Zamil Industrial Coatings (Zindco) has been in business since 1997, but its sales have been largely confined to Saudi Arabia where it has been the coater of choice for top industrial establishments including Sabic.

Now the Dammam-based company has announced it will look for business opportunities beyond the Kingdom. Already, it has won approval and vendor registration for its products from regional giant Qatar Petroleum.
Zindco’s business prospects brightened after it upgraded its facilities last November, installing an automatic shot blasting plant, which it says has improved services and expedited customer delivery schedules.
Major projects the company was involved with in 2003 were Qatif Gosp, Duba and the Sabic Research Centre. The company’s products have the approval of Saudi Aramco.
Zindco has products to coat cable trays and ladders, electrical and switchgear panels, aluminium profiles and sheets and steel in different colours.
It also undertakes PVC coating for cable trays and ladders, posts and accessories for fencing industries and electrical conduits, fittings and accessories.
It coats welded wiremesh with fusion-bonded epoxy, which has other coating applications as well. Another service it renders is “high performance coating of aluminium and steel.”
Zindco, a company of the AH Al Zamil Group, started production as a single-point service for most industrial powder coating applications and now describes itself as a pioneer in fusion-bonded epoxy coated welded wire mesh in Saudi Arabia. Welded wire mesh thus coated is used in all types of concrete construction. The raw wire mesh is purchased locally from approved mesh manufacturers with diameters ranging from 4mm to 12mm.
PVC coated cable trays, fence posts, pipes, accessories, welded mesh and light poles show good corrosion resistance, enhance the life of the metal, are maintenance free, have good electrical insulation, look good and come in different colours and are suitable for domestic and public use.
“Over the last two to three years there has been a growing awareness of the advantages of powder coating over other methods of corrosion protection for aluminium, galvanized steel and mild steel products,” says the spokesman. He adds that environmental factors have also played an important plant in that awareness. “Powder coating, unlike other forms of coating such as painting, does not use volatile liquids that contaminate and poison the atmosphere and groundwater when they are disposed of. We are encouraged to see that this trend is growing.”
Zindco maintains it has set environmental standards that others are following. “Our industrial coating plant in Dammam had to have the latest technology in the waste water treatment area. Prior to selecting a system we consulted with over 30 suppliers of reverse osmosis units, filter presses, clarifiers etc. We consulted with the Saudi authorities to ensure we were not only meeting but also surpassing all wastewater effluent treatment requirements. Finally we selected the foremost authority from the UK as our effluent wastewater treatment system supplier. They were the best and we wanted only the best environmental protection available on the market,” the spokesman said
Zindco explains that the “wet” coating systems have a very high volatile organic compound, which is extremely dangerous to the environment. It has avoided that pitfall by using coatings that are biodegradable, thereby providing freedom from pollution.
Zindco insists its customers get quality service because of the extreme care it takes to ensure its coatings score high in adhesion and durability.
“Preparing the materials to be coated is one of the most important steps in the coating process. Proper pre-treatment is essential for adhesion and long-lasting protection. Technology in the Gulf ranged from simple solvent wash to sand blasting and finally immersion dipping. All of these methods of pre-treatment were outdated.
“An analysis of the systems used in the United States and Europe by highly skilled, technically qualified and successful coating applicators revealed that spray pre-treatment was the only acceptable technology. Even though the cost to do so was excessive we decided to update our technology to that of these high-calibre coaters,” said the spokesman.
“We already knew that powder coating was superior to ‘wet’ coating in all areas. New powder technology surpassed all ‘wet’ coating specifications including PVDF, PF2 and fluor polymer coatings, which are considered the best in the Gulf for many years. Again new technology was introduced with less cost and improved quality to our customers.
“Working with the best equipment suppliers in both Europe and the US we selected a ‘state-of-the-art electro-static powder coating system. Our selection was made only after a comparative analysis of many application techniques was undertaken,” he added.
“Our electro-static powder coating system is both highly efficient and ‘environmentally friendly.’”
“Discovering the best technology curing system became somewhat difficult to analyse. There were so many different curing systems throughout the world. We finally settled on an American company that had been providing curing systems for 25 years - someone who knew what it took and was current on the latest technology.
“From the facts revealed in their analysis of our requirements we selected a gas-fired infra-red system. This system not only gave us the advantage of infrared but also incorporated convection heat simultaneously. This combination provides controlled and consistent temperature on the parts being coated.The uniformity of temperature assured our customers the very best cure on their coated products.”