Shell in the Middle East | Features

3 Stars Foam Factory in Sharjah, owned by a local man, Salim Al-Suwaidi, is the largest manufacturer of mattresses in the United Arab Emirates - and the second largest mattress manufacturer in the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council). The company also makes polyurethane foam using Shell-supplied polyol. �Shell in the Middle East� goes to Sharjah to talk to Ali Ahmad,General Manager of 3 Stars Foam Factory, about the business of providing a good night�s sleep - and 3 Stars� relationship with Shell�

�The 3 Stars Foam Factory was established in 1987 and has grown considerably in the last 20 years,� says Ali Ahmad, General Manager of the company. �Today it occupies a 15,000 square metre plot, 9,000 metres of which is covered to provide offices, a showroom, and production and storage facilities for mattresses and chemicals.�

The company�s core business is foam production and the manufacture of finished mattresses.

Ali says, �The foam manufactured at 3 Stars is sold locally and also exported. The local market takes the majority of our total production, which goes to a wide range of wholesalers and retailers who use the foam to make a variety of furniture items, including sofas, beds, car seats and mattresses. The other five GCC countries [Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait] make up the majority of our export market.�

The company�s foam production is currently running at some 4,200 metric tonnes per annum [mtpa], all of which is made in Sharjah.

�We have a single production line for foam and work a double shift,� he says. �The foam is produced in a variety of qualities and densities, ranging from 13 kilogrammes per cubic metre up to 100 kilogrammes per cubic metre. The lowest density of foam is used to produce lower quality mattresses and sofa coverings. The medium quality is for seats and back rests, whilst the higher quality is used to produce top-of-the-range mattresses and special requirements for hotels.�

3 Stars currently produce 850 mattresses a day, or around 300,000 a year, which makes the company the largest mattress manufacturer in the UAE and the second largest in the GCC [Gulf Co-operation Council]. 3 Stars makes both simple foam mattresses as well as a variety of qualities of spring mattresses.

Ali goes on to explain, �The UAE accounts for around 60 per cent of our total mattress production, with the balance going to Iraq and the other GCC countries. As one of the biggest manufacturers of mattresses we are also one of the few suppliers who can meet really large demands. For example, one of our recent contracts, and one of our biggest, has been to supply 12,000 mattresses to the Government of Qatar for the Asian Games.

�The production facility for mattresses works three shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We produce all qualities of mattress under our registered brand name, Sleep Fine. In the retail sector we sell our range of Sleep Fine mattresses from our own showroom here in Sharjah. We also sell to over 2,000 distributors, both in the UAE and overseas,� says Ali.

To make foam - the technical name for which is polyurethane foam � 3 Stars uses two main chemicals, polyol and TDI [toluene di-isocyante], as well as nine other chemicals in much smaller quantities. These are added to adjust the various formulations required for the production of different densities and qualities of finished foam products.

Says Ali, �Polyol accounts for some 57 per cent of our chemical needs and Shell is our main supplier of this product, providing us with the major part for our annual needs of polyol. Deliveries of polyol are made by bulk road tankers from Shell�s bulk storage depot to 3 Star�s own storage facilities, which can hold around 110 metric tonnes.

�We are fortunate that Shell has a bulk storage facility for polyols at the Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai, which means that lead times for Shell-supplied polyols are just 48 hours. Shell provides us with a great deal of help which comes in the form of technical advice, as well as training for the technicians who operate the foam manufacturing machinery on our factory floor.

�Shell Chemicals� laboratory in Singapore passes on specialist advice to us on the development of formulations for the production of foam, which enables us to reduce costs whilst improving quality. Shell�s Singapore laboratory also provides training for our chemists in quality control and safety procedures. The safety training focuses on the storage, handling, formulation and mixing of chemicals, with an emphasis on working to avoid fires, health hazards and such incidents as chemical leaks or spills.

�3 Stars Foam also has its own small laboratory, which is used to develop and produce the formulations used in the production of foam. From this laboratory, our trained technicians oversee the mixing of the many chemicals used during the production process. Our laboratory technicians also inspect the quality of the foam after manufacture.

�3 Stars Foam is ISO 9001 accredited and all our finished products pass through a quality management process to ensure that finished products meet international standards.

�Furthermore the company has a Shell-approved HSE management system and our record of LTIs [Lost Time Incidents] is excellent.

�Amer Kamal, Shell�s Dubai-based account manager for 3 Stars Foam, has initiated training courses for our staff. Using the Shell network he has also helped us to establish business relationships with other foam manufacturers in the region to enable us to share experiences and improve our production processes.

�In fact, our relationship with Shell has grown stronger over the last few years and I look forward to continuing our mutual co-operation into the future,� Ali concludes.