Finding the fakes

This pile of fake pumps was seized after Sharjah authorities busted the dealer.

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Fast-growth construction activity gives opportunities to innumerable firms. Foreign companies enter whichever country is building, local companies innovate, deals are struck and prices across the supply chain become a battle ground for margin.

But for some building materials and products suppliers there is a significant downside to this international mix and healthy competition – the proliferation of counterfeit products.

Sharjah last month saw a dramatic example of construction’s black market. Following a discovery by Italian electric pump manufacturer Pedrollo that products bearing its name were offered in a showroom in Dubai by Chinese firm Shano International, with its main storage in Sharjah, the Economic Development Departments of Sharjah and Dubai swooped on the outlet, confiscating and destroying 13,750 pumps based on the Pedrollo design.

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FEATURED COMMENT But what if these products are approved of ISO standard   1 Comments Read more comments »

The value of the pumps was estimated at US$1million, according to Pedrollo’s general manager Joseph Gomes.

Gomes says this is an issue the company has fought for a number of years in Italy, and that the only resolution is a collective effort from all companies affected.

“After 15 years the problem is yours, the problem is mine, the problem is everybody’s. It has become a global problem, and we need to fight it globally, not individually,” he says.

The impact of counterfeit goods goes beyond the loss of sales, or even the infringement on copyright, manufacturers say. Low quality copies of products for MEP and finishing work can present significant risks to an unsuspecting end user.

Pedrollo points out that a genuine electric pump from their factory contains a copper-enamelled motor winding part at the centre. The fake versions contain motor winding parts made of aluminium. “If electricity is passing through inside the motor and the copper is not high quality, then automatically the motor will burn, then catch fire,” adds senior sales executive AN Natesan.

Gomes adds that the pumps go through a year of internal testing before it is brought to the market. When fake versions appear on the market soon after an official launch, they typically lack any certification to an international standard, nor have they been through any testing.

It was the second major haul from the Sharjah department in the last quarter. At the beginning of April inspectors destroyed thousands of expired and defective LPG cylinders.

HE Ali bin Salem Al Mahmoud, SEDD general manager, at the time outlined the three-point approach by the department that resulted in the successful claim.