US tech giant Lord takes Dubai route to tap Mena potential

LORD Corporation, an US-headquartered diversified technology and manufacturing company with 16 manufacturing facilities and nine R& D centres worldwide with about US$900 million annual revenues, has opened its office in Dubai to tap the huge business opportunities that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) offers in aerospace, construction, infrastructure and transport domains.

The expanded footprint is in response to the increased customer and supplier demands from the high-potential and fastest growing regional markets and also in line with the plans to expand the global presence of the 90-year-old company  with a portfolio of over 2500 patented products in adhesives, coatings, motion management devices, and sensing technologies.

The office in the Dubai Airport Free Zone’s East Wing was opened with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday (November 21) in the presence of a large number of company’s officials, customers and distribution channel partners. To mark the occasion, a seminar cum networking reception was conducted later at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Deira.

The modest facility will house the regional management team in addition to the marketing staff and technical centre and it will cover 16 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), including the ‘exciting’ GCC region. Presently, the company has 16 manufacturing facilities, nine R&D and 90 sales and support centers worldwide.

Joseph W. Marotta, president for EMEA region at LORD Corporation, said: “This year we revised our corporate strategy to focus on increasing our global growth opportunities. We saw Dubai as a natural fit because of the increasing number of customers in the region as well as the nation’s ability to provide innovative new technology and solutions for many of the existing industries in the Middle East.”

“The Dubai office will support LORD Corporation’s mission to transform innovative ideas into long-term value for its customers, employees and shareholders by collaborating with customers and distribution partners in the Middle East in order to provide new solutions for their industries,” he added.

Structural adhesives and solutions for building, infrastructure, general industry and aerospace are the initial focus of attention in the region for the company which is a worldwide leader in adhesives and coatings, vibration and motion control, and magnetically-responsive technologies.
Max Billinger, director for Middle East and Africa at LORD Corporation, said: “We see exciting growth in our regional business with our direct presence in Dubai.

Through our entry, we are building the market for innovative products in the region which is exploring new ways of technology for the competitive edge. We found an exceptionally open environment for technology adoption in the region and noticing strong and rapid growth of various industries like construction, aerospace and infrastructure.”

Presently, half of the company’s US$900 million revenues come from adhesives business, while aerospace accounts for a third of the business globally. The company has had a long presence in the region through its network of distribution partners whose number has risen in the past three years due to expansion of the regional economy.

Len Holtkamp, director of Automotive and Industrial Assembly for the EMEA region at LORD Corporation, said: “We have been working on the company’s vision to have a MENA presence for the past two years and it is a reality now. There are large and high-potential markets to be tapped by the company across a broad spectrum of industries like automotive and industrial assembly.”

He said in 2014, the company will be investing in enhancing its capabilities, increasing customer intimacy and local presence to facilitate the growth of the company and its customers.

“In the region, we see markets having open minds, innovative and ready for the next best thing – well aligned with the vision and values of the company. We see multiple countries, especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia of being of high importance for our growth,” he added.

The company will also be exploring technology partnerships and academic collaborations in the region, especially in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The private company has more than 300 chemists and engineers on its Global Technology group and spends up to 10 per cent of total revenues on R&D and Innovation.

The company is associated with several prestigious universities in the US, Europe and Hong Kong for technology partnership and innovation development programmes. The company has been delivering "firsts" for a broad spectrum of markets since its inception in 1924 by Hugh Lord, an inventor and patent attorney.

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