EXCLUSIVE
CO NC R ETE
14
Khalid Cement Industries plays key role
in Qatar’s development
T he construction sector in
Qatar is still experiencing a
boom. The global financial cri-
sis has had very little impact
on Qatar. As infrastructure
spending continues, many in-
ternational companies are bid-
ding for mega projects like the
Friendship Causeway linking
Qatar and Bahrain, Lusail City
and Energy City.
Khalid Cement Industries Com-
plex (KCIC), one of the biggest
local concrete manufacturing
company in Qatar, is a strong,
professional and dependable
partner for domestic and inter-
national companies seeking to
take part in Qatar’s major proj-
ects.
Optimistic over the great op-
portunities thrown open by
the ongoing construction
boom in Qatar, KCIC‘s senior
management has decided
to implement not only some
fundamental changes within
the management but also in
production and services to at-
tract local and international
customers.
KCIC, which started work in
1990, is one of the major
achievements of Khalid Corpo-
ration. Over the last decade,
KCIC has played a pioneering
role in the fast track develop-
ment of the national infrastruc-
ture, utilizing some of the coun-
try’s finest ‘state of the art’
plant and machinery.
The development and scope of
the company has been an ef-
fective demonstration of how
indigenous raw materials and
resources can be harnessed to
generate exceptional wealth.
Today, KCIC is one of Qatar’s
foremost suppliers of complete
concrete solutions. The com-
pany’s 100,000 sq m main
production plant is in the Salwa
Industrial Area. There are two
other KCIC plants, one in Dafna
and the other in Dukhan. Two
more KCIC plants –in Ras Laf-
fan and Mesaieed - are expect-
ed to be inaugurated during the
first quarter of 2010.
KCIC specializes in the manu-
facturing and selling of ready-
mix concrete, hollow core
slabs, concrete blocks, in-
terlock, building panels and
beams, boundary walls and
kerbstones.
KCIC has recently
increased the produc-
tion facilities. The daily
capacity of the entire
KCIC plants now stands
at 9.470 m3.
The company fleet includes
86 transit mixers, 13 pumps
(the longest is 63m), three ice
plants, three recycling plants,
60 cement bulkers and 80 tip-
pers. It includes 32 production
tables for tilt elements, eight
overhead cranes for product
handling and a 7500 m2 stor-
age area. A main shipping de-
partment has been allocated
to co-ordinate the transport of
KCIC’s concrete products be-
tween plants and sites. A mod-
ern fleet management system
will be implemented soon.
KCIC provides a full range of
concrete types: water proof,
impermeable, fiber reinforced,
self compacting, shotcrete, pig-
mented color and screed. KCIC
also has the facilities and tech-
nical knowhow to design differ-
ent types of concrete mixes and
concrete strengths.
KCIC’s precast division of-
fers boundary walls, columns,
beams, footings, drains and
commercial & residential build-
ing panels. It designs, manu-
factures and erects its precast
products. KCIC has its own
design department, including
a structural design manager,
a structural engineer and 12
draftsmen proficient in Auto-
CAD. With four ‘A’ frame trail-
ers and mobile cranes KCIC
can now deliver and handle any
erection from 25 tons to 110
tons.
Khalid Cement’s hollow core
factory offers consistent qual-
ity for a multitude of appli-
cations. The range includes
150mm-320mm commercial
and residential floor slabs, ex-
ternal cladding elements and
boundary walls. KCIC’s con-
crete blocks and the interlock
and kerbstone range provide
the best quality in terms of fire
resistance, strength, durability
and sound insulation. KCIC has
the facilities and technical kno-
whow to design concrete blocks
to any specification.
Best quality and perma-
nent quality control are
KCIC‘s top priorities and
guaranteed by the in-
house laboratory.
The KCIC Laboratory and Qual-
ity Control Department was
established over a decade ago
when the company first started
its production. The idea was to
ensure complete customer sat-
isfaction in terms of quality, reli-
ability and durability throughout
the entire product range. The
department deals extensively
with the testing of all aspects of
the production.
KCIC’s ‘state of the art’ labo-
ratory is more than capable of
conducting tests on any given
material or product as per Qa-
tar Construction Standards
(QCS) and follows a significant
number of related international
codes of practice: inward mate-
rial quality control and testing,
product testing and quality con-
trol, technical data monitoring
and submission to clients, de-
veloping concrete mix designs,
plant and machinery perfor-
mance evaluation and in-house
training programs.
All Laboratory and Quality Con-
trol Department staff members
are highly trained and well ex-
perienced within the disciplines
of their own various divisions.
Each division within the depart-
ment exists, not only to provide
top quality products from a
technical perspective but also
to provide answers and solu-
tions to clients.
KCIC provides a full range of
concrete products and related
services to satisfy all customer
requirements. It has recently
increased the capacities and
fleet, installed fully computer-
ized machineries and hired
well-experienced employees.
It has also implemented and
maintained a quality manage-
ment system and established
a new marketing department
to fulfill all customers’ require-
ments in terms of services and
communications.
The new marketing department
is responsible for optimizing in-
ternal as well as external com-
munication with clients, sup-
pliers and business partners.
KCIC is developing a dynamic
website which, while highlight-
ing the strength and capability
of the company, will provide all
necessary information to cus-
tomers, employees, suppliers
and anyone seeking informa-
tion on concrete.
The given examples within KCIC
pay tribute to general require-
ments of the Qatari construc-
tion market. Probably some of
the Qatari construction compa-
nies and concrete manufactur-
ers have already installed new
technologies or its own labora-
tory and marketing department,
while most of them might try to
implement similar tools and
strategies right now.
KCIC has decided to go an ex-
traordinary way of achieving
its targets. In addition to the
mentioned developments and
changes KCIC has done one
step further to become a pro-
fessional and successful part-
ner for local and international
construction companies.
Recently KCIC has established
two new departments: Corpo-
rate Governance and Research
& Development.
Today KCIC is the first
and only concrete
manufacturer in Qatar
with its own Corporate
Governance and R&D
departments.
The Research & Development
Department of KCIC plays a ma-
jor role in the upgrading of prod-
uct qualities. KCIC is dedicated
to providing customers with
their specific concrete require-
ments, meeting the highest
industry standards of product
quality materials, services and
reliability to ensure maximum
performance.
KCIC is committed to ensure
that its quality system is com-
pletely understood by its em-
ployees and everyone working
for the company. Fundamental
to KCIC’s success and contin-
ued growth are its people. One
short-term objective for the new
R&D Department is developing
a training schedule for the tech-
nical staff. This includes dealing
with international institutions
such as American Concrete In-
stitute (ACI) and NRMCA to have
all plants NRMCA-certified.
On a long-term basis, the de-
partment ensures that KCIC will
be working with national and
international affiliations as well
as commercial laboratories by
undertaking research and pre-
paring studies and information
transfer which will improve the
concrete industry and its sup-
plementary units.
The Corporate Governance is
responsible to improve KCIC
quality, to set high performance
targets and to strengthen cost
position while bringing account-
ability, a more innovative ap-
proach to operating and manag-
ing practices and accelerating a
culture change by making the
organization look outward rath-
er than inward.
In general Corporate Gover-
nance is the system by which
companies like KCIC are direct-
ed and controlled. Its values for
KCIC and its business partners
are transparency, accountabil-
ity, fairness and responsibility.
The new department creates
standard operating procedures
for each KCIC division, provides
guidance on where the com-
pany needs to go from here and
empowers staff with tools to do
their work efficiently.
Its mission is to make everyone
in the company accountable for
their work, create a transparent
process, make the staff more
responsible for their actions
and provide an audit trail of all
transactions in the company.
KCIC is thus well prepared to
contribute fully to the ongoing
construction boom in Qatar,
playing a crucial role in the de-
velopment of the national infra-
structure.
KCIC will continue its pursuit
of embracing change manage-
ment as the way of the future
in order to sustain its growth
and exceed customers‘ expec-
tations.
EXCLUSIVE
CO NC RETE
15