SIS Pitches announce Saudi Arabia ambitions

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SIS Pitches announce Saudi Arabia ambitions: The team behind the World Record-breaking Kingdom Arena pitch, SIS Pitches, has shared its ambitious long-term plans to expand into Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

SIS Pitches, which produces premium hybrid, synthetic and natural pitches for an array of sports, including football, rugby, golf, tennis and cricket, made its first foray in the Middle East in 2011 in Dubai UAE.

SIS Pitches announce Saudi Arabia ambitions

SIS Pitches announce Saudi Arabia ambitions

Recognising a growing appetite for high-level professional sports, and the growing need for cutting edge surfaces, the sports surface specialist established a Saudi Arabia office in July last year. Within weeks, they undertook one of the world’s most ambitious sporting infrastructure projects to complete the Kingdom Arena – the world’s first fully indoor hybrid pitch, famously built in just 21 days – in partnership with Sela.

So far, SIS Pitches has invested more than 1.3M SAR ($370,000) into the region – with Saudi Arabia now firmly established as a country key to the business’s long-term plans.

The company has opened three maintenance depots across the country in Tabuk, Jeddah and Riyadh, all designed to cater to local professional teams, including Neom FC, Al Ahli-FC and Al-Hilal FC. Those will also enable SIS Pitches to undertake major maintenance and pitch care projects in the Kingdom, which have previously included the Italian and Spanish Super Cups at King Fahd Stadium and Al-Awwal Park.

Additionally, two new turf farms have opened in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, joining the already established UAE site, to grow high-resilience turf, guaranteeing efficient costs and turf health to support major projects in the region. This includes high-level pitches and surfaces for a range of sports – from rugby and football to equestrian sports and cricket – as well as commercial landscaping.

The current team, which is 40 people strong, is also expected to grow to 60 people in the next year.

David Ball, Managing Director at SIS Middle East, said: “Over the past five years, Saudi Arabia has clearly established itself as a key destination for some of the world’s biggest athletes. People’s love of sports here is apparent, and there’s been a real appetite for the high-standard facilities to rival those of major European teams.

“The opening of our Saudi Arabia office last year reflects our commitment to establish ourselves in the region, bringing our experience working with some of the most recognisable names in sports to the Kingdom’s professional teams and supporting them as they step onto the international stage. Being local also means we can offer a speedy, domestic solution throughout a full season of sport.

“This is a pivotal moment for sports in the region,” David added. “We’re looking forward to helping the Kingdom make history.”

SISGrass, which offers hybrid playing surfaces using a small percentage of polymer fibre stitched into a natural grass pitch, is part of the SIS Group, a fully international business with offices around the world, including UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Turkey and the Middle East. The product forms part of SIS’s wider portfolio of sports surface solutions, which includes the artificial variant SISGrass Synthetic, made with a choice of monofilament or fibrillated yarns – or a mixture of the two – plus thatch support yarn and surfaces developed specifically for athletics tracks.

For more information on SISTurf, visit: www.sispitches.com/services/synthetic-turf-manufacturing

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Avant Power battery factory in full swing

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Avant Power battery factory in full swing: Battery developer and manufacturer Avant Power, the new subsidiary of loader manufacturer Avant Tecno Oy, has exceeded its strict targets. Double the number of batteries has been manufactured compared to the original plans.

YLÖJÄRVI, FINLAND – Battery manufacturer Avant Power has just completed its five-hundredth high-power battery for an electric loader.

“Our battery production started in February this year, so we have made 500 batteries in about five and a half months,” says Mikko Piepponen, COO of Avant Power.

The battery plant’s manufacturing capacity is even increasing, as a second production line is currently being built next to the first line.

Located next to Avant Tecno’s loader factory, Avant Power has operated at record speed since the very beginning of the subsidiary. The battery manufacturer has developed a completely new product and production simultaneously in only about two years.

The Avant Group decided to start battery manufacturing because there were no batteries perfectly optimized for Avant loaders in the world, and the company had enough creative expertise to conquer this new territory.

Double the pace with dedicated collaboration

Avant Power’s rapid product development and production can be explained by three factors. They are the company’s own top team, excellent subcontractors, and the trust, support, and shoulders of the Avant Group.

“Seamless cooperation with professional, flexible, and responsive subcontractors has made the whole thing possible. We have developed manufacturing methods together with our subcontractors, and they have thrown themselves fully into it, even though they did not know in advance how everything would work out. That spirit of doing things is exactly what we had been looking for. In the end, we managed to manufacture double the number of batteries compared to the original plan,” Piepponen says.

The battery factory’s cooperation with the Avant loader factory has been important.

“The spirit of Avant is that everyone pulls together. Loader design has played a major role, as has the prototype workshop, marketing and sales, and the entire factory. We have all done this together,” Piepponen says.

The COO describes the battery factory’s own team as unique.

“This would not be possible without good team spirit. Even a small team can be very strong when it is competent, flexible and dedicated. Now it’s time for this group to go on well-deserved summer holidays. After that, we will start a second production line, and new products are constantly being developed. We will tell you more about them later,” Piepponen promises.

For more information, please visit www.avant.co.uk

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