One of Bahrain’s prominent trading companies, Haji Ali Haji (HAH), has ventured into manufacturing for the first time.

HAH is producing low voltage electrical panels and cable management products such as cable trays and trunkings at its factory in Ras Zuwaid, near Alba.

The HAH Switchgear Factory is the authorised panel builder for LS Industrial Systems (formerly LG) of Korea. HAH manufactures panels using the Korean firm’s components to designs specified by customers.

While HAH now considers itself a manufacturer it had in fact forayed into production but only as an assembler. Some five years ago, the company accepted orders for fixing components onto panels it used to buy in the open market. This assembly work was conducted on the Mina Salman premises of one of HAH’s trading divisions.

When the company acquired factory space in Ras Zuwaid it continued to assemble panels until October when it decided to manufacture them rather than rely on suppliers.

The company imported state-of-the-art equipment including machines for CNC punching, shearing, press braking and powder coating. The panels are made from electro-galvanised steel sheets on which components such as moulded case circuit breakers (MCCBs), air circuit breakers (ACBs), miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) and metering devices are fixed.

The company considers next-door Saudi Arabia as a local market

The company recently began manufacturing cable trays and trunkings.

“We’ve been fully operational since January, doing the whole thing from A to Z – from fabrication to assembling and painting,” said HAH business development manager Ahmed Akbar Jaffari. “We are impleme- nting major orders from Bahrain customers,” he added.

The factory has ramped up production immensely compared with the old assembly days when HAH workers could put together one or two panels a month at the most.

“We can make annually as many as 150 main panels, 400 sub-main panels, 8,000 distribution boards and 10,000 enclosures all in one shift.

“As more orders come in, which we expect to happen, we can add another shift or two.”

Main customers

HAH counts as its main customers Almoayeed Air Conditioning, Mandi Trading, Yateem Air Conditioning, Crown Electrical & Mechanical and AAA Homes.

The Ministry of Housing has given its stamp of approval to HAH panels and in fact HAH is now at work on a major contract for the ministry’s project through Almoayeed Air Conditioning. The contract calls for the manufacture of 12 main panels, 12 sub-main panels and 400 distribution boards.

“Since we started we have focused on quality and we are assured that very few parties in Bahrain can measure up to us,” said Jaffari.

Early success has encouraged HAH to look overseas for customers as well since capacity can be easily hiked with additional shifts. If necessary, the company will take recourse to buying additional equipment.

HAH is the authorised panel builder for Korea’s

During the next two to three months, HAH plans to supply its first customers in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province and then deliver to Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Oman.

As a trading house of longstanding, the Haji Al Haji Group already has branches in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

Jaffari would be particularly pleased to penetrate Saudi Arabia, not only because it is a big market but also because it’s just next door. “We’d like to consider it a local market,” he said.

Approvals

However, the company has still to obtain approval from the relevant Saudi ministry.  HAH has received approvals to supply Dubai and Abu Dhabi and is awaiting the go ahead from Oman.

Jaffari says the company has ample component stocks to manufacture and deliver on time. Additional components can be requisitioned from LS establishments in Dubai or from Korea itself if the need arises.

HAH invested BD3.2 million ($8.4 million) for its manufacturing initiative. The current production site is a temporary one and a new building is under construction nearby. Currently the staff numbers 20 including supervisors. As well as the manufacturing division, the HAH Group has trading divisions for building materials, electrical materials and home appliances. It has been in operation for more than 75 years.