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Durdans
introduces ERP system Enterprise
Resource Planning is a software solution that can be tailored to
the needs of the user-enterprise, tightly integrating all its functions
and significantly enhancing performance at every level. In the field
of healthcare, and with particular reference to Durdans, the application
of ERP yields a Hospital Information Management System (HIMS) which
integrates all the major functional areas of the hospital such as
planning, handling and distribution of pharmaceuticals and general
stocks, finance, human resources, etc. The benefits
to be derived by healthcare institutions from application of ERP
are both quantifiable and qualitative. What prompted
Durdans to introduce ERP within the Hospital/Healthcare sector?
Durdans chairman Ajith Tudawe said, " We've been studying the
concept of ERP system since 1999 to really understand how the programme
could work for Durdans. According to published studies for the Asia
Pacific region, it is estimated that 46% of a hospital's operating
budget is spent on logistics related activity. This can be further
broken down. Optimising these and the entire gamut of hospital functional
areas through a programme like ERP can yield significant cost savings." Durdans has
improved upon a tradition of fine health care that began over six
decades ago as the principal British Military Hospital in Sri Lanka.
It has grown to become a 127-bed super specialty hospital with state
of the art diagnostic, surgical, investigative and patient care
facilities. ERP will help Durdans raise standards even further. Targeted for full implementation by April 2004, Durdans Hospital will be the first health care institution in Sri Lanka to install and run a ERP system which will produce a Hospital Information Management System. LankaClear
completes first year of operations SLACH, a sub
unit of the Information Technology Department of the Central Bank
of Sri Lanka, was established in 1988 to automate the cheque clearing
activities of Sri Lanka. Accordingly
a computerized high speed document processor (Reader/Sorter equipment)
was introduced and new cheque leaves too were introduced with a
MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) band. This technique is
used for automatic reading of data from a document into the computer
system. There was a significant development in the payment and settlement
system after automation and establishment of the SLACH. Some of these
features enabled the clearance of a very high volume of cheques
without the necessity of increasing manpower, cheque processing
time was drastically reduced and banks were able to reduce the number
of days taken for cheque clearing through which the entire country
has benefited. In 2001, SLACH
reported a loss of Rs. 8 million and there was pressure from the
business community, public at large and policy makers to improve
payment and settlement systems continuously to enable them to keep
pace with the economic developments in the country. There was a
school of thought that the clearing house should be a separate body,
independent from the Central Bank and some recommendations were
made in this context. The Central
Bank seriously considered the arguments and appointed a committee
to forward the implications and recommendations. The committee recommended
against privatisation but to divest to the service receivers. Further
the Central Bank decided to be the major individual shareholder. R.B. Ekanayake
was appointed chairman of the company and Anil Amarasuriya (Managing
Director - Sampath Bank), Thilak Ranasinghe / B.A.C. Fernando (Deputy
General Manager - BOC), Dr. Ranee Jayamaha (Assistant to the Governor
- Central Bank of Sri Lanka), P.D.J. Fernando ( Director IT - Central
Bank of Sri Lanka), T. Karunasena (Deputy General Manager - People's
Bank), Yousuf Saudagar (Vice President - Habib Bank Ltd), Rienzie
T. Wijetilleke (Managing Director - HNB) and S.N. Ahamed (Country
Manager - Habib Bank AG Zurich) were the directors during the period.
L.J. Wickramasinghe who was the Chief Manager at SLACH was appointed
as the Chief Executive Officer. Amul
to set up milk processing plant in Sri Lanka The farmer-owned
cooperatives plant in the island nation will have a capacity to
process one million litres of milk a day, GCMMF chairman Varghese
Kurien told Reuters in an interview. GCMMF markets
dairy products under Amul brand. It already sells its butter, milk
powder, baby cereal, cheese and liquid milk in the Middle East and
some other countries. “Sri Lanka
has been importing about 52,000 tonnes of milk powder annually from
New Zealand and others. When our powder is cheaper, why shouldn’t
they look at us?” A GCMMF delegation visited Sri Lanka recently
and proposed setting up the unit at an investment of Rs. 100 million.
The cooperatives
giant, born as a protest movement against British rule in 1946,
has also begun supplying 20,000-25,000 litres of milk a day to a
supermarket chain in Singapore as part of its strategy to tap the
milk-deficient Southeast Asian market, Kurien said. “We are
located right in the middle of this milk-deficient region. So, we
are planning to take advantage of this,” said the 82-year-old
Kurien, often called “the Milkman of India”. “Even
China is a potential market in the future,” he added. India has emerged
as the world’s largest milk producer in recent years after
Mr. Kurien spearheaded what was called a “White Revolution”
in the 1970s, with milk production of 86 million tonnes in 2002/03
(April-March). GCMMF, a huge
commercial success, has emerged as a symbol of rural empowerment,
lifting millions of farmers out of poverty. Kurien said
India had improved the quality of its processing and manufacturing
of dairy products such as skimmed milk powder, butter and ice creams
by importing and indigenously developing the best technology. “Dismantling
of quotas and lowering of tariffs in future will open up a huge
market for us in the not so distant future,” Kurien said. Ceylon
Chamber repeats call for some protection for local industry
Until local
industry and agriculture have a level playing field and distortions
were removed a mix of liberal and selectively protectionist policies
should be adopted, he told the 164th AGM of the Ceylon Chamber of
Commerce held in Colombo recently. De Zoysa was re-elected as the
chairman. He said that
the cost and efficiency of local inputs such as energy and transportation,
availability of raw materials at comparable world prices and productivity
linked wages were critical to improve the island's competitive edge. De Zoysa said
the peace initiative was foremost in the list of priorities identified
by the Chamber. He said that
though a ceasefire in on, peace talks were stalled but with continuing
efforts and productive dialogue it could be resolved. He remarked
that failure in the peace process would be disastrous. Efforts were continuing to improve competitiveness in both industry and services. The USAID competitiveness
initiative has worked effectively towards the goal by focusing on
eight clusters ranging from tea to tourism. He urged the
government to take steps to improve the aid utilization levels. He said that
the upsurge in the stock market showed the increase in consumer
confidence and a resultant turnaround of the economy. The substantial
downward trend in interest rates and inflation, the stabilization
of the exchange rate coupled with all-round better corporate results,
were further indications of the prudent economic policies pursued
by the government. However, more
needs to be done to create employment. The chamber
also appreciated the passing of three Bills - the Industrial Disputes
Amendment, Industrial Disputes Hearing and Determination of Proceedings
Special Provisions and the Termination of Employment Special Provisions. He said that
law and order was essential not only to create an environment conducive
to economic growth but to improve enforceability of contracts, transparency
of transactions and efficiency of operations. He said that
high unemployment and poverty bred crime and provided the fuel to
ignite hatred towards the free economic policies and urged the Chamber
members to employ more undergraduates. Some
hard truths about Indian soft drinks The results
are based on tests conducted by the Pollution Monitoring Laboratory
(PML) of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). In February
this year, CSE had blasted the bottled water industry's claims of
being 'pure' when its laboratory had found pesticide residues in
bottled water sold in Delhi and Mumbai. This time,
it analysed the contents of 12 cold drink brands sold in and around
the capital. They were tested for organochlorine and organophosphorus
pesticides and synthetic pyrethroids - all commonly used in India
as insecticides. The test results
were as shocking as those of bottled water, CSE said in a statement.
All samples contained residues of four extremely toxic pesticides
and insecticides: lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos. In all
samples, levels of pesticide residues far exceeded the maximum residue
limit for pesticides in water used as 'food', set down by the European
Economic Commission (EEC). Each sample had enough poison to cause
- in the long term - cancer, damage to the nervous and reproductive
systems, birth defects and severe disruption of the immune system. Market leaders
Coca-Cola and Pepsi had almost similar concentrations of pesticide
residues. Total pesticides in all PepsiCo brands on an average were
0.0180 mg/l (milligramme per litre), 36 times higher than the EEC
limit for total pesticides (0.0005 mg/l). Total pesticides in all
Coca-Cola brands on an average were 0.0150 mg/l, 30 times higher
than the EEC limit. While contaminants
in the 'Dil mange more' Pepsi were 37 times higher than the EEC
limit, they exceeded the norms by 45 times in the 'Thanda matlab
Coca-Cola' product. Mirinda Lemon topped the chart among all the
tested brand samples, with a total pesticide concentration of 0.0352
mg/l. The cold drinks
sector in India is a much bigger money-spinner than the bottled
water segment. In 2001, Indians consumed over 6,500 million bottles
of cold drinks. Its growing popularity means that children and teenagers,
who consume these drinks, are drinking a toxic potion. PML also
tested two soft drink brands sold in the US, to see if they contained
pesticides. They didn't. The question, therefore, is: how can apparently quality-conscious multinationals market products unfit for human consumption? CSE found that the regulations for the powerful and massive soft drinks industry are much weaker, indeed non-existent, as compared to those for the bottled water industry. The norms that exist to regulate the quality of cold drinks are a maze of meaningless definitions. This "food" sector is virtually unregulated. |
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