant of Ikegai in Yokohama.
In 2006, the global production capacity of all PEB factories expanded to 280,000 tonnes (9.5 million sq m), a 12-fold increase in 16 years. Zamil Steel introduced large-span trusses for curved or pitched roofs with spans of over 80 m and up to 120 m. During the year the company exported its first pre-engineered building to Australia and introduced a comprehensive system of customer relationship management.
This year, Zamil Steel inaugurated its PEB factory at Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE. The company added a new continuous production line for making sandwich panels with an annual capacity of 1 million sq m to its Dammam factory. Work is in progress at the new PEB factories in Pune (India) and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) which are expected to be completed by the end of 2007.
The share of the PEB Division in Zamil Steel’s turnover was 55 per cent in 2005 and 44 per cent the following year. The division expects its share to be 55 per cent this year.