A Mediterranean leader in steel fabrication

Originally set up in early 1992 to win business in Libya, Motherwell Bridge Malta Ltd has grown into one of the most successful Mediterranean operations in its field, securing important contracts in Malta, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. By repeatedly beating off stiff competition, even from larger concerns, the Malta operation currently boasts an average annual turnover of Lm2.5 million.

Motherwell Bridge Malta Ltd director Melo Hili and general manager Ing. Stephen Perici explain that the Malta set-up has built a solid reputation for the manufacture of world-class, large-capacity storage tanks for the petrochemical and power generation industries. It is in the enviable position of knowing no geographical boundaries and most recently won a contract in far-off Nigeria for oil giant Shell.

The local operation is purely project-driven but Motherwell Bridge Malta has had a healthy flow of orders in recent years for storage tanks, pressure vessels, structural steelwork, turnkey projects, container terminal crane portals, gritblasting and painting.

It has clinched orders for storage tanks for important clients like Aden Refining Co in Yemen, Dowell Schlumberger in Libya, and Diak Tech. Services (for British Petroleum) in Tanzania, to name a few. Last year, a major Lm1 million contract was secured for exhaust systems for a gas desulphurisation plant in West Burton, UK.

Ten years ago Hili Company took over a small, five-team operation in Kordin, seeking to enter a partnership with an international brand in the steel fabrication industry. The Motherwell Bridge Group, one of the UK's most prestigious groups in the business, gave the project its blessing and its name.

Motherwell Bridge Industrial Services Ltd was also established to provide site painting services, concrete repair works and electrical installation services. This is now a dormant company.

The Malta operation was restructured a few years ago. Motherwell Bridge Mediterranean became the holding company with Motherwell Bridge Malta Ltd and a new company, Motherwell Bridge Bhicam Ltd, based in the Bahamas, as its two trading arms.

In 1999 the local operation was moved to its present 15,200 m² plant at Hal Far Industrial Estate, with the added bonus of a deep water quay just a kilometre away from the site. The Malta operation has a 100-strong workforce, including four women, three of whom make up the accounts team.

A 5,470 m² high-quality complete steel shop offers diversified services from the latest CAD capabilities to procurement, fabrication, testing and painting of complex steel fabrications, storage tanks and small to medium-sized pressure vessels and skid mounted units.

The plant's outdoor assembly and lay down area covers a total of 7,450 m², and there are separate blasting and painting booths. Site installation services are offered on a small scale in Malta. Motherwell Bridge Mediterranean Ltd is dedicated to the fabrication of stacks, ducts and exhaust systems, and aims to produce heat exchangers in the near future.

As part of Motherwell Bridge Group's engineering division, the Motherwell Bridge Mediterranean companies are backed by a global company with over 100 years of expertise. The group, which currently employs over 3,000 people, is a top name in a wide range of fields, including aerospace, oil, gas, petrochemicals, food processing, paper, pharmaceuticals and water.

Motherwell Bridge Group appoints three directors on the Malta company's board and is heavily involved in Motherwell Bridge Mediterranean's project design requirements.

Motherwell Bridge Mediterranean Ltd now fully owns Motherwell Bridge Bhicam Ltd, an engineering and construction company set up in the Bahamas in 1995. Employing 90 staff, the company caters for diverse requirements of various industries, including petrochemical, pharmaceutical and process manufacturing in the Caribbean. This year it clocked a turnover of $7 million.

Motherwell Bridge Malta is conscious that for it to be competitive in such a cutthroat worldwide industry quality standards and procedures have to be of the utmost priority. All aspects of Motherwell Bridge Malta Ltd's operation, including design, are in accordance with the ISO 9000 standard, which the company gained in 1996 - the first fabrication shop in Malta to do so. The accreditation was extended to Motherwell Bridge Mediterranean a year later.

Motherwell Bridge Malta prides itself on highly qualified, experienced personnel who must have stringently specific skills to meet the companies' project requirements.

All welders are certified every two years by overseas organisations and in-house training schemes for personnel to update their qualifications are also held regularly. Four years ago 55 per cent of apprentices participating in a tailor-made scheme specifically designed for Motherwell Bridge Malta joined the company. The plant also held a 10-week apprenticeship programme in technical design last summer.

All personnel from the shop floor up are encouraged to work their way through the ranks. Some of the companies' supervisors and project managers have been promoted from the company's lower echelons.

Motherwell Bridge Malta undertakes to sponsor personnel to further their academic studies on an individual basis and enjoys a good working relationship with the University's Department of Engineering, often sponsoring students following draughtsman's courses.

The management is aware of the hazards faced by shop personnel, and health and safety is a top priority at Motherwell Bridge Malta. A health and safety committee made up of management, middle management and employees' representatives meets every fortnight to maintain safety standards and ensure that all personnel are adequately provided with the necessary gear. Personnel are also covered by medical insurance.

Mr Hili believes Malta is attractive to foreign manufacturing companies seeking to set up operations here because human resources are adaptable and most are English-speaking, although it can sometimes be a problem to recruit good quality personnel. On the economic front, Malta is still relatively cheaper to operate from than mainland Europe, he says.

Mr Perici lauded the re-establishment of the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), saying the vocational education college had helped the industry by encouraging young people seeking to pursue careers in manufacturing to obtain the necessary qualifications and work experience.

Looking to the near future, Mr Hili hopes that with Malta joining the European Union the costs involved in exporting such voluminous products as those manufactured by his company, will be cut.

As to Motherwell Bridge Malta's future operations, Mr Hili says the company aims to increase automated equipment to boost competitivity and ultimately to "get more work done".