MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
Union Industries, the marketing-leading UK manufacturer of the Matadoor range of Hi-Speed Doors, is targeting the Middle East market following a major installation at Western Bakeries in Jeddah.
Trading as L’usine in the Middle East, Western Bakeries is part of the Almarai Group, which is the largest integrated dairy foods company in the world. Employing more than 1500 people, the bakery serves around 70 percent of stores and retail chains in Saudi Arabia producing a range of 35 products.
Western Bakeries chose to work with Union following a recommendation from their Project Manager who had previously had experience of Union’s doors at a large bakery in South Yorkshire, where numerous Union rapid roll doors had been in operation for many years and had proven to be very reliable.
A group of seven Matadoors and three Bulldoors have been installed at the bakery in Jeddah. The majority of the doors are being used in internal locations to segregate production areas and support strict hygiene regulations. Air conditioning systems have recently been installed in the production areas so the fast acting doors compliment this.
All of the Hi-Speed Doors in Union’s Matadoor range operate at opening and closing speeds of 1.6 metres per second, ensuring that production areas can be successfully segregated without affecting the flow of vehicle and employee traffic around facility.
Installed by two Union Engineers over a three-week period, the Matadoors and Bulldoors feature Union’s innovative ‘Crash-Out’ facility, which ensure the doors remain operable if hit by a vehicle. Once hit, the door opens fully then automatically resets back into the side guides, and continues to operate effectively, with no major repairs required, meaning no down-time.
Common to all doors in the Matadoor Range, they are supplied as standard with fire retardant and anti-static door blades which are beneficial features for all working environments, particularly in the food production sector.
Peter Naylor, Project Manager for Western Bakeries in Jeddah, said: "I had been impressed with the robust manufacture and reliable operation of Union’s doors when I worked in the UK, and they offered the best solution for this project in Jeddah. When we compared their quality and low maintenance requirements with the alternatives available in Saudi, it completely justified paying the higher price to import the doors and the skills of Union’s engineers from the UK."
Union Industries, who are based in the Yorkshire region of the UK, are now involved with several projects in the Middle East for their doors. One particular door from the Union range – the revolutionary Eiger Door for cold store applications – has created quite and interest in the region and they are shortly to be installing Eiger Doors, amongst others, in the UAE, Oman and also Saudi Arabia. Consequently, Union are keen to establish working partnerships with businesses in each of the region’s Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries* to assist with future installations and maintenance programmes.
Alan Hirst, Union Industries’ Sales Director, said: "The Middle East market has great potential for our doors. The installation in Jeddah demonstrates our ability be a successful exporter and installer as well as helping to grow our global reputation.
"Our doors are very successful in the food industry as they ensure consistent logistics and hygiene levels are maintained, which are vital in this sector in the UK and around the world."
The GCC countries are: Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates.
