THEY will have to put good films on at the new Marina Mall Cinema in Abu Dhabi - or visitors might prefer to focus their attention on the interior decoration rather than the screen!

That is because Al Shirawi has just completed its scope of work at the cinema, which includes a magnificent decorative ceiling complete with domes filled with stars.

Raj Pal Saran, Divisional Manager - Interiors, said special emphasis was put on the domes and stars to make the ceiling in the foyer visibly appealing. The 65 employees working on the project were given five months to complete the work, which also included lining the walls. They did that and also completed an extra project - ceilings and partitions at the food court - within that time.

Mr. Saran said: "We were under a lot of pressure and it was hard work. We also had many sleepless nights, but we are very satisfied we have done a good job."

Many employees worked round the clock and project engineer S P Rao often slept on site in order to ensure the work was completed on time. Mr Saran said its client, fitout contractor, Arabtec, was also delighted with the work. They ticked "excellent" on every item of their evaluation and added that Al Shirawi was a "very dependable sub-contractor".

THE quality of work carried out at two new car showrooms has opened even more doors for Al Shirawi.

Consultant Arif & Bintoak was so impressed by the service Al Shirawi offered in fitting out the new Yamaha car showroom in Dubai, another contract was earned to do a similar job for Audi at its new showroom, also on the Sheikh Zayed Road.

Dr Ibrahim Khallouf, General Manager of Electrical & Plumbing, was delighted with the success of the projects. Among the features of the Audi showroom are mercury vapour bollard lights in the external parking area.

The lights around the showroom and workshop are also sodium vapour, which offer a beautiful combination effect during the evening.

Divisional Manager of Air Conditioning, P R Hari Krishnan, said: "The Yamaha job was the first we did for Arif & Bintoak. It subsequently led to others and more are to follow ."

He believed there were a number of reasons why the car showroom projects were so successful, including excellent co-ordination and a very good team of engineers and technicians.

About 150 employees worked on the two projects, which were both completed on time and worth almost a total Dh6 million. The team's willingness to adapt to customer needs was also a major factor in the success. Mr Krishnan said the AC system for Audi, for example, was specially designed to match the Audi style, which can be seen in all its showrooms throughout the world.

"It was one of our landmark jobs as it will show other customers the quality service we offer," he added.

AL SHIRAWI's Duct Shop just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Although production only started there in March, another expansion project is set to begin within the near future. It will create 30,000 square feet and the opportunity for even more expansion.

Executive Director Navin Valrani said the Dh3 million project should be started within the next two months and completed by the end of the year. The duct shop, thanks to a double table plasma cutting machine, is already producing 11,000 square feet of ducting per day.

This means production has more than doubled within six months, when about 4,500 square feet was being produced. At the moment 60 people are working in the shop, but this will rise to about 100 after the expansion.

Mr Valrani said: "We are continuing to invest in our future and to invest for growth. It shows we are taking a positive stand on Dubai." The expansion will create more room for future expansion projects and more efficient movement of material around the factory. It will also provide a better storage arrangement for GI material.

Al Shirawi has completed work on an additional five passport departure counters and one immigration fee counter at Dubai International Airport.

The work was part of a contract the company won, in collaboration with CCM of Italy, for the recently completed first phase expansion project at the airport.

More than 150 counters for passport control, check-in, transit transfer and out of gauge and excess fines, have been erected in Terminal One and concourse areas. All are now operational.

Project Manager S Sekhar said the counters had won high praise for their quality, elegance and functionality. All were manufactured in Italy, with the erection and project management carried out by the CE Division of Al Shirawi.

Mr Sekhar added that the co-ordinating process with various other contractors, such as Bechtel and DCA, plus the erection of the counters - which is always the final job before inauguration - was a challenging task, but one the company managed to do very effectively.

 

 

Employees are set to benefit from the latest advances in mobile communications.

The company is hoping to introduce a Small Message Service (SMS), which will allow all those on the network to send a message from their computer screen to a mobile telephone anywhere in the world.

The obvious advantage the system has over standard text messaging from one mobile to another is that information stored on a computer does not have to be retyped.

It would normally take a long time to send a standard letter or e-mail to every one of the 3,000 or so Al Shirawi customers, for example, but using SMS, the message can be sent to 3,000 mobiles in a matter of seconds.

IT Manager Kirit Shah said the message takes about five seconds to reach a mobile telephone from a computer, no matter where the customer is in the world.

The system, which Mr Shah believes will save both time and money in the long run, could be up and running by the end of this month. All those on the Al Shirawi network will have access to it.

Employees are set to benefit from the latest advances in mobile communications.

The company is hoping to introduce a Small Message Service (SMS), which will allow all those on the network to send a message from their computer screen to a mobile telephone anywhere in the world.

The obvious advantage the system has over standard text messaging from one mobile to another is that information stored on a computer does not have to be retyped.

It would normally take a long time to send a standard letter or e-mail to every one of the 3,000 or so Al Shirawi customers, for example, but using SMS, the message can be sent to 3,000 mobiles in a matter of seconds.

IT Manager Kirit Shah said the message takes about five seconds to reach a mobile telephone from a computer, no matter where the customer is in the world.

The system, which Mr Shah believes will save both time and money in the long run, could be up and running by the end of this month. All those on the Al Shirawi network will have access to it.

 

TWO employees in the Air Conditioning Division are leaving for new prospects, but they would not hesitate to return if the opportunity arose.

Sales Manager Medha Sukhtankar is off to Canada after five-and-a-half years with Al Shirawi. She said: "I've really enjoyed working with Navin and the management and if I returned to Dubai I would love to come back here." She added: "It's a good company to work for and the sky's the limit if you are a performer. In fact, Medha said she could not remember a bad moment during all of her time and had really enjoyed helping establish the reputation of the company and taking it forward. Medha will also be working in the air conditioning field in Canada. Her decision to move was based on the fact she has many friends there and wanted her children to be educated in North America.

Rajiv Jain, Senior Planning Engineer, is returning home to India after 19 months with the company. He said he would miss all the wonderful people at Al Shirawi and also the many big projects he had worked on. He is looking forward to returning to his native land, but stressed he would also not hesitate to return to Al Shirawi in the future. He said: "I like the company and if I get the chance I would definitely like to come back."

Rajiv said the chilled water air conditioning projects had given him the most pleasure. He was also happy that the company had acknowledged all his good work over the months he had been at Al Shirawi.