True to Form: GHI Exclusively Featured on Construction Week

GHI Formwork got some front-and-center media attention this week as it grabbed the attention of one of the leading construction sector publications in the Middle East, Construction Week. The publication went on to feature GHI in an exclusive 3-page article that touched on what makes GHI different, product innovations, and how the company was able to maintain solid performance despite the global economic downturn.

Having already secured a well-established presence in the European construction market as a major formwork and scaffolding supplier, GHI established its Middle East presence in 2003 through regional offices located in Dubai.

“In the eight years since our introduction in the Middle East and Gulf market, we have grown into one of the leading formwork and scaffolding solutions providers in the region, with a highly-competitive and dominant international presence,” comments GHI Formwork GM Ekkehart Misch.

Regardless of where in Europe our items are produced, all our products undergo the same exacting certification procedures and testing required in Germany,” says GHI Formwork managing partner Mohamed Soliman.

“One of the important features that sets us apart from competitors is our flexibility in producing tailor-made formwork/scaffolding solutions. Design services are an absolute must when supplying any product nowadays.

Our team of design engineers is among the best, and has a unique ability to focus on both the micro (detail-oriented) and macro (bigger picture) features of our clients’ projects.”

GHI Formwork’s decentralised and flexible nature has allowed the supplier to not only survive but flourish during the global economic downturn, which has had an undeniably negative impact on the region’s construction climate, notes Misch.

“Some of our biggest highlights range from participation in record-breaking mega-projects such as the Burj Khalifa to the incredible Haram Expansion project in Makkah.”

The company’s “varied and diverse” project references range from infrastructure, high-rise and residential projects in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Egypt, and “even seemingly unstable countries like Iraq.”

“A great example of GHI Formwork’s expertise in helping our clients achieve challenging construction goals through our tailormade formwork solutions can be seen in the example of the Regents Emirates Pearl Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

“After the main contractor ACC was unable to find a standardised solution for the creation of the asymmetrical V-shaped columns that would support this unique twisting structure, GHI Formwork took the challenge by proposing to create it from scratch. The result was approximately 30t of completely customised, tailored formwork that enabled our client to surmount this difficult hurdle.

“We are excited to be assisting some of the most demanding developers and contractors in Saudi Arabia achieve similar goals with our unique solutions, in ongoing projects such as the Haram Expansion and Central Utility Complexes in Makkah and the new airport in Jeddah. We look forward to our involvement in some of the most challenging and prestigious projects that have been recently announced,” says Misch.

Looking at GHI Formwork’s main products, Misch explains: “Our flagship product continues to be our strong, safe and versatile panel formwork system, TriTec. For scaffolding and shoring, our D-15 product has proven to be a reliable and cost-effective solution.

We are extremely excited to announce a range of new products that will be the focus of our participation at Middle East Concrete at The Big 5. We also look forward to demonstrating the incredible utility of these new innovations at some of the live demonstrations.”

GHI Formwork’s TopDec is a fast lightweight slab formwork system with an early striking option. TriTec Light is a more manoeuvrable version of the TriTec panel system. It can be moved on-site by hand instead of crane, saving contractors’ precious crane time. TriTec Light features built-in tie strips, which greatly facilitate its use as a column former.

“It has already proven an extremely successful innovation among our clients in the field,” says Misch.

Mato 8 is a ringlock scaffolding system customised for Middle East industrial applications. It can also be used as the support mechanism for the Topdec slap system. Hati 600 is a universal aluminum prop for bracing high horizontal formwork, heavy slab shoring and large-area table formwork systems.

D-100 is the heavy-duty version of GHI Formwork’s successful D-15 shoring tower system, with which it is fully compatible. D-100 is capable of supporting immense leg loads up to 100kN.

“We also plan on releasing a product line focusing on safety systems in the near future, which will include safety fans, safety nets, and fencing gear,” reveals Misch. “We pride ourselves on the services we are able to offer clients today.

Each of our projects are well-staffed with some of the best personnel, including, site supervisors, technical experts, safety instructors, civil/mechanical engineers and project managers that bring the team together into a cohesive unit that offers efficient, quality service to the client.”

Misch notes that the global economic downturn has had a major impact on the formwork industry, “particularly on our clients’ confidence and ability to make key purchasing decisions. As contractors strive to compete for fewer and fewer government and private contracts, the general trend has been majorly focused on lowering costs, which has an undeniable effect on us.

“Fewer opportunities in the market to simply build structures have had a detrimental effect on large-scale contractors, and even suppliers that developed massive supply chain schemes to cope with the demand during the boom.

“We are not in that boom anymore, and the ongoing decline in most of the GCC construction market has left a lot of these large companies with not enough work to maintain their large infrastructure.

“Finance departments in our clients’ organisations have become more stringent and payments less quick. This has forced many large companies to reconsider their entire production-supply model entirely. Medium-sized providers, however, like GHI Formwork, have flourished under these tighter conditions due to the versatile and efficient nature of our business ideology.

Being a flexible and lean solutions provider, without gruelling overheads, has allowed us to deliver the quality products our clients need at a price that simply makes sense. 
“Builders are unable to pay the prices they used to for construction material, yet are still looking for the same European-standard quality and safety on the site.

“Closing this gap has been the real challenge in the past two years, and achieving our goal could have only happened through the best talent, fundamental flexibility and maintaining excellent relationships with our clients.

“Also, new innovations such as the use of lighter, yet stronger, base materials in specific product lines, with absolutely no compromise on pressure standards, have definitely set us apart from the competition. Lighter material that can be manipulated by labour on-site allows the client to purchase less material overall, since it can be moved easily and is not dependent on precious crane time.