The purpose of a trade fair is usually for companies to spread awareness of their brand or show off their latest innovations. ARJES and its twin-shaft shredders, however, were not at all unfamiliar to Donald West. The managing director of West Baumaschinen went straight to Thomas Hayn to outline his vision for the Middle East. It quickly became clear that it was not just the smell of fresh coffee in the air, but also the beginnings of a great business deal. After the meeting, the managing director of ARJES, Thomas Hayn, agreed to the deal, and so West Baumaschinen GmbH became the official ARJES distribution partner for 13 countries in the Middle East.

Shortly thereafter, West Baumaschinen made its first public appearance in the United Arab Emirates. The Big 5 is the largest and most influential construction industry conference in the Middle East, acting as a gateway between East and West with its global hub in Dubai. One of the attendees was Mr. Haji, then owner of Sharjah-based Al-Meezan Metals. At this event, he went to visit Donald West’s stand to find out about methods for shredding car bodies. On that very same day, the two men went to the Al-Meezan plant and inspected the location on site. A pen and a sheet of paper were all that was needed to sketch out a perfect plan for the shredding system that Haji had long been looking for.

Three months later, the high-powered VZ 950 twin-shaft shredder was delivered to Dubai by ARJES. Al-Meezan, which previously was only able to process 3-5 tons per hour with manual flame cutting, could now shred 20-25 tons per hour – a 500% increase in productivity, and all while removing the need for anyone to get their hands dirty. Eventually, Haji retired and sold the business to a new owner, who was proud to take on the ARJES Shredder along with it. He continues to profit from the machine to this day.

After six years and more than 12,000 hours of operation, Donald West and various ARJES service technicians flew to Dubai to carry out a major overhaul of the system. The machine remains where it was set up in 2016, with the twin-shaft shredder still running 6 days a week at maximum temperatures beneath the Arabian desert sun.

"This machine has been an absolute cornerstone of our operations for many years, helping us to get many more orders throughout the Middle East. Both personally and on behalf of Al-Meezan Metals, I would like to thank Thomas Hayn once again for inviting me for that cup of coffee those 6 years ago," said Donald West, Managing Director of West Baumaschinen.