AL ABDULKARIM Holding (AKH) Company is supplying various electrical and mechanical products for the Future Ceramics project.

Set up more than three decades ago, the Saudi-based company offers a wide range of services to the kingdom’s construction sector, playing a major role in the growth of the national economy. The company enjoys a leadership position in the supply of electrical, communication, instrumentation, automation and control, piping, oilfield supplies, and engineered systems and equipment.
“We have diversified into the areas of in-kingdom manufacturing, advanced supply-chain programmes and supply of products, professional solutions and services for the electrical and power sectors, communication, industrial oilfields, instrumentation, industrial automation, information technology, enterprise applications, lab systems, and training and education,” says CEO Khalid Al AbdulKarim.
The company has partnered with leading suppliers to execute a number of projects, enhancing performance through innovation, quality and a commitment to assist customers achieve operational excellence and increase profitability. Amongst the projects undertaken are Jubail export refinery project for Saudi Aramco-Total, and the Manifa and Karan gasfield development project, also for Saudi Aramco.
Other projects include engineering, supply, installation, and testing and commissioning of lighting systems at the Jesco steel mill  in Jubail for Danieli Automation  of Italy/Inbesco, Saudi Arabia; engineering, supply, installation, and testing and commissioning of electro-mechanical works at Star Yard Development in Dammam port for Eastern Trading and Contracting Group, Saudi Arabia/Saipem ENI; and a similar project for Gulf Cooperation Symbols, Saudi Arabia/Saipem ENI.
Headquartered in Dammam, AKH has a network of branches, showrooms, and warehouses in Al Khobar, Jubail, Riyadh, Jeddah, Yanbu, Jubail, Madinah and Dammam. It has an international presence in the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain in the GCC, and India and Kazakhstan outside the GCC.
AKH has a huge inventory for electrical, power distribution, instrumentation and telecommunication sectors, as well as piping, valves and fittings, and is recognised for its on-time delivery performance by oil companies, petrochemical plants, utilities and international EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractors, says Al AbdulKarim.
The company has three divisions – electrical and communication, industrial and oilfield, and instrumentation and automation.
Electrical & communication
This division has made AKH a leading supplier and solutions provider of electrical, construction and power products in the kingdom. For years, the division has been a leading supplier to Saudi Aramco, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), and other local and overseas contractors.
“As an agent and distributor of highly-reputable international manufacturers in the market of oil and gas, we provides a comprehensive and competitive range of electrical products in the field of transmission, distribution, protection and generation, as well as in industrial and petrochemical hazardous locations,” Al AbdulKarim says.
AKH is also an electrical stocker distributor (ESD) for Aramco,  under a programme started in 2005 by Aramco to develop a new supply chain management (SCM) model for outsourcing materials inventory and associated SCM functions for a particular commodity. In 2007, Aramco signed new 10-year  ESD agreements worth SR1 billion ($267 million) for electrical products.
The ESD initiative resulted in developing a bundle of new SAP solutions to perform critical processes in warehouse management (WMS) and plant maintenance (PM) for all company plants.
As Aramco’s ESD, AKH has undertaken major system enhancements in its ERP/MRP system to cope with this initiative. It stages electrical material requirements for more than 5,000 work orders at a time for Aramco’s MRO in addition to major projects.
“AKH’s vision is to become the leading ESD in the GCC based on the successful integration with its major clients in Saudi Arabia under this SCM business model,” he says.

Industrial & oilfield
The oilfield division is a key player in the region’s oil and gas industries. Partnering with renowned international manufacturers, it provides solutions to the industrial sector to achieve operational excellence. The company has a strategically-located network of offices and warehouse facilities throughout the GCC region.
Products and services include process packaged systems such compressed air dryers, fuel conditioning systems, filtration systems, and pumping systems, flaring systems, which include smokeless flaring solutions, and supply, erection, commissioning and start-up; and piping commodities and valves, such as line pipe (SMLS, SAW, ERW) fittings, flanges, hot tap tees, barred tees, pipeline valves (manual, actuated), relief valves and ESD systems.

Instrumentation & automation
The instrumentation division provides products and services of AKH’s partners. Its highly-trained product managers and sales/application engineers assist customers in analysing a variety of instrumentation requirements and recommend the best possible solution for the process requested.
“We are equipped with a well-trained technical team specialised in installation, commissioning and troubleshooting of various instrumentation products and systems,” says Al AbdulKarim.
Its products and solutions include flow, level and pressure transmitters, pressure, temperature and signal calibrators, pressure, level and temperature switches, signal converters and CPM, instrumentation fittings and valves, level gauges, pressure gauges, storage tank instrumentation, safety and pressure relief valves, multi-loop controllers, fieldbus modules, ultrasonic level and flow instruments, sand and corrosion monitoring, calibrators, deadweight testers, macrometers, instrument enclosures and panels, solenoid valves, quick disconnect couplings, chemical injection pumps, and low measurement and control.
With around 1,000 employees, AKH also has a number of affiliates, including Naizak Global Engineering Systems, Star Light, Industrial Systems Group, East West Trading International, and Gulf Gaihab International.

Naizak Engineering Systems
Established in 1998, Naizak is a totally customer-driven organisation, with a policy of investmenting in staff of a very high calibre and specialisation. Its services cover IT infrastructure, training, e-learning, enterprise applications, communication infrastructure solutions, automation and system integration, power generation, and lab equipment. Naizak maintains a network of offices in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, providing a range of information management solutions to businesses of all sizes. It caters to the specific IT needs of energy and industry clients in the Middle East.

Star Light
Star Light is the leading lighting supplier in the kingdom, specialising in commercial, residential and industrial projects, indoors and outdoors, as well as garden lighting fixtures. It offers complete solutions and services, which include lighting design (industrial, commercial and residential), engineering for the lighting system, materials cost, stocking/warehouse facilities, technical specification and recommendation, supervision services for installation and commissioning and on-time delivery. Star Light Commercial Group represents more than 150 international companies from Saudi Arabia, the GCC, Iraq, Jordan, Italy, Spain, Germany, China, the UK, India, Kazakhstan and the US.
It has supplied lighting fixtures to many housing, commercial and industrial projects in the kingdom, such as the Petrokemya employee housing project with 175 villas, Al Murjan Village with 315 villas and Saudi Aramco Housing Project.

East West Trading International
East West Trading International brings together the most comprehensive product/supply package solutions for the power, oil, communications and industrial sectors in the Middle East, Africa and CIS. Operating across the Gulf, EWI and its group of companies offer more than 25 years of sales, distribution and marketing experience. One of the principal advantages in dealing with EWI is that it is a one-stop shop for electrical, oilfield, instrumentation, communication and industrial products. EWI has stocks worth $25 million for projects, construction and maintenance works.

Gulf Gaihab International
Founded in 1998, Gulf Gaihab International (GGI) is an IT network expert, delivering scalable products and solutions based on open architecture that enable ease of integration, evolutionary migration and growth and by allowing the effective use of technology to meet the strategic objectives of a business.
In order to meet the business and technology needs of customers, GGI focuses on the main requirements for fully-converged enterprise networks – availability, performance, scalability and ease of use.
GGI combines the following capabilities in order to deliver practical-to-use and high-value solutions:
• Network security: GGI provides security for all areas of the network, from the core to the perimeter and down to the desktop.
• Collaboration: By enabling user-to-user communications via voice, video or data with networked telephony products.
• Mobility with anytime, anywhere connections. GGI offers broadband fixed wireless, wireless access points, adapters and connectivity products based on WiMax, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology, supported by web-based device management tools.
• GGI’s cutting-edge switching products make it cost-effective to scale performance for the many disparate workgroups within an organisation, based on the types of applications they use and the amount of bandwidth they need.

Industrial Systems Group (ISG)
This recently-established group is now a licensed manufacturer of EGS/Appleton explosion-proof and industrial electrical equipment including panel boards, junction boxes, enclosures and light fixtures.
Located in Dammam, ISG operates from a 3,700 sq m air-conditioned manufacturing premises that is equipped with advanced machinery and well-trained staff.