Bahrain Prism Glass Factory (BPGF), the processor of high-performance insulated glass that came on stream in September 2009, has succeeded in making inroads in the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia and other global markets, winning several prestigious high-value projects.

The company, operating at the Bahrain International Investment Park (BIIP), adjacent to the Khalifa Bin Salman Port in Hidd, has increased its capability from 2,800 sq m per day to 3,500 sq m, said BPGF general manager T Mani.

“Within the first year of operations, BPGF overtook its competitors, bagging projects in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait the UAE, Lebanon and India and discussions are going on for projects in East Africa, the Syria and UK ,” said Mani.

“We have forged strategic partnerships and agreements and opened offices in several parts of the GCC region, the wider Asian region, Central and East Africa and Europe to promote our products and provide our clients with the information and services they need.

“We have achieved the same in the midst of a recession and the toughest market conditions. As well as the GCC region, we have signed projects in India and Lebanon and discussions are going on for projects in East Africa, the UK and Syria.

Mani: big inroads made

“The competition provides the most ambient opportunity to grow as it’s a motivation to find ways and means to achieve the most suitable and optimal working environment and to provide clients with solutions that will build long-lasting relationships.” Added Mani: “Your competitor provides you the enthusiasm to achieve your goals.”

The plant is situated in a 35,000 sq m area and is fully automated with machines sourced from world-renowned firms such as Lisec, Blokkiln, Tam Glass, Triulzi, Schiatti, Lovato and Denver, among other leading firms.

The equipment includes two Lisec (SBL-60-30) CNC machines with an automated gantry for cutting; a Lisec (KSR-25) machine for glass washing and grinding, a Lisec ProE Magnum 2860 machine for tempering; a Blokkiln  heat soak testing machine, two robotic double glazing lines, a Lisec automated lamination line, a 5 Axis CNC work centre (Denver-digit glass) and a ceramic roller-coating line and silk screen printer. There are also fully equipped facilities for producing all kinds of art glass and certification to produce bullet-proof glass.

BPGF is offering a range of solutions embracing glass wall systems, point fixed assemblies, glazed floorings and entrances with surface decorations.  To stand out as a market leader BPGF’s product range is supplemented by an integrated digital printer, an integrated roller coater with inline silkscreen printing machine and a Five Axis CNC machine capable of handling glass of the size of  4200 x 2350.

ERA Tower 4, Bahrain, where the company supplied its glass products

Also in the portfolio are value additions in the form of double-vision panels, tile textures, digitally printed etched designs and wood textures. Interior design specialists can avail themselves of surface decoration including sandblasting, bevel clusters, air brush decoration, leaded stained glass, fibreglass art panels, carved glass, glue-chipped glass, three dimensional glass and fused and slumped glass.

The facilities BPGF has put in place make it one of the Middle East’s largest glass processors.

Expansion plan
BPGF plans to double production capacity with the creation of an art glass division and additional facilities for specific architectural glass requirements.

Mani commented that market demand in the GCC, South Asia and Central and East Africa regions showed “positive progress,” providing the architectural glass industry a growing challenge to meet the requirements with world-class quality and optimum utilisation. “BPGF has already entered this growing market and is in the process of spreading its wings to tap into its potential,” he said. 

BPGF has signed up eight projects in India, two each in New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad. A further six are on the negotiation table, testifying to the remarkable interest that BPGF has generated in the Indian market within a little over a year of full-scale production at the Bahrain factory.

Among branch offices it has opened are those in the fast moving markets of Doha, Saudi Arabia and India.

The company has been serving world-renowned architects, consultants, designers, constru- ction contractors and aluminium fabrication companies across a diverse arena. There is widespread market acceptance that BPGF products are of the highest caliber, produced as they are from some of the world’s most modern and sophisticated machines. BPGF has placed alongside its high-tech equipment an experienced workforce that maintains the quality standards the company swears by.

Dream Tower, among BPGF ‘s projects in Bahrain

The products emerging from the Bahrain plant meet architectural and aesthetic needs and are priced within the budgetary requirements of buyers, says Mani.

Quality standards achieved
The manufacturing processes cover ISO standards for quality (EN ISO-9001:2008) and the environment (EN ISO – 14001:2004) as well as international health and safety management system standards (BS OHSAS-18001:2007) indicat- ing that all the functional and process-related activities at BPGF are evaluated, aligned and implemented in a unified way.

Bahrain Prism Glass Factory also achieved the certification for bullet proof/ballistic resistant BR3, BR4 and BR6 glasses in strict compliance with BS EN 1063:200 standards.

As a one-stop solution, the company offers a very diverse range of products including heat-treated glass, heat soak tested glass, laminated glass, skylight glass, solar control glass, high-performance glass, reflective glass, bullet-resistance glass and fire-resistant class.

Also featuring in its portfolio are sandblasted glass, acid-etched glass, satin glass, leaded stain glass, acoustic glass, fused and slumped glass, ceramic frit glass, roller coated glass, silk screen printed glass, glue-chipped glass, anti-reflective glass, self-cleaning glass, E control glass, shop fronts, shower enclosures, frameless glass and carved glass.

Reviewing performance, Mani credited success of the operation to the company’s promoters for their vision to establish a world-class facility and their focus on quality. He also commended the experienced and efficient work team whose efforts he said helped BPGF offer one-stop solutions to all architectural glass requirements.

Projects
Bahrain Prism Glass Factory has completed a number of projects in Bahrain including Platinum Tower, Mokan Tower, Bader Tower, K Hotel, ERA Towers, Alwan Towers, Zawiya II, Capital Towers, Kingdom Tower, TJ Tower, Dream Tower, Burny Sky Tower, ERA Business Centre, RP Tower, Manama Plaza and Almoayyed Plaza all of which the company says is just a representative listing.

A double glazing Lisec line

BPGF’s ongoing projects in Bahrain are Sukoon Tower, Busaiteen Links, Crystal Heights, Landmark City View, Fontana Tower, Sarat Tower, Miami Tower, Dar II, Hidd Business Park, Doha Plaza, Le Reef, Hiffa Hospital and Holiday Inn plus a multi-storey building at Umm Al Hassan and another 15-storey building at Busaiteen just to name a few.

The company expects to rope in quite a few projects soon in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Sudan and Congo during Q1 2011.

In Qatar BPGF has completed Al Maha School and Rizon Air Terminal projects and has an upcoming project in a 48-storey tower at the Business Bay.

In Saudi Arabia the company is currently supplying to King Saud University and the Princess Noora University apart from a host of medium-scale buildings.

In India the company’s ongoing projects are Langham-Pune and Trident & The Oberoi, Hyderabad, both of which are 5-Star deluxe hotels.

Consciousness growing
BPGF comes at a time when public authorities, private companies, professional builders and architects and ordinary people have grown very conscious of the need for environment-friendly and energy-saving products.

The thermal code as instituted by Bahrain’s Electricity Distribution Directorate for glazing is the most stringent in the whole of the GCC region, one of the reasons why insulated glass units have light transmittance not exceeding 15 per cent but with little or no control on internal reflectance.

“With the value-added processes and equipment, BPGF wishes to provide glass to customers, developers and architects that has very high light transmittance, thereby reducing usage of electricity and enhancing usage of green energy,” said Mani.  “This would be taken care of by our ceramic frit and silk screen printing division that can offer coverage through printing so as to reduce the shading co-efficient of insulated glass and achieve the relative heat gain as required.

A Tam Glass tempering line

“Through this process we wish to offer high light transmittance glass insulated with a high-performance glass that has a very high light transmittance and a printed pattern during phases three or four.

“This could actively control day lighting and dynamically control solar heat gain for energy savings and improved comfort. This would also stop solar heat and therefore reduce air conditioning and energy consumption,” he explained.

“At the Bahrain Prism Glass Factory, we wish to be trend setters on the island and the whole of the GCC region.”
 
Quality is of the essence
BPGF’s operations head says the manufacturing approach is in line with modern manufacturing practices. The product control, process controls and sampling frequency required at various stages are derived after a detailed study using FMEA guidelines.

Control starts right from the arrival of raw material with detailed specifications in place for all aspects of raw material quality. A detailed control plan indicates the control methods and mistake proofing for all the operation stages. Absolute clarity is documented in defining reaction plan and preventive action at all stages.

For each stage pictorials are provided for standard operating procedures for all essential steps. The focus is to control the process first and to control the product by verification at every stage. Practices of first-off inspection, in-process inspection, control charts and statistical process controls are used at all stages.

The quality assurance department is actively engaged in conducting process audits for ensuring system adherence and identifying the area with scope for strengthening. The in-process rejection PPM level performance versus targets is a key aspect for the quality assurance. 

All key personnel at all organisation levels are highly skilled, educated individuals and have extensive experience of working in the glass field.

To maintain good working of the machines, all operators are trained for autonomous maintenance and are an integral part of the team performing planned machine maintenance activities along with the maintenance department. All these departments directly report to the operations manager.

To continuously upgrade technical skills, the HR department is actively involved in competency mapping for all levels. Department heads prepare a skill matrix for their operators and have individual plans for upgrading skills and for multiskilling all staff.

The training programme for the operators covers both soft skill and functional on-job training.  Training is imparted on the manufacturing practices of 5S and TPM.

The company’s commitment
BPGF’s stated commitment is to produce, supply and install products of optimum quality, maintain continuous improvement in systems, procedures, organisation matters and the product range, fulfill all legal and regulatory requirements and improve employee satisfaction.

It promises to be “a market-focused, process-centred  organisation that develops and delivers innovative solutions to our customers, consistently outperforms our peers, produces predictable earnings for our shareholders and provides a dynamic and challenging environment for our employees.”

BPGF was set up by a group concentrating on real estate development, trading, contracting, hospitality management, construction and allied fields. The investors are Banz Group, Buhindi Group, Almoayyed International Group and Maritas Management.