Qatar-based Industrial Solutions leader ‘Nehmeh’ has organised the annual Mega Industrial Expo 2020 showcasing a range of the world’s leading brands in construction solutions,
Visitors during the annual Mega Industrial Expo 2020.
The two-day event was held on February 4 and 5 at a five-star hotel in Doha where Nehmeh showcased power tools, ventilation systems, light construction tools and machinery with a focus on concrete machinery along with demonstrations to let guests have a first-hand product experience of the machines and its applications.
An important part of the event was the launch of the Qatar’s first locally manufactured ‘Roof Top Package Unit’ by Nehmeh Air Conditioners and introduction of Belgium based ‘Beton Trowel’ brand renowned for Concrete & Compaction Equipment.
The event also featured key note address by experts from Beton Trowel, Nehmeh Air Conditioners and Makita over the two days. ‘Nehmeh App’ the region’s first industrial solutions mobile app was highlighted to guests at the expo. Nehmeh, one of the leading industrial solutions providers in the GCC, represents world class brands which are leaders in their respective categories.
For over 65 years, tens of thousands of people depend on reliable industrial performance solutions by Nehmeh. This mega event succeeded in attracting visitors including retail partners, suppliers, end-users and others related to the construction industry.
Visitors also included managers from Qatar looking for solutions to improve their efficiency and productivity on sites. Brands participating at the expo were Makita, Nehmeh Air Conditioners, Stampa, SDMO, Beton Trowel, Sofy, Portacool, Koshin, Awelco, Dr. Schulze among many more. Demonstrations were held on specially prepared areas showcasing tools, equipment and machinery. Expert professionals from Singapore, Germany and Belgium presented to the audience new introductions and technologies along with an informative Q & A session.
“Nehmeh range of Industrial Solutions cover major solutions required for the Qatari construction market. This concept event has been developed keeping in mind the requirements of our customers and I am glad to say that the event has been well received by the guests over the years,” said Emil A. Nehme, Chief Executive Officer at Nehmeh.
“With the support of our partners, we have the ability to cover major construction solutions as required here in Qatar. Witnessing the popularity of such an event, we are inclined to hold more such regular events as part of our calendar of activities,” he added.
‘The Nehmeh Corporate Catalogue 2020’ was launched during the event. Awards bestowed to various partners as tribute to their efforts and achievements. In addition, four lucky visitors also walked away with reward trips, gold coins and stay vouchers.
Automotive LOGISTICS MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA in an article titled MENA: Leading the way in innovation by Victoria Johns on 27 November 2019 gives us a clear picture of the prevailing situation of the automotive industry in the MENA region.
While it has some infrastructure and regulatory obstacles to overcome, the automotive industry in the Middle East and Africa (MENA) region is developing fast, driven by investment and innovation, as delegates heard at the ALMENA conference in Dubai last week.
Despite a sustained period of decline over the last few years affected by a fall in oil prices and geopolitical strife, the Middle East and Africa is fast becoming a region of automotive and supply chain opportunity. Carmakers such as VW, Toyota, GM, Groupe PSA and Mercedes-Benz are investing in local assembly, ranging from North African countries including Morocco, Algeria and Egypt, to sub-Saharan markets such as Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya and Ghana. There are also some notable logistics developments there and in the Middle East.
According to figures from IHS Markit, light vehicle sales in the Middle East and Africa are to increase by 6% in 2020 to around 3.5m, supported by ongoing recovery in Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries. That is still below 4.65m units sold in 2015 but at that point Middle East sales were helped by increases in Saudi Arabia and Iran, the latter of which was seeing an (albeit brief) resurgence after sanctions were temporarily lifted. That said, by 2025 annual new light vehicle sales across the region are set to hit more than 5.3m, according to IHS projections.
Saudi Arabia already accounts for about 40% of total vehicles sold in the Middle East and IHS Markit forecasts annual sales could reach over 800,000 beyond units by 2030. Contributing factors including the recovery in price per barrel of oil and to a lesser extent the lifting of the ban on female drivers suggest sustained growth is expected to start in the next two years.
Countries within the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) have established a national employment challenge to employ more local workers, the so-called ‘Gulfization’ policy, which is increasing labour opportunities in the area, something also fuelled by the exodus of foreign workers and the need for investment in local skills and talent.
An interesting interval notably for all those industries already devoting billions of Dollars to building these E-cars, thus affecting not only the whole world’s manufacturing and energy generation industries alike but also the planet’s climate. But this obviously not happening overnight, is somehow phased as described in this article.
Electric cars are often seen as one of the great hopes for tackling climate change. With new models arriving in showrooms, major carmakers retooling for an electric future, and a small but growing number of consumers eager to convert from gas guzzlers, EVs appear to offer a way for us to decarbonise with little change to our way of life.
Yet there is a danger that fixating on electric cars leaves a large blind spot. Electrification would be very expensive for the lumbering lorries that haul goods across continents or is currently technically prohibitive for long-distance air travel.
Beyond all the enthusiasm surrounding electrification, currently light-duty passenger vehicles only comprise 50% of total global demand for energy in the transportation sector compared to 28% for heavy road vehicles, 10% for air, 9% for sea and 2% for rail.
Put simply, the current focus on electrifying passenger vehicles – though welcome – represents only part of the answer. For most other segments, fuels will be needed for the foreseeable future. And even for cars, electric vehicles are not a cure-all.
The unfortunate truth is that, on their own, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) cannot solve what we call the “100 EJ problem”. Demand for transport services are expected to rise dramatically in the coming decades. So the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that we need to significantly reduce the amount of energy each vehicle uses just to keep total global energy demand in the transport sector roughly flat at current levels of 100 exajoules (EJ) by 2050. More than half of that 100 EJ is still expected to come from petroleum products and, by then, the share of light-duty vehicles in transport sector energy demand is expected to decline from 50% to 34%.
The vast majority of existing passenger trips can be accommodated by existing battery electric vehicles so, for many consumers, buying one will be an easy decision (as costs come down). But for those who frequently take very long journeys, the focus also needs to be on lower-carbon fuels.
Petroleum substitutes could extend sustainable transport to heavier vehicles and those seeking longer range, while using the existing refuelling infrastructure and vehicle fleet. Whereas battery electric vehicles will impose wider system costs (for example, the charging infrastructure needed to connect millions of new electric vehicles to the grid), all the transition costs of sustainable fuel substitutes are in the fuels themselves.
Our recent study is part of a renewed focus on synthetic fuels or synfuels (fuels converted from feedstocks other than petroleum). Synfuels were first made on an industrial scale in the 1920s by turning coal into liquid hydrocarbons using the so-called Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, named after its original German inventors. But using coal as a feedstock produces far dirtier fuel than even conventional petroleum-based fuels.
One possible route to carbon-neutral synthetic fuels would be to use woody residues and wastes as feedstock to create synthetic biofuels with less impact on the environment and food production than crop-based biofuels. Another option would be to produce synfuels from CO₂ and water using low-carbon electricity. But producing such “electrofuels” would need either a power system that is very low cost and ultra-low-carbon (such as those of Iceland or Quebec) or require dedicated sources of zero-carbon electricity that have high availability throughout the year.
Pilot plants
Synthetic biofuels and electrofuels both have the potential to deliver sustainable fuels at scale, but these efforts are still at the demonstration stage. Audi opened a €20M e-gas (electro fuel) plant in 2013 that produces 3.2 MW of synthetic methane from 6 MW of electricity. The €150M Swedish GoBiGas plant was commissioned in 2014 and produced synthetic biomethane at a scale of 20 MW using 30 MW of biomass.
Despite the many virtues of carbon-neutral synthetic fuels though, most commercial-scale projects are currently on hold. This is due to the high investment cost of pioneer process plants combined with a lack of sufficiently strong government policies to make them economically viable and share the risk of scale-up.
Government and industry attempts to encourage people to buy electric vehicles aren’t a problem in themselves. Our concern is that an exclusive focus on electrification may make solving the 100 EJ problem impossible. It is too early to tell which, if any, sustainable fuels will emerge successful and so the most pressing need is to scale up production from the current demonstration stage. If not, when our attention finally turns away from glossy electric car advertisements in a few years, we will find ourselves at a standing start in addressing the rest of the problem.
Posted on August 8th, 2018, this article by Jonny Williamson expands on the future of manufacturing possibilities of those countries that would be best at it in the future. Preparing for the on-coming Fourth Industrial Revolution will be rewarding through commercial opportunities to be gained, by these that are not surprisingly almost all from amongst the developed countries of today. For instance, “the leading 25 countries account for more than 75% of global manufacturing value added, while 90% of the countries from Latin America, Middle East, Africa and Eurasia fall into the low level of readiness.”
Readiness for the future would require, according to this study, not regional or national but global solutions. Connected production systems that have so far developed quasi naturally would need “not only sophisticated technology but also standards, norms and regulations that cross technical, geographical and political boundaries, to release efficiencies and make it easier to do business across global value chains.”
However, for all this to happen, it will have to be through new approaches to public-private collaboration that complement traditional models.
A new report by the World Economic Forum reveals that only 25 countries are in the best position to gain as production systems stand on the brink of exponential change.
Future of Production Report 2018, World Economic Forum & A.T. Kearney.
The Readiness for the Future of Production Report 2018 reveals that Japan is leading globally in current baseline of production, with the US currently best placed to capitalise on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
The report, developed in collaboration with A.T. Kearney, provides a snapshot of today’s global production landscape along with potential responses to emerging technologies and new production systems and/or business models
The new framework is made up of two main components: ‘Structure of Production’, which measures a country’s scale and complexity of production; and ‘Drivers of Production’ – the key enablers that position a country to capitalise on the 4IR to transform production systems.
Recognising that each country has its own unique goals and strategy for production and development, participants are assigned to one of four archetypes:
·Leading (strong current base, high level of readiness for the future)
·High Potential(limited current base, high potential for the future)
·Legacy (strong current base, at risk for the future)
·Nascent (limited current base, low level of readiness for the future).
Image courtesy of Future of Production Report 2018, World Economic Forum & A.T. Kearney.
Along with further qualitative analysis, the initial assessment reveals eight main findings:
1.Global transformation of production systems will be a challenge, and the future of production could become increasingly polarised in a two-speed world. The 25 countries in the Leadingarchetype account for more than 75% of global manufacturing value added (MVA), while 90% of the countries from Latin America, Middle East, Africa and Eurasia fall into the low level of readiness.
2.Different pathways will emerge as countries navigate the transformation of production systems. Advanced manufacturing will not be the chosen path for all: some may seek to capture traditional manufacturing opportunities in the near term, while others will pursue a dual approach, or prioritise other sectors altogether.
3.All countries have room for improvement. No country has reached the frontier of readiness, let alone harnessed the full potential of the 4IR in production. While there are early leaders to learn from, these countries are also still navigating the early stages of transformation.
4.Common challenges within each archetype indicate potential future pathways for Leading, Legacy, High Potential and Nascent countries. Countries can learn from each other, while pursuing their own unique strategy.
5.Technological advancement brings the potential for leapfrogging, but only a handful of countries are positioned to capitalise. Lagging countries can potentially enter emerging industries at a later stage without the legacy costs of earlier investment, but only if they have the right set of capabilities and develop effective strategies for capturing leapfrogging opportunities most relevant to them.
6.The 4IR will trigger selective reshoring, nearshoring and other structural changes to global value chains. Emerging technologies will change the cost-benefit equation for shifting production activities and, ultimately, impact location attractiveness. All countries must develop unique capabilities to make them attractive production destinations and capitalise on these shifts.
7.Readiness for the future of production requires global, not just national, solutions. Globally connected production systems need not only sophisticated technology but also standards, norms and regulations that cross technical, geographical and political boundaries, to release efficiencies and make it easier to do business across global value chains.
8.New and innovative approaches to public-private collaboration are needed to accelerate transformation. Every country faces challenges that cannot be solved by the private sector or public sector alone. New approaches to public-private collaboration that complement traditional models are needed to help governments quickly and effectively form partnerships that unlock new value.
The purpose of this article is to as objectively as possible raise the issue of the future profitability of the Automotive Industry in North Africa or Assembly Plants or put simply manufacturing of cars specifically in Algeria.
Because the international constraints are there and in the face of the global changes, the automotive sector is known for its restructuring, mergers and relocation of large groups, and for its high production capabilities. The global market for cars in perpetual mutation is nevertheless an oligopolistic market where a few companies control the international circuits.
It seems that some Algerian officials forget that globalization is here for good with political and economic implications. The press has recently echoed several Algerian operators desirous to embark into projects of cars manufacturing though withOriginal Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) from France, Italy, South Korea and Germany, etc. have open debates on the viability of such undertakings.
The question that arises, would be in the face of the global changes, about the break-even point of all these small car manufacturing projects, knowing that Algeria would be called to evolve within an open economy, though protectionism being sometimes necessary is only transitional?
According to the ‘Office National des Statistiques’ (ONS), the official agency of statistics, the automotive national park (NPA) totalled 5,683,156 vehicles by the end of 2015, up 4.75% year on year. This increase of the NPA is due to an increase in registrations of new vehicles in 2015 compared to 2014 of more than 900,000 units, or 7.72%.
The number of operations of registration went from 1,397,554 operations in 2014 to 1,505,403 operations in 2015. According to the ONS, the number of registration of new cars fell from 301,722 units in 2014 to 257,589 in 2015, drop of 14.63% and that, unlike past years before the introduction of import licenses, almost all (91.3%) vehicles imported in 2015 were of the order of 282,119 units and registered their year of import.
Taking into account that the Algerian economy is based on the hydrocarbons revenues, the evolution of the price of oil basically determines the purchasing power of the Algerians and inflation would lead to its deterioration.
Several questions would need answers for any coherent economic policy and these are :
-First, what will happen with the inevitable exhaustion of oil in terms of economic profitability on the purchasing power of the Algerians? In this case of the real purchasing power of the middle classes, that will remain in terms of the possibility of purchasing power to buy a car?
-Secondly, due to the absence of industrial specialized units, and referring to the knowledge-based economy in order to promote integrated subcontracts, what will be the currency balance of these projected units? Especially that the majority of the inputs (costlier with the slippage of the Dinar) will almost all be imported before?
-Third, by international standards, the threshold of capacity at the global level are between 200,000 and 300,000 per year for individual cars, about 100,000 units per year for trucks / buses and scalable with the concentrations since 2009. Cost accountings are fixed costs to variable costs what is the break-even point for a competitive cost compared to international standards and the new mutations of this sector? The hardware representing less than 20 to 30% of the total cost, whereas like a computer, the costs of software represent 70 to 80%; these mini projects will they ever be competitive in terms of cost/quality?
-Fourth, what is the situation of sub-contracting in Algeria in order to achieve an acceptable integration rate that can reduce costs? In making a comparison with neighbouring countries where the integration rate is higher as compared to Algeria, experts stressed during forum at El Mujahid this month that in Tunisia, the number of sub-contractors represent 20% of the industrial companies (1,000 sub-contractors among 5,000 industrial firms), while in Morocco, the rate is 28% (2,000 subcontractors out of 7,000 industrial companies). And that the industrial sector currently represents only 5% of GDP, while the needs of industrial equipment and other industrial components and spare parts are generally $25 billion. The number of sub-contractors in Algeria is generally around 900,000 companies, but 97% of these firms are SMEs, or even of all small enterprises (SEs) with less than 10 employees and about 9000, either 1% active for the industrial sector, the rest operating either in the commercial sector, distribution, services, building and infrastructure sectors.
-Fifth, in a coherent vision of the industrial policy taking into account the strong international competition and new technological change in this area, need not we select two or three Algerian constructors in a win/win partnership with foreign partners so as to start mastering the international circuits with precise specifications giving them tax and financial advantages in functions of their ability. So for an integration between 0 and 10% rate, the benefits must be limited to the maximum and before a certain threshold of production not exceeding 5000 units/year in order to avoid that during this period some operators might be tempted in a rentier logic, to arrive at more than 30.000/50.000 units per year without integration, increasing this way, the import components currency Bill.
-Sixth, related to the previous question, are we currently building a manufacturing factory of cars for a local market while the objective of the strategic management of any business is it not either regional and / or global in order to guarantee financial profitability in the face of international competition; this sector being internationalized with sub segments nesting at the global level?
How then will these micro-units often oriented to the domestic market, realize the rate of integration of 40 / 50% at the end of about five years, and risking to close by bankruptcy after having benefitted with all the benefits that are supported by Algerian Treasury subsidies where the importance of strict State regulations to avoid transfers of annuity in favour of a rentier minority?
-Seventh, an industrial policy without control of the solar is inevitably doomed to failure with a waste of financial resources. Also the automotive industry becoming capital based, with digital programming eliminating almost all intermediate jobs, what is the number of direct and indirect jobs that can be created, referring to the necessary qualification, taking into account new technologies applied to the automobile?
-Eighth, what will be the cost and strategy of distribution networks to adapt to these technological changes?
-Ninth, will these cars use petrol, diesel, LPG, hybrid or solar referring also to the policy of generalized fuels subcidies that distort the optimal allocation of resources?
-Tenth, how to approach the world market with the existing rule of 49 / 51% knowing that no reputed foreign firm would accept such a rigid constraint of this type. This rule not only carries the risk of all additional costs being born by Algeria, but could lead to further debts that might envenom tensions between 2017-2020?
In conclusion, I would not remind enough that the engine of any development process lies in research and development, that without the integration of the knowledge economy, economic policy or any project has no future in the 21st century. In the face of a turbulent and unstable world where technological innovations are constantly changing, Algeria should invest both in democratic institutions in segments where it can have comparative advantages, i.e.: agriculture, tourism, new technologies and in sub-segments of certain industrial sectors, taking into account the on-going deep technological changes and a major restructuring of this industry that is internationalized.
Generations of travelers have stood before the “ksars” of Djado, wandering their crenellated walls, watchtowers, secretive passages and wells, all of them testifying to a skilled but unknown hand.
Originally posted on DESERTIFICATION: Heidelberg Earth scientists study natural climate fluctuations of the past 500,000 years – https://www.labmanager.com/news/desertification-threatens-mediterranean-forests-30224 With a view towards predicting the consequences of human-made climate change for Mediterranean ecosystems, Earth scientists from Heidelberg University have studied natural climate and vegetation fluctuations of the past 500,000 years. Their primary focus was the effects…
Originally posted on HUMAN WRONGS WATCH: Human Wrongs Watch (UN News)* — Disinformation, hate speech and deadly attacks against journalists are threatening freedom of the press worldwide, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday [2 May 2023], calling for greater solidarity with the people who bring us the news. UN Photo/Mark Garten | File photo…
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