Expertise is well established in Saudi Arabia with its headquarters in Jubail Industrial City and branch offices in Riyadh, Yanbu, Jeddah, Jizan, Turaif, Shaybah and Shuqaiq. It has recently opened offices in the UAE and Bahrain

Expertise Contracting Company, a leading Saudi-based firm delivering comprehensive industrial services, has set itself an ambitious target in its endeavour to achieve the Saudi Vision 2030 goals and accordingly has drawn up elaborate plans for the same.

'In fact, Expertise has built a strong base as far as developing local content is concerned and is progressing well with its Saudization programme as well,' says Fares S Al-Shammari, President, Expertise Contracting Company.

In an interview with OGN, Al-Shammari notes: 'Under the leadership of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz and the Crown Prince His Royal Highness Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, we believe that the Saudi market will reach new horizons creating immense opportunities.'

All the government ministries and authorities are working hard to detail the rules, regulations and procedures so that the road map to achieving the Vision 2030 is cleared of impediments, he says.

Expertise is well established in the Eastern province with its headquarters in Jubail Industrial City and branch offices in Riyadh, Yanbu, Jeddah, Jizan, Turaif, Shaybah and Shuqaiq. It has recently opened offices in the UAE and Bahrain. The versatile company, because of its growing name in the market, has been awarded projects worth millions of dollars from major oil and gas companies.

Excerpts from the interview:

What have been the general achievements and milestones at Expertise in the year 2018 and in 2019, so far?

Expertise has been successful in executing more than 100 LSTK (lump sum turn-key) projects under the overall maintenance banner besides acquiring major long-term agreements from major manufacturing giants for providing extensive solutions for performance enhancements of their plants.

We understand you are planning to expand your business in new markets across the GCC. Can you please update us with the expansion plan and how you plan to go about it?

With a vision to serve as the best supporting partner for the development of manufacturing facilities, Expertise has established offices in UAE and Bahrain. Operations are currently in full swing, with a feasibility study exploring new options of a range of business solutions being done.

How far have you progressed on your plan to set up a downstream manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia? Please update us with the latest details.

We are currently in talks with reputed consulting and technology firms to determine the right product for such a manufacturing plant.

Your business currently has 13 strategic business units (SBUs). Within that lineup which were the top three units in terms of sales revenues in 2018 / 2019 or in terms of projects?

All our SBU’s have been performing exceptionally well. They are well in line to fulfil our expectations of 2019. However, the plant maintenance and turnaround division, heavy equipment division and project support division have performed remarkably well due to the immense requirements of our customers and supported them completely, leading to good numbers.

Do you plan to extend or diversify your services to new areas?

Now, we would like to focus our energy to maintain the consistency of our services to ensure that all our patrons are satisfied with our services.

Which industrial sectors do the company serve most through your services? How much do these sectors contribute to your sales revenue? Who are your main clients within these sectors?

Petrochemicals, oil and gas are the major benefactors of our services. These sectors generate about 70 per cent of our sales revenue. Among the clients, Sabic, Aramco, Tasnee, Samref, Yasref, Petro-Rabigh, Maaden are the noteworthy.

What is the company’s business focus and growth strategy for 2019 and 2020? What plans do the company have in terms of expansions and diversification?

As mentioned earlier the focus is on consistency in performance and betterment of our current services. Although generating new business is easy, maintaining an existing one is equally important. So our focus is on that. But when it comes to growth, we are targeting the construction and EPC areas, which have an amazing requirement to it and our vision is to localise the entire process as per the Saudi Vision 2030 goal.

With Safety First as your motto, how difficult is it to attain Zero Accident in hundreds of projects undertaken by Expertise?

We completed 29 million man-hours without LTI. Providing the right type of training, providing a simulator training for specialised jobs, weekly job explanation and KPI’s briefing under the guidance of a reputed safety manager with 35 years of experience will enable us to attain the Zero-accident goal.

What all services are provided by Expertise in the Power and Automation sectors?

Expertise provides detailed engineering and consultancy, upgrades and replacements, DC, PLS and Scada integration and configuration, power factor correction, process automation, sustainability and efficiency studies, testing and commissioning through our global partners and in-house experienced team.

As one of the leading suppliers of tested and engineered hydraulic and industrial hoses, where do you source the technology for the same?

Expertise believes in bringing the technology of the world to our customers’ doorsteps. Therefore, we are partnered with the best hose manufacturers in the US and Europe to provide both EN and ASME, ASTM, CE etc standards for all their hose requirements, including introduction of a service called 'hose doctor with 24/7 service'.

What all services are you providing for 1. Gas and steam turbines; and 2. Valves?

Expertise has a fleet of highly experienced team with specialisation as vibration engineer, mill wrights, 20+ years experienced engineers, trained under OEM’s like Siemens and MHPS to provide all the types of MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) services.

Expertise’s Valve Division is VR certified by ASME and national board (USA) which helps us to facilitate on-site/shop overhauling/repair, removal and installation, fabrication of spares by reverse engineering technology, testing and certification of new valves.

Do you have a valve repairing and assembly facility?

Expertise has a state-of-the-art valve facility consisting of test benches, repair equipment for grinding, lapping, welding automation and mobile workshops which help us to provide creative and optimal solutions as a valve service provider.

Supplying manpower to the industrial and plant maintenance services in the kingdom is in itself a challenge. Where do you source skilled and competent manpower?

Expertise has a head count of over 7,000 employees under our direct sponsorship, with an additional on-call manpower of 2,000 for emergency purposes. The sources of providing skilled and competent manpower is primarily through market-leading recruitment companies, who understand our requirement and the responsibility that comes with it. In association with this, our HR team has a data base of the experienced freelancing manpower, who are contacted for permanent employment.