A leading UAE manufacturer of ergonomic office workstations says local production can cut costs by up to 60 per cent and reduce customer waiting times from three months to less than four weeks.
Bafco, an exhibitor at The Office Exhibition from 3-5 March in Dubai, has announced a doubling of its local production and a commensurate cut in its reliance on imported products in order to meet strong demand for cost-effective, ergonomic office furniture.
The company, which currently manufactures office furniture from facilities in Al Quoz and Rashidiya, has announced a significant increase in local production processes that will see production rise from 20 per cent to 50 per cent, drastically cutting costs and delivery time for customers in the UAE.
Gilbert Grino, senior marketing executive at Bafco, said: “Given that customers in the UAE can wait for up to three months for their office furniture to be delivered, there is clearly a strong incentive to manufacture locally. This also means we are able to customise our products to suit local tastes and provide a local servicing centre. In the end, the consumer could also see savings of 10 to 60 per cent.”
Bafco is well established in the UAE as the exclusive agent of Humanscale products and recently completed a Dh11 million ($2.9 million) fit out of customised workstations at Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3. It has also been awarded a contract to fit-out the Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University (formerly eTQM College) in Dubai.
Sinead Bridgett, exhibition director at dmg world media, organisers of The Office Exhibition, said that while the UAE was an attractive market for imports, many UAE-based manufacturers were discovering it was more commercially viable to produce their high-quality office furniture locally.
“According to industry experts, the country’s manufacturing sector grew at 15 per cent in the first three quarters of 2008. Bafco is one of a growing number of companies who have capitalised on the UAE’s increasing industrial infrastructure,” said Bridgett.
“In the current global economic climate, businesses are looking for ways to cut costs while still improving the services they deliver. Manufacturing locally fits both of these criteria.”
Now in its eighth year and taking place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, The Office Exhibition is considered a one-stop shop for the region’s architectural and interior design firms, consultants and specifiers and agents and distributors.
The event will feature a networking area called the Indy Lounge and the two-day ‘Office Talks’ seminar programme, new to the exhibition in 2009.