The company, a major supplier of carbon and stainless steel pipes, fittings, flanges, sheets, valves, plates, bars and tubes, has thus understood the challenges, repositioned itself and is now ahead with the required level of readiness

Alkafaa, one of the leading approved Saudi stockists of a whole range of steel/metal accessories and piping systems, has successfully completed a comprehensive transformation programme aimed at combating the current recessionary market situation and to align the company’s strategy with the Saudi 2030 Vision.

Taking over the company as chief executive officer when the restructuring started in 2014, Fahad Almutlaq, led the company through a new strategy and business model achieving tangible goals and objectives. " Over the last two years, with a phased approach we were able to transform the company into more of an agile lean structure, We re-engineered processes while eliminating single-point-failures, focused on achieving sustainable growth and to relatively contribute to the local economy … and we are almost there," asserts Almutlaq, a former general manager at BAE Systems.

Not only did he reorient the business model towards sustainability and development, Almutlaq, also set performance indicators making the company customer-oriented, proactive and responsive, which resulted in it making healthy progress despite the current adverse market conditions. According to Almutlaq Saudi Arabia’s non-oil economy has slipped into a technical recession for the first time since the 1980s, compounding the woes of a country already grappling with an oil sector pummelled by low prices.

The country’s non-oil sector contracted 0.7 per cent year-on-year in the first three months of 2016, according to official data.

Almutlaq says the current local recessionary scenario was brought about by two major factors – one the economic downturn caused by plummeting oil prices and the other the uncertain geopolitical situation.

In such a situation companies needed to adapt and align themselves with the market realities, which is what Alkafaa proactively did, he says.

Alkafaa, a major supplier of carbon and stainless steel pipes, fittings, flanges, sheets, valves, plates, bars and tubes, has thus understood the challenges, repositioned itself and is now ahead with the required level of readiness, says Almutlaq.

"It goes without saying that unless you plan what your business is going to achieve it is difficult - if not impossible - to manage it effectively. It is therefore a good practice to get into the habit of regularly thinking as a team about the future of your business and to specify the key objectives, brainstorm and then communicate how you intend to make them happen," he says.

"The downswing in oil and gas sector during the past few years has been persistent. Thus Saudi domestic demand will continue to be closely monitored by market analysts and will continue to be one of the many factors affecting the oil and gas sector, which ideally should balance oil price behaviour, especially in key months, when oil and gas market fundamentals are perceived to be tight," he says.

Alkafaa, an approved stockist and supplier for all major companies such as Saudi Aramco, Sabic, SEC, Marafiq, Sadara, SWCC and many others, plans to approach one-of-a-kind (OOK) suppliers for business partnerships. The company’s field of expertise supports several areas, including oil and gas, petrochemicals, power generation, factories as well as commercial and infrastructure projects, says Almutlaq.

Established in 1982, the company has since grown to become one of the leading suppliers/stockists in its field in the kingdom and the GCC.

"In Alkafaa we always aspire to go that extra mile, reaching almost every industry as our end markets and every project we support as our own" he says.

Alkafaa has a strong history of growth and credibility he says adding that business conduct and discipline are deeply embedded in the company’s daily regime.

"Our aim is to gain the respect of our valuable clients and partners and we believe in approaching business with transparency, teamwork and with a ‘do it right the first time’ mindset."

For successfully storing a wide range of piping system products and materials, Alkafaa has located its warehouses in the main regions of the kingdom – East, Central and West.

The company’s modern warehouses are maintained and managed by its supply-chain experts, who efficiently manage daily demands, deliveries and receipt of all consignments avoiding discrepancies. Apart from this, the company adopted state-of-the-art ERB including warehousing system that helps in storing all variety of products, and retrieves material from inventory efficiently, he adds.