AW Rostamani Lumina has significantly developed its manufacturing capabilities over the years, progressing to become a one-of-a-kind end-to-end LED lighting manufacturer epitomised by state- of-the-art facilities.
LIFE-ORIENTED LIGHTING SOLUTIONS
AW Rostamani Lumina was borne out of a joint venture with Frater Euro Electrical Spain in 1999; in its first phase of activity the Company created ballast in the UAE to be exported back to Europe, alongside the manufacturing and assembling of commercial luminaries under the Frater name.
“Over the years Frater has developed in to a brand which promises and delivers A-grade quality products at a competitive price, therefore enhancing the value proposition for our customers,” explains Umar Khan, General Manager at AW Rostamani Lumina. “Starting out in the UAE, we now export to more than 29 countries, with a direct presence in Egypt, Qatar, UAE and India with the rest of our markets being serviced through partners.”
Over the years the Company has evolved its speciality, utilising a strong team of lighting professionals that provide 360 degree support to its customers, enabling it to meet their unique lighting needs.
Khan continues: “We have the unique capability to evaluate and conduct energy audits, create lighting plans and develop light designs, while providing the best possible solutions which will serve a wide cross-section of applications ranging from outdoor, indoor and façade applications.”
The AW Rostamani Group is a privately held Company founded by its late Chairman, Abdul Wahid Al Rostamani in 1954, the vision being to become industry leader in every business venture that it undertook while building customer and stakeholder value.
Recognising the potential within the Group which needed harnessing, Abdul Wahid Rostamani combined local knowledge, experience and insight alongside global expertise and best practices to build a vast network of strategically located businesses throughout the region.
“In the present day, the AW Rostamani portfolio boasts some of the most respected and influential brands in the region further afield,” affirms Khan. “We are committed to enriching lives by providing unrivalled products and services in these fields, with the portfolio as concrete proof of our state-of-the-art facilities and award-winning practices.
“Our strategy of centralised support and decentralised operations enables every single Company in our portfolio to benefit from the strength within the group, while enjoying independent operations.”
A UNIQUE LED-BASED MANUFACTURER
The lighting industry has experienced a major technological shift during the past few years where conventional technologies are being replaced by highly efficient and ecologically friendly LED-based solutions.
This shift in focus, coupled with various smart parameters which are being added, makes the lighting world of today substantially different from the early days.
“Understanding the fundamental shift that we have gone through at AW Rostamani Lumina, is pivotal in understanding how we have reached the level of success we are at today,” clarifies Khan. “We have invested heavily in transforming ourselves into a unique LED-based manufacturer in the region, developing best-in-class products.
“A prime example is our new LED panel, which boasts an incredible 125 lumens per watt, thus making it one of the most efficient lighting solutions in its category. Solutions such as these aid us in connecting with our customers, when they are looking at LED options to bring financial savings, as well as being ecologically friendly.”
Veering from the usual corporate vision, the Company has an ongoing mission to make a real difference to its customers, employees, partners and stakeholders.
Khan continues: “We strive to achieve this through a three-pronged strategy which involves competitive pricing and superior service; listening to what customers and partners really want from our product and service offering; and finally, ensuring we adapt to meet those needs.”
Adopting this approach ensured that the Company was able to grow over the years and truly embrace the change and development that was needed. Strengthened by its solid core values, AW Rostamani Lumina has worked its way up the ladder to distinction, helping it to reinforce its standing as a dynamic business that enriches lives.
EDUCATING THE MARKET
For AW Rostamani Lumina there have been two major challenges when making the transition to LED while educating the market in that subject.
There has been a lot of confusion surrounding the greatly discussed LED transition, where the end users require vast amounts of guidance to charter their way through the changes; particularly as false solutions are flooding the booming market.
Khan expands: “At AW Rostamani Lumina, we are focusing on educating the market in order to help navigate through these changes by creating an awareness and education. This is helping us to position ourselves as trusted partners for our valuable customers.
“We differentiate ourselves by not only being catalogue sellers, meaning we have developed the capability to understand the customer’s needs before translating them into tailor made-solutions for our partners through manufacturing processes designed to afford this flexibility. This, in addition to our vast range of standard products, puts us in an enviable position where we can offer almost all LED-based solutions to our customers.”
COMPETITIVE, SUPERIOR SERVICE
There is no doubt that a definitive aspect of the AW Rostamani Group in the present day is its ability to embrace the changes and developments in the market, combined with its competitive and superior service and knowledge of customer needs. The Company continuously demonstrates a quality of service in its ability to adapt and evolve to meet and exceed the needs of its clients; this offering subsequently catapulting the Group right to the forefront of innovation within the industry.
“The lighting industry as a whole has become a much more component supplier-dependent industry, forcing many companies to focus their energies on system design and development, looking towards component manufacturers to bring continuous improvement,” clarifies Khan. “The days of lighting companies that started off by integrating their systems are gone. This makes professional supplier relationship management even more important.
“Lighting is no longer an industry where product improvements will stay for decades. Now there are design and efficiency improvements that happen by the quarter; for successful manufacturers it is vitally important to be able to quickly adapt to these changes and allow that to be reflected in their products.”
The switch in the way the industry works currently has caused challenges in the supply chain for the Company. At AW Rostamani Lumina there is a very strong focus on optimising supply chain efficiencies, and where key relationships have been identified with suppliers, those relationships are transformed from mere buyer -supplier, to long-term contractual partnerships.
Khan elaborates: “We have undertaken scientific studies of product movement patterns which has made us capable of segregating MTS and MTO products, and this ensures a minimum reaction time to service our end users’ needs.”
In order to provide such a high level of service to a successful level, the Company places a huge amount of importance on the quality of its Human Resources department. AW Rostamani Lumina has a vibrant HR programme which not only singles out the best talent, but also ensures gender and cultural diversity within its team.
“We have a very transparent system-based evaluation programme, based on the BPP model which AW Rostamani is in the international hall of fame for,” continues Khan. “Through this system we not only evaluate past performance but also identify the training and development needs of our team. These are, in turn, a priority as we are able to translate them into actions and effective training.”
The Group as a whole strongly feels that each market it works within has its own pulse and cultural implications can be seen within consumer behaviour.
Khan concludes: “Our approach is to not only employ job experts but to also utilise resources which will help us to understand the local market pulse. We believe this is reflected in our culturally diversified workforce in which we look forward to celebrating our achievements.”
