RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. is a UAE Bangladesh joint venture. Its mother concern is RAK Ceramics UAE, which was established in Ras Al Khaimah in 1989. The company produces sanitary ware and ceramic tiles.

RAK started its operations in Bangladesh in November 2000. Its manufacturing capacity was 8,000 square meters (SQM) of tiles per day, which increased to 16,000 SQM in 2004. At present the company is producing around 24,000 SQM tiles per day.

RAK started its commercial production of sanitary ware in January 2004. The production capacity was 1,000 pieces per day, but then it was doubled to 2000 pieces in 2007. The company is now a leading sanitary ware manufacturer in Bangladesh.

The RAK factory is located at Dhanua in Sreepur, Gazipur. Initially, RAK-Bangladesh catered for the local market but now the company is exporting tiles to Nepal, India and Sri Lanka and sanitary ware to UAE and USA.

"RAK has enabled itself to become an internationally competitive local enterprise in the sanitary ware and ceramic tiles sector. It stimulates usage of the abundantly available, domestic raw materials such as clay and silica sand, as well as natural gas. It now meets about a major portion of the country's demand for ceramic tiles. And it has won the confidence and trust of the consumers," says S.A.K Ekramuzzaman, Director of RAK Ceramics Bangladesh (Pvt.) Ltd.

Claiming that RAK is the number one tiles and sanitary ware manufacturer in the world, Ekramuzzaman says RAK's operations in Bangladesh have enabled the Bangladeshi consumers to use international standard tiles at affordable prices. Like other companies --Monno and Shinepukur, for example -- RAK Ceramics, which is an ISO 9001: 2000 certified company, does not compromise on the quality of its products. "The standard and design of RAK tiles sold in Bangladeshi markets is the same as those sold in Europe and America. Our goal is to satisfy our valued customers by providing 'High Quality Product' at affordable price."

"Our strength is our professional expertise, unrelenting pursuit of excellence, and a deep and profound knowledge of our environment that has enabled us to reach the topmost levels in the ceramic field." Innovation is very important for RAK. "It has invested heavily and regularly to produce products that would stand out in the market. For this it had the full backing of the technology providers in the ceramic field who having realized the potential and sincerity of the company, preferentially offered it the best support of technology of the times. R.A.K Ceramics also offered ample support to distributors to strengthen their position in respective markets."

To maintain consistent quality, Ekramuzzaman says R.A.K Ceramics uses high quality fine clay with low organic contents. "We are the only company that is giving warranty of flashing units."

Recently RAK has introduced 'Double Charged Ceramics', which has multi body effects, and the products are made by using the latest technology which RAK is the only company in Bangladesh to possess, claims the company source. "Every year we are introducing one or two models in sanitary ware. We introduced 10 different models form 2004-2008. We have planned to bring in three new models, and we have already 700 designs of tiles in our hand."

The RAK director informs ET his company will continue to invest in breakthrough technologies in the ceramic field for maintaining high standards. "In this era of global competitiveness and borderless economies, only productive organizations delivering quality goods and services can prevail, prosper and grow.