People Meter: Generating Business

Wassim Aboushaar has experienced a good start to 2010, with growth of at least 20 percent.

One stop shop
Aboushaar, who has visited Iraq several times himself, clearly feels that that satisfying the needs of demanding customers like the army is a testament to the quality of Cummins equipment and service.

He also believes that he his customers benefit from the fact that the company produces all the components for their engines themselves. “It gives the end user one warranty, one safe source. With us, he is getting one warranty and all the spare parts from one vendor.

Then there is also the consistency of the supply, we own the channel, so the end users knows he will always get the component he needs.”

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During summer, peak demand for electricity puts additional strains on supply, frequently leading to power cuts. Providers of rented generators make good money in those months, as customers shield themselves against the prospect of a power outage.

While Cummins notices this trend through increased equipment orders from rental companies, Aboushaar points out that short term demand is not the main driver of his business.

“The area that we compete for is the big power stations. We are not so competitive on the small range, like the lower lower kVa’s and the small portables, because the market here is very saturated, and a lot of cheap quality, and the end user is not interested in the long term,” he says. “Seasonal demand is for small products. Larger plants take time to build.”

Letting the small fry slip through the net does not seem to have impaired business prospects, with Cummins having resumed a brisk trade this year.

“In 2010 things are really picking up. We are experiencing at least 20 percent year-on-year growth for our product mix, stemming mainly from the power generation sector,” says Aboushaar.

The biggest revenue earners this year have been Abu Dhabi and Oman, and supplying the military in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I don’t know if that market is growing, but we really have secured big projects in Oman,” he says.

Cummins in action
In one of its most notworthy projects of late, Cummins Middle East is equipping a ‘landmark’ sewage plant contracted by the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea) with gas and diesel generators.

The plant will harness biogas stemming from the sewage process as feedstock to be used in the gas generators, says Aboushaar. The heat emanating from the generators will be used for the treatment process, and excess power will be fed into the Abu Dhabi power grid, he adds.The plant will be fully operational by the end of the year.

“We are now doing the installation, the final commissioning and handover should be at the end of 2010.” The size of the contract for the generators, piping and the installation is between US$20-30 million, says the general manager.

“This is really a landmark and a unique project in the Middle East,” he concludes .

Aboushaar also revealed that Cummins won a US$10 million tender for a 10MW power station in Abu Dhabi's second largest city Al Ain in July.