DUBAI-BASED BMC Gulf is promoting Uniplan E, an automatic hot-air machine from Leister Technologies Switzerland that is used for welding industrial fabrics in diverse applications ranging from tensile fabric roofs to billboards.

The small, lightweight and handy hot air welder is said to produce perfect welding results and is electronically controlled for reproducible quality, according to Roland von Ah, sales manager Asia and Middle East at Leister.

Uniplan E has been used to create light airy tent-shaped roof structures as well as in building wrapping applications to enhance the aesthetics of the facades and roofs.

Uniplan E has already gained popularity in Dubai’s billboards sector, as the product provides an alternative to using glue.

“Billboard advertising has become one of the most important marketing instruments in the Middle East,” says Fabian Beermann, division manager at BMC Gulf, Leister’s sales and service partner in the UAE.

“The advantage of billboards is that they, at a relatively low expense, attract the attention of a large target audience – whether it be on large city squares, alongside business avenues or the highway, or wrapped around new buildings.”

In the past, the manufacturer of billboards tried to somehow join the billboard components with glue, with no consideration to the durability of the joint. However, large parts of the billboards would become detached within a few weeks.

“Companies using Uniplan E reported that the automatic hot-air machine produced a perfect weld seam. This joining technology presents several advantages: the joint is permanent and of high quality.

“During the welding process, a guiding roller assures that the weld seam will always run straight. Whereas the gluing process requires at least two people to carry out the operation, hot air welding is done by only one person. Also, the welding process requires less time than gluing – hence all in all, a highly efficient process,” he adds.

In the region, Uniplan E has recently been used on the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City project in Dubai and on Kuwait University project in Kuwait City.

BMC Gulf was established in Dubai in 1998 to serve the local markets of the Middle East and GCC with specialized engineering services and turn-key solutions for industrial and private projects.

Based in Switzerland, Leister is an international leader in the development, production and sale of tools for welding plastic with more than 120 sales and service locations throughout the world. Its core business includes hand tools, welding machines and hand extruders for trade, as well as hot-air systems for industrial applications.