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Show of Power: Middle East Electricity Review [Construction Week (United Arab Emirates)]
[March 04, 2014]

Show of Power: Middle East Electricity Review [Construction Week (United Arab Emirates)]


(Construction Week (United Arab Emirates) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Some of the exhibitors at this year's Middle East Electricity tell MEP Middle East what the buzz was among the electrical industry at this year's event The 39th edition of Middle East Electricity took place in Dubai from 11 to 13 February, bringing together more than 1,250 companies from 54 countries.



This year's event saw a 15% increase in exhibition space and the launch of over 100 new products and services.

According to the organisers, the 2014 edition was one of the world's largest energy events, with some of the biggest names in the energy industry attending, including Cummins Power Generation, FAMCO, Rittal, Larsen & Toubro Limited, DUCAB, and Hyundai.


Anita Mathews, director of Informa Energy Group, organisers of the event, said its popularity reflected the growth in the market.

[[banner]] "The increased exhibitor interest at Middle East Electricity this year points towards the positive market outlook and shows that there are opportunities for everyone in this $1bn (AED 3.7bn) a year MENA energy market," said Matthews.

"Middle East Electricity is the world's foremost energy event, but what makes the event particularly unique is its truly international participation with visitors coming from Europe, the Americas and Asia as well as the whole Middle East region," she added.

"Senior level management account for the vast majority of visitors, giving exhibitors access to key decision makers, boosting their on-site orders and providing quality sales leads." Article continues on next page ...

[[page-break]] Amtech MEP software developer Amtech made a show of force at this year's Middle East Electricity by bringing the company's CEO, Mark Tindall, to the stand.

Tindall was in town to promote the company's latest additions to its software range and build on the Amtech's growing reputation in the GCC market.

Explaining the company's offering to the MEP industry, and in particular electrical engineers, Tindall said Amtech's software was comprehensive in its scope.

"We provide a range of software primarily for MEP engineers," he said. "It covers everything from specification through design, right through the procurement, job costing to final account, including commissioning and service management. It's an end-to-end solution for MEP engineers.

"We also have a very powerful BIM package that enables you to monitor progress through construction but also to capture information from site as well as providing information to engineers onsite on mobile devices." Tindall added that mobility was something Amtech is keen to focus more on in its technology but that the industry may take time to catch up to its forward thinking.

"The technology's moving very much towards a mobile environment and cloud computing," he said.

"There's a role for both desk-based and mobile BIM software but change isn't always that fast, particularly in construction. We're trying to change the whole industry and the way it works at the moment. We've got a fairly inexpensive device to capture data digitally onsite and fire it back wirelessly to some base-station or the project manager. It's just very efficient." Focussing specifically on the GCC market, Tindall said that Amtech was very much geared towards transforming the way the MEP industry worked in the region and helping it progress from some outmoded practices to which it is clinging.

[[banner]] "With this market there is wide use of spreadsheets. We're just talking about getting proprietary software into these businesses because spreadsheets seem to be the tool of choice in the region.

However, with spreadsheets, you don't know if an incorrect formula is being used. I heard a story just this week where AED 3m was missed off a calculation because of an incorrect formula buried in a spreadsheet. We need to get that first step into using proprietary software which, in this case, is for estimating." Another area which Amtech is aiming to revolutionise with its software is how pricing and procurement is controlled on projects.

"Although they don't like to publish trade prices in this region, we're creating a product database for this market," Tindall said.

"It's one of the things we have found very positive here: the big, big requirement here is to have a database, even if it's not got the trade prices in it. We're working on that right now and hoping to launch with 150,000 products by Q2," he added.

For electrical engineers specifically, Tindall said that Amtech's software is being adapted to meet the particular market demands of the GCC, although he added that the differences between British and GCC regulations are minimal.

"There will be a few tweaks that we want to make over time but they are not fundamental because, in the GCC, in terms of electrical design, the British standard has been quite widely adopted here. There a few small requirements in different areas.

There is a reporting requirement for DEWA. There's also a specific output which we're going to put into our software so that calculations can be presented in the accepted format, but the calculations themselves are very widely accepted following the wiring regulations." Article continues on next page ...

[[page-break]] Flir Flir was attracting a lot of heat from visitors at this year's event due to its new E8 series thermographic camera.

Jalaal Abu Hassan, regional sales manager for thermographic products for the Middle East, said that the product has been a big hit with the market since its release.

"We are showing our new E8 series which is a low-end camera with high-end features," said Abu Hassan. "It is receiving big interest from the market and we have sold a lot. We have had plenty of visitors asking about this camera." The company was also showcasing a range of other products targeted at the MEP industry.

"We are also showing our test and measurement tools, which are Flir-branded test and measurement tools that help us give a bigger package to our customers to serve them. They focus on predictive and preventative maintenance requirements, and also for the safety and automation applications and for the building diagnostic applications. The awareness now for predictive maintenance is increasing and becoming essential for utilities. Leakage detection is also one of the most important points that we realise the visitors are asking for.

Switchgear leakage detection is the main important topic for this trade show which everybody is asking for." [[banner]] Abu Hassan added that Flir's products were relevant to all branches of the MEP construction chain. "If you are talking about the MEP market, you are talking about three parts of the circle: it is the end-user, the consultant, and the contractor," he said.

"For the consultant, our tools are very important for them to inspect the contractor's work. It is important as a consultant to have this equipment or, even if you do not have it for yourself, you can specify it in the specs of the project that the contractors must have the thermal camera. This is important to make an inspection of the building construction, in terms of the insulation, or even for the electrical balance.

"Now the end-user is becoming more aware about that, so they are taking the lead in terms of buying the camera and training their staff to use the camera. This means he can make sure the consultant and contractor are doing their job properly. It is a tool for the main parts of the market to use," Abu Hassan added.

As for the popularity of this year's show, Abu Hassan said that it was more about quality than quantity.

"The show is still attracting many people but I realise that the traffic is not as big as last year," he said. "The quality of the leads is increasing as the decision-makers are coming and they are the most important. The top guys who are taking the decisions for procurement are visiting this show." Article continues on next page ...

[[page-break]] Fluke Manufacturer of electronic handheld test equipment, Fluke, was among the bright sparks at this year's Middle East Electricity, offering a newe range of products to the region's electrical engineers.

"Fluke has a very strong vitality index so we are developing new products all the time," explained Steve Hood, general manager for Middle East, Africa and Turkey.

"We've just launched a new thermal imager called the TI200, 300 and 400 range, which has a lot of new features including wi-fi and Iphone apps.

"We've got another range called CNX which is a wireless-enabled, multimedia and data-logging system which allows you to have a number of different heads or transducers, current voltage, talking wirelessly to a remote instrument and then offers the ability to log," he added.

[[banner]] Although Fluke has always been known for its multi-meter offerings, Hood says the company has branched out in recent years.

"We've evolved into other instruments like current, power, temperature and mechanical devices, and we're adding application-specific solutions as well as wireless connectivity to satisfy our customers' increased mobility." Article continues on next page ...

[[page-break]] Hyundai South Korean-based multinational conglomerate Hyundai sent its electrical division out in force at this year's Middle East Electricity to show to the region that it has it all when it comes to circuit breakers.

Sejin Kang, sales manager, said that the company has its eyes on the region's industrial city projects, in particular, but added that its range of products mean that it can supply any type of construction project in the region.

"At this year's event we are exhibiting our miniature curcuit breaker (MCB) series, our molded case circuit breaker (MCCB), magnetic contactors, air circuit breakers and the vacuum circuit breaker (VCB) for medium voltage circuit breakers," said Kang.

The company's new VCB model, which it was launching at the event, is more compact than previous models – achieved by getting rid of some redundant items and reducing the material used, said Kang.

He added that Hyundai hopes that this product, and more like it in the future, will see the company rival "Schneider, ABB or Siemens" internationally in five to 10 years.

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