FAMCO's Abu Dhabi operations energised by new state-of-the-art facility

The new facility was inaugurated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by the Guest of Honour, H. E. Bruno Beijer, Swedish Ambassador for the U.A.E.

The opening ceremony was further graced with the presence of Colin Leitch, Group Director-Automotive-Al-Futtaim Group and senior management from Volvo Construction Equipment International, including Lars Haglund, President & CEO, Kjell Karlson, Vice President Sales, Leif Anwaj, Vice President Customer Support, and Jonas Gardetun, Regional Director. Also representing Volvo were Thoren Jan Erick, Area Manager Middle East - Volvo Trucks, and Anita Lennerstad, Sales Director - Volvo Bus. Laith Hamdani, Sales Director - Ingersoll Rand Construction Technologies, and Paolo Fumagalli, Product Sales Manager - Ingersoll Rand ASG.

The new 4,000 square metre facility spread across a 10,000 square metre plot, offers a modern environment sporting plush interiors including a conference room, two meeting rooms, separate dining area, a prayer room with ablution amenities along with a 24-hour on-site security personnel.

Commenting on the advancements at the Mussafah premises, Mr. Paul Floyd, Managing Director, FAMCO, said, "We are very pleased to announce the successful completion of our new Mussafah facility. The advanced features endorse FAMCO's ongoing commitment towards our customers and our employees to offer superior services and continuous innovation in a top class environment."

The new facility has been built to Volvo design and standards with an increased workshop space providing safer work practices. Also, whilst the facility's six bays, that are open at both ends, enable a drive through option, the full-length service pit facilitates simultaneous service work with two trucks. Additionally, the workshop is now equipped with two electric overhead cranes of 10 and 3.2 tons thereby providing a safe working environment and efficient handling of all heavy items.

Elaborating on the newly designed premises, Mr. Floyd said, "Based on experience, we felt that one area requiring common ground was the reception. Under the new design, we have created a shared reception area for the Parts and Service departments enabling the staff from both functions to work alongside each other ensuring improved coordination and boosting customer service. Also, another area of emphasis in the new design was the warehouse which now features franchise-wise segregation of parts with similar parts arranged in designated sections, thereby providing staff with easier operational access."

Furthermore, the widespread building comprises a covered workshop area for in-frame engine overhaul, a separate component overhaul room, a special tool room with its own issue counter which makes the access and control of specialist tools more efficient, and a separate body repair workshop that can accommodate trucks and trailers of all varieties for body repairs and repainting.

Mr. Floyd further added, "We believe that the combination of space, comfort and modern facilities provides a healthy and more structured working environment. This leads to our staff becoming more efficient and productive. We want our people to take pride in what they do. This in turn can only impact our customer service levels in a positive way, and this is our ultimate goal. From a customer perspective, we are providing all the ingredients that will ultimately allow for fast efficient service and reduced machine down time when repairs become necessary."

Concluding that the new premises is amongst the best of its kind, Mr. Floyd said,

"With all the efforts taken in the design and planning of this facility, and with FAMCO being ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 certified, we believe the result will be a winner with our staff and with our customers."