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One of the most established and experienced piping systems and fittings suppliers and manufacturers is Hepworth PME LLC, part of Corys, the holding company owned by the Abdul Ghaffar Hussein family. Corys was formed to establish various joint ventures with some of Hepworth’s principal partners.
Hepworth PME LLC has agreements with about 15 international companies, including Hepworth Building Products of the UK (owned by Wavin Holland) and Georg Fischer Piping Systems of Switzerland, representing a range of premier products.
“As a logical progression, George Fischer JV Corys was formed to manufacture high-volume items such as fittings locally in order to get away from high transportation costs. in the region. Cost pressure is a specific issue in this day and age,” comments Georg Fischer Piping Systems Dubai sales office GM Wolfgang Ronfeldt. Georg Fischer has been collaborating with Hepworth in the Middle East specifically for about 35 years, and established its own office within Hepworth PME LLC since 1999.
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Hepworth PME LLC deputy GM Alan McKeown says the latest development on the manufacturing front is to target rubber seals through another joint venture, namely Corys MDS. “We obviously import a lot of rubber seals for our pipes and fittings, so the next move was to manufacture our own. We brought MDS of Germany in as a technical partner,” says McKeown.
Hepworth began manufacturing GRP and uPVC pipe locally in 1991. “In those days we started with one uPVC and one GRP extruder, and still imported all the fittings from the UK and Europe. This was because we saw ourselves as not just a pipe manufacturer, but as a total solutions provider.
” McKeown says the local manufacturing component of the operation has expanded steadily over the years, with over 20 extruders at present in total and a size range of 16 mm to 630 mm. The company has manufacturing facilities in Dubai and Qatar, and branch offices in Bahrain, Oman, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Al Ain.
Complete package
“We supply whatever is necessary for a complete piping systems package,” says Ronfeldt. “We do not want to deter any potential customers due to some extras we are unable to supply. This is a particular advantage of Georg Fischer, as we have a catalogue of 65 000 items, which makes us one of the biggest plastic piping component manufacturers in the world.” In addition, the company has the flexibility and expertise to be able to cater for any special requirements.
This is combined with Hepworth’s international expertise in the complete range of plastic materials. “Hepworth products cater for the drainage side, and Georg Fischer products cater for the pressure side. Hence whatever goes into and out of a building could potentially come from a single supply point. That is our overall philosophy of a total A-Z approach,” says Ronfeldt.
Commenting on the prevailing business environment, Ronfeldt says: “I see the first green shoots. I think we have passed the trough. I do not like to look at it too negatively. There are still some constraints on cash flow, that is clear, but at the end of the day there is some relaxation and there are developments going ahead.”
A key focus area at the moment for the company is infrastructure, as well as refurbishment of existing building stock, especially hotels, says McKeown. “What happened in the past is that many consultants from areas as diverse as Australia and the UK specified products they were familiar with, but which were ultimately not suited to the region. This has resulted in a potentially lucrative market,” says Ronfeldt.
“We are in the process of refurbishing 15 five-star hotels in Dubai alone right now, where we are replacing less suitable systems or cheaper products that are no longer performing accordingly after only five years. We have very much taken advantage of this situation in the midst of the economic crunch, which has meant we progressed from a new build to a refurbishment focus and did not suffer along with the downturn, as we were able to compensate nicely,” says Ronfeldt.
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