Manufacturing firms going lean and mean
Sri Lankan manufacturing firms under duress, owing to multiple economic crises in addition to the recent tax slap by the government, have resorted to going lean to increase productivity.
Many firms are deploying systems to cut costs and automate certain functions. Large apparel manufacturers, firms in the construction sector, fast-moving consumer goods companies, and tile manufacturers are reorganising their corporate structures to accommodate more productivity.
“The industry needs to aggressively drive productivity to stay competitive in this price-sensitive environment. Technology and automation should be a catalyst to drive efficiency and improve processes,” an apparel industry CEO told the Business Times.
A managing director of an apparel firm said some cutting-edge automation technologies have been proposed in the manufacturing field, such as automatic inspection, autonomous robots, additive manufacturing, ubiquitous manufacturing, cloud manufacturing, Internet of Things (IoT), and cyber-physical systems. “All these help to streamline and bring efficiency to our processes. With this comes accountability, faster turnaround times, and valuable insights. These help you to purge unproductive activities and focus on bettering tasks that add value to both clients and organisation.”
A CEO of a firm in the construction industry said automation produces products of consistently high quality which is the main reason why they made a large investment last year. “Automation will have better quality control, producing work of the same standard. We are looking at bringing more such tools. Now we have a systematic method for minimising waste within a manufacturing system while staying within certain margins of control,” he said, noting that productivity and quality are at an all-time high in the last quarter.
While restructuring and re-organising a business in a crisis situation is given, without a proper plan for continuity of businesses, they are being driven away from the country to better locations, Mahendra Jayasekera, Managing Director Lanka Tiles PLC said. “We cannot see the government having a strategy to retain businesses and bringing in new ones,” he added.
Echoing this sentiment, Dr. Sarath Obeysekera, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Export Development Board to develop marine and offshore industry said that the government should help industries to expand and increase their productivity by basically helping them to increase their capital. “They should be given low-interest loans. Without such a strategy, the businesses in the country will not come out of the current rut they are in.”
Hitad.lk has you covered with quality used or brand new cars for sale that are budget friendly yet reliable! Now is the time to sell your old ride for something more attractive to today's modern automotive market demands. Browse through our selection of affordable options now on Hitad.lk before deciding on what will work best for you!