His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, visited the Mai Dubai bottled drinking-water company and factory in Yalayis on Al Qudra road in Dubai.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Chairman of Mai Dubai, and Mr. Jay Andres CEO of Mai Dubai,and Mai Dubai staff welcomed His Highness to the premises.
"The launch of the Mai Dubai bottled drinking-water company and factory supports the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to provide potable water according to the highest international standards and make Dubai the happiest city on earth for residents and visitors. This milestone embodies the vision of His Highness who knows the importance of the blessing of water in our country," said Al Tayer.
Al Tayer noted that commercial production started in March 2014. The factory has received FDA, HACCP, ISO22000 and Emirates Quality Mark (EQM) certifications. The factory has also received the FDA, HACCP, and ISO, in addition to winning two certificates in Q4 of 2014. Mai Dubai is now available across the UAE, and has delivered over 263 million cups and bottles. Mai Dubai can produce 16 million units and will expand to 50 million by 2020, based on a planned additionalinvestment of AED 600 million.
Al Tayer also noted that Mai Dubai won the Best Factory in Dubai in Food Safety by Dubai Municipality, with the highest A-Grade rating in 2015. Since April 2015, Mai Dubai has become the preferred bottled drinking water for all passengers on Emirates Airlines, and is now exporting its products to 13 countries in Asia, Europe, South Africa, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Libya. The factory produces small and medium-size bottles of 1.5 litres, 500ml, 330ml and 200ml as well as five-gallon bottles (18,9Ltr). It also produces cups in 2 sizes: 100ml and 200ml.
Production lines are equipped with computerised optical sensors to identify that bottles can be filled, packaging issues in label placements or faulty cap placements, and automatically reject faulty bottles. Mai Dubai’s production lines are equipped with scanners that are connected to a computer system. This scans and identifies the expiry date printed on the bottles, and helps to avoid packaging problems in relation to printing and labelling, and faulty bottles are automatically rejected.
"The 5-gallon line has been enhanced with a leak tester unit that inspects and detects holes and cracks by blowing pressurised air into the bottles, and automatically rejecting faulty bottles before they go into washing, sterilising, and filling. To ensure the highest standards of sterilisation, purity, and quality, Mai Dubai has a special isolated clean room where the latest filling technology maintains the quality of the water up to the moment where caps are placed and sealed. Caps are washed and sterilised with ultraviolettechnology and ozonated water before placement over the bottles," said Al Tayer.
Al Tayer highlighted the process of water treatment at the Mai Dubai factory, and noted that the water is sourced from DEWA’s reservoir and is piped directly to the water treatment unit using special pipes. Water is sterilised before filtration and multi-sand filters remove foreign particles. After carbon filters are activated, 5-micron filters and ultraviolet units remove left-over foreign particles. Water goes through Reverse Osmosis for removal of very fine harmful particles. After the sterilisation process, Mai Dubai’s low-sodium and mineral-balanced recipe is added. Then, water goes through a 1-micron filtration and ozone sterilisation process. Bottles and caps are washed and sterilised before being filled using state-of-the-art technologies, before moved for automated packaging and being placed on pallets.
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