Scott Bader Middle East: Going from strength to strength

Renowned for providing value-added solutions to manufacturers and fabricators in the composite industry, Scott Bader Middle East (SBME) has emerged as a clear market leader. The firm is a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of Scott Bader Company Limited whose head office and Group R&D centre is located in the U.K. Over its 26 years of presence in this region, Scott Bader has extended its reach beyond the MENA region to North Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka and Maldives. 
Latha Ekambaram, Marketing, Strategy and Distribution Business Manager, said: "Through these years the business has grown from strength to strength with SBME emerging as a leading contributor in terms of revenues and profits to the Scott Bader Group as a whole. SBME prides itself on providing its loyal customer base and its rapidly growing distributor network with exceptional customer service and technical support.
"With over 60 years of composites experience, customers are able to benefit from the latest developments and advances in the industry by drawing upon the success stories from all across the world because of our presence in North America, several regions of Europe and the Far East."
Today, with its four reactors and an annual production capacity of 40,000 tonnes, SBME manufactures and delivers high-quality performance driven products and technical solutions to a wide array of industries, including building and construction, marine (boats and luxury yachts), automotive, marine and chemical containment. 
"Our commitment to technical excellence, quality and continual improvement has helped SBME be recognised as the industry benchmark, providing world-class Crystic composite resins, vinylesters, gelcoats and the more advanced Crestapol series of urethane acrylic resins,"  Ekambaram added. "We are proud to have an efficient team of committed employees who are involved in both the commercial and operational success and work towards fulfilling the vision of our founder Ernest Bader."
Manufacturing hub
SBME's state-of-the-art facility is located in JAFZA and is able to cater to the large market through a wide network of strategic key direct accounts and focused large distributors with a broad reach across the seven emirates. Being headquartered in the UAE displays the importance of this market, which continues to grow year on year for the company. Today, it accounts for more than 50 per cent of the total revenue for SBME and is slated to grow in importance with emphasis on infrastructure, building and construction segments for the Expo 2020. 
The company has attained market leadership in advanced composites areas thanks to its strategy to differentiate itself from low-end core product manufacturers on product performance benefits and technical competence. It has retained its position in markets such as Fire, Smoke and Toxicity (FST) for both interior and exterior building and construction industry, superior and outstanding weathering gelcoats for the harsh Middle Eastern climates, highly chemical and temperature resistant vinylesters for the demanding industrial chemical containment applications such as GRP pipes and chemical tanks, structural adhesives such as Crestabond and Crestomers that provide superior load bearing features apart from bonding through the firm's unique urethane acrylate technology.
Furthermore, SBME is well-known for working closely with its customers to design and formulate tailor-made solutions, which provide numerous benefits including better product performance, production efficiencies, reducing waste and improving environmental working conditions in manufacturing plants. 
When asked about future plans,  Ekambaram highlighted that the company's strategic location in Dubai gives the firm the advantages of logistics and shipping access, allowing it to extend its reach across the globe combined with a superior ecosystem of raw materials manufacturers and traders.
"For Scott Bader, these are very interesting times and we are very excited about the future growth both within this region and beyond. In the future we envision a bold and strong SBME evolving into a major manufacturing hub for Scott Bader Group, offering products at competitive prices to cater to our customers and bringing the latest advances in technology and offering innovative product solutions to the industry," she concluded.
Emphasis on sustainability 
Sustainability has been at the core of the Scott Bader constitution right from the very beginning when founder Ernest Bader handed over the company to his employees and a Commonwealth Board was formed to govern the proceedings. 
Ekambaram said: "We are embarking on a very ambitious 'Strategy 2036' where sustainability underpins all the future activities, including all aspects of our business operations, products, technologies and human resources. The three pillars of business, ecology and humanity will be the guiding light for all our actions and strategies for
the future."
- deepa@khaleejtimes.com