A group subsidiary, RANCO, has invested over $10 million for expansion, which includes opening of new facilities and for expanding its work force, as well as implementing new sales strategies and methodologies

Rabiah & Nassar Group, a leading diversified Saudi company, has emerged as a name to reckon with in the construction and equipment sectors of the kingdom.

The diversified conglomerate has carved a niche in several fields, and through one of its subsidiaries, is among the first choices for the supply of some of the biggest global brands of construction machinery in Saudi Arabia.

Established in 1950 in Saudi Arabia’s eastern port city of Khobar, the Group started as a small road-building contractor and worked in tandem with the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) and municipalities to construct some of the major road networks in the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

From these humble beginnings, Rabiah & Nassar Group expanded to partner with the Saudi Ministry of Communication to build the first road network in the Qassim area as well as a number of other major projects, such as airports, water treatment facilities, bridges and other road networks. The group’s continuous growth led to the widening of its theatre of action and eventually to its transfer to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital and largest city. The company continued its diversification after the transfer, branching out into engineering and contracting, real estate, agriculture, mining, commercial trading, industrial and other investments.

Today, Rabiah & Nassar Group is one of the leading business groups in Saudi Arabia and contributes to the economic growth of the country. When it comes to the construction machinery sector in Saudi Arabia, the group’s subsidiary, Rabiah & Nassar Commercial (RANCO), is one of the best known and most trust-inspiring names. One of the most important pillars of the group, it was introduced in the Eastern Region in 2013 and is a rapidly growing division that specialises in the managing, commercial trading, servicing and rental operations of construction equipment as well as material handling and mobility equipment.

Among the many exclusive achievements that RANCO has, RANCO is the sole dealer for the Chinese giant ZOOMLION’s rough terrain (RT) cranes and crawler cranes in Saudi Arabia, a market that has more than 50 per cent share in the Middle East’s construction machinery sector and is one of the biggest users of RT Cranes. RANCO has invested over $10 million for expansion, which includes opening of new facilities and for expanding its work force, as well as implementing new sales strategies and methodologies. As exclusive dealers for ZOOMLION RT Cranes, a leading manufacturer of construction and material handling equipment, the company has not only established its operational base in Khobar but has also branched out in Riyadh and Jeddah to serve the entire Saudi market.

The ties between ZOOMLION and RANCO go back a long way. The Chinese giant entered the Saudi Arabian market in 2002 with its first crane, and has since exported more than 1,000 units of equipment, including more than 600 units of cranes, to the kingdom.

Speaking about its philosophy of serving its partners and customers in new markets, a ZOOMLION spokesperson says: "It is the vision of ZOOMLION that helps our cranes to get into local markets. In the future, we will continue localisation and give the best support to our partners as we always do. We strongly believe it is the best way to support our customers."

Al-Mobayedh ... operating with key market players

Realising the potential of the Saudi market early, the Chinese giant has always placed great emphasis on the kingdom and on its partnerships there. "We are glad that we have had remarkable performance after the years of efforts in Saudi Arabia. Our products are widely used in the fields of oil exploration, refineries, highway, railway, housing construction, etc. We are co-operating with key market players in the construction sector, such as the Saudi Bin Ladin Goup, Nesma, Al-Mabani, Azmeel, Al-Muhaidib, Al Fouzan, Shibh Al Jazira, Saudi Lebanese Tarouk, Al-Ahmed Cranes, Zamil Offshore, Gulf Haulage Rig Move, China Harbour Engineering Arabia, Expertise Contracting Co, Azmeel Cont Co, Arabian Drilling Co (ADC), OFSAT Arabia Rig Move, ACDC Co, Delama Co, PEWAT Co and others," says Faisal Al-Mobayedh, the Brand Manager of RANCO.

ZOOMLION and RANCO plan to focus on the correct products that have suitable applications in the market, to build a comprehensive "product support division" which includes building a spare parts service eco-system and to promote the duos comprehensive competitiveness with the help of IT systems.

"The equipment we sell is of particular importance to the oil and gas, construction and marine sectors," says Fahad Al Rabiah, Marketing and deputy commercial manager, RANCO. "We represent ZOOMLION’s entire RTC range and we have also included their crawler cranes and knuckle telescopic cranes in our portfolio, which enables us to offer complementary lifting solutions to our customers.

"We also offer top-notch after sales service to our customers, as we believe selling equipment is only the start of a relationship with them. Our 13,600 sq m Abqiq Service Centre facility in Khobar is equipped with all facilities, parts and tools needed to keep our customers’ fleets running in top order, and it is manned by experts who know the machines inside out. In fact, qualified and experienced manpower is one of our key strengths, and our staff numbers of 300 in Riyadh, 100 in the Eastern Province and 10 in Jeddah make it easy to offer the prompt, on-time and appropriate attention to our customers as they have come to expect from us," he says.

What this has allowed RANCO to do, says Roy Evans, Group operations manager, is to become known for offering an unbeatable value proposition to customers. "Our dedicated service teams are focused on lowering the OPEX for our customers, which means that we consider ourselves as partners in their progress," he adds.

With this philosophy, the company has also expanded its product offerings to be able to provide multiple solutions to its customers under one roof – all with the assurance that some of the top brand names in the world bring.

"We offer diversified product and equipment solutions to customers, which include machines from a renowned name such as Altec for contractors in the electrical power supply and generation sector, telecommunication and other utility services sector," Evans says.

The range of Altec products that RANCO supplies include aerial platforms, insulated man lifts, cable handlers, high-line washers, digger-derricks and HD truck cranes, he says and adds that the company also offers the Octopus manlifts from the renowned truck-mounted equipment specialist Oil & Steel.

But that’s not all. RANCO also represents a well-known brand name in the logistics and material handling industry – GoodSense. The equipment that it offers from the Chinese forklift specialist ranges from 2t (ton), 2.5t and 3t electric forklifts to 3t, 3.5t, 5t, 7t, 10t and 16t forklifts in the diesel, petrol and LPG lines.

"In fact, material handling solutions were among the fastest expanding sectors for us in 2016, during which we achieved great growth with GoodSense products," Al-Mobayedh points out. "Another big area of growth was in our ZOOMLION truck mounted crane range."

The year gone by saw RANCO report a good performance. "Our division’s performance last year has put us in a strong position. Buoyed by this positive result, we are upbeat about this coming year and have set our targets accordingly. In 2017, we aim to the No 1 dealer for rough terrain cranes in Saudi Arabia in terms of market share, and also place ourselves among the Top-5 in the list of forklift suppliers."

And with industry-leading brands in its portfolio, as well as a culture of strategic application of leadership values such as trust, speed to market and high levels of customer service, RANCO is a group that is poised to achieve its goals.