Adriving force contributing to the industrial success of the UAE and making Ducab a flagship company is its managing director, Walter Bailey, who has been with the company for almost 20 years.

Appointed managing director in 1993, Bailey began his career with Ducab in the commercial function when he was appointed marketing manager in October 1981. Bailey played a leading role in spearheading the sales organisation and focusing the company on quality and customer services as well as on raising customer awareness of Ducab's ability to deliver a range of world-class power cables.

He was also instrumental in creating in Ducab's customer base expectations of added value that have been translated into a healthy growth rate throughout his tenure. Sales have almost doubled over the last two years with a turnover of Dh400 million ($106 million) in 2000. Capacity expansion is the norm at Ducab with a second medium voltage line to be commissioned in June 2001.

Ducab is not simply a power cable manufacturer although this remains its core business. The company is constantly adding value to meet customer expectations not only through its Ducab Connect business for components and accessories, but other high-level expertise and services such as the Ducab Jointer Training Academy to enhance and certify jointing and terminating skills.

Prior to joining Ducab, Bailey had held several key positions in sales and marketing in Britain and with Black and Decker in the UK and Africa.

"I have always firmly believed in educating the market and raising customer awareness but in the early 1980s BICC seemed unable to understand this basic marketing concept. Customers have to know the value and quality of the product and must appreciate the special added value available from a particular manufacturer such as Ducab," said Bailey.

"Although Ducab products have always been recognised for their outstanding quality, it is important that customers are also fully informed about our range, the specifications of the products, and our technical services.

"Ducab is driven by its customer needs and the company strives to understand these. For example, we knew that it was vitally important to our customers that we keep our delivery promises, and we regularly checked with our customers how we were performing. We found that it was of great help to some customers that rather than merely delivering on the day and date we had promised, so we could deliver at a mutually agreed time. As a result Ducab now promises deliveries within a time frame of one hour in the UAE and Oman.

"At the same time that customers appreciate the value of a quality product it is important that Ducab receives external endorsement, as self praise by the company itself can never be an endorsement. From November 1979 when production first started, external recognition and certification of Ducab product and manufacturing processes by independent institutions has been highly valued," he says.

Bailey readily acknowledges that the success of Ducab is strongly associated with its distinctive corporate culture nurtured through his strong personality and sense of vision. Although he is rightly associated with Ducab's success, Bailey plays equal tribute to his entire workforce where a culture of quality, safety and empowerment are the norm.

"To manage growth successfully in Ducab we have chosen with care selecting people who also have confidence in their own abilities in order to build a team that is empowered and that can take responsibility to deliver quality and service," said Bailey. "The original BICC mentality was driven by quality and a no-compromise approach to the application of innovative technologies, production practices and safety. Ducab has been driven the same way. That is why in our drive for quality Ducab became the first local company to achieve externally certified ISO 9002 and 9001, and was the firs cable manufacturer in the world to achieve ISO 14001, the environmental certification."

Emphasised Bailey: "Quality does not cost money, but actually makes money. Ducab is concerned about quality to the extent that we have turned business away rather than compromise on product specifications. Our partners such as ADWEA (Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority) are integral to our success and we are proud of various technical collaborations and partnerships, including for example the Cable Design Working Party and the Jointer Training Academy."

Bailey sees e-commerce and e-business as a vital tool for Ducab and is excited by the opportunities but fully aware of the challenges ahead.

"Ducab is among the first to exploit this new technology to both improve customer service and make our business processes even more efficient and effective. E-commerce must be done in the right way to strengthen and enhance our relationships with customers and suppliers," he observed. "Our IT initiatives are therefore in line with Ducab's distinctive culture and philosophy of quality and customer service. Most importantly, Ducab will take our customers and supplier partners along with us."

Ducab is committed to ERP (enterprise resource planning) and making the Ducab internal supply chain more transparent.

"Any system that can improve customer relations and services and reduce lead times is important as we expand our business. Product lead times are now accessible on line by our key customers twice a day. Anything that increases and builds customer confidence is fully embraced by Ducab," Bailey commented.

"Ducab has embarked on a major e-business initiative, and with our existing BaaN ERP system, we have a world class information system, which is an ideal platform to launch e-business and Internet-based partnering with our key customers."

The importance of the Dubai Internet City and other IT-initiatives with Dubai is readily acknowledged by Bailey to help facilitate Ducab's business in the new digital economy.

Bailey believes that a Ducab turnover of Dh 500 million is achievable for 2001 but is not being carried away by the unparalleled success of the company.

Bailey concluded: "There is an old saying that turnover is vanity, profit sanity and cash is reality."

"Ducab always focuses on the fundamentals of the business and strives to deliver our customers with the very best quality of products, services and expertise."