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| Sunday, 28 September 2003 |
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A fruitful career in printing by Elmo Leonard Mahinda Karunaratne (70), Chairman, Karunaratne and Sons Ltd (KSL) and past president Sri Lanka Institute of Printing (SLIP) purchased a small printing press in 1970 with no knowledge on the subject, yet his business is today among the best in the printing industry. His recipe for success is honesty and application to learning. Karunaratne is a Fellow of the SLIP, a title only five others have achieved. His two sons and two daughters have qualified in different fields relating to printing, the combination which has helped uplift the family business. At the recently concluded Print Awards 2003, which coincided with the third Asian Print Congress, KSL won the Best Management Diaries and Planners awards, in the Excellent, Distinction and Merit categories. It also won the awards for the Best Other Diaries Produced in Sri Lanka in all three categories. "We are more specialised in seasonal printing," Karunaratne said. This year, all the judges were overseas experts on printing. Since the printing awards began in 1988, KSL has won 17 awards including those for best cover, best offset printed book, best brochure and best annual report. Karunaratne was a tea trader, when a man who had lost his job as a printing manager urged him to buy a printing press. A press was found for Rs 18,000 in Bloemendhal Road, Colombo 13 and a building rented in Maradana to house the press. The venture ran at a loss for six months. The manager was found to be dishonest, but Karunaratne retained him, took over the management and hired one W.A. Jayaratne, who had a background in printing. Jayaratne continues to draw his monthly salary, five years after retirement. In those early days, profit was not the motive, Karunaratne recalled. "Executing the order on time and pleasing the customer were uppermost in my mind," he said. "Tea was only a money-making business." In six months, when the printing press showed a profit, Karunaratne gave over his tea business to his brothers. Young Karunaratne, who hailed from Hiniduma, secured his first job in 1955 as a clerk at K.B.L. Perera and Sons, the bus transport company. In 1958, private-owned bus companies were nationalised and he was posted to the Anuradhapura CTB Depot. A businessman in Anuradhapura offered the young man lodging free of charge and in repayment, Karunaratne assisted him after working hours. Soon, young Karunaratne learnt that business, even selling vegetables and groceries, paid rich dividends. The Southern spirit of entrepreneurship, which had been dormant within him, was kindled and quitting his job, he joined the businessman. Deciding to come back to Colombo, in 1959, Karunaratne purchased a tea business in Maradana for Rs 3,000. With the profits earned, he acquired a van in six months. With the printing business at his own premises in Maradana doing well, he decided to buy the best machines and equipment and visited international printing exhibitions to learn the latest trends in the industry. In 1967, he visited the IPEX Exhibition in the UK. Soon, he took another bold decision and became the first Sri Lankan printer to buy two Apple brand computers at a cost of Rs 1.1 million. In the early 1980s, he purchased a second-hand Heidelberg offset printing machine which cost Rs 200,000. When his elder son, Ravi, completed his Ordinary Level examination in 1987, he was sent to the Wordford College of Printing in the UK, where he secured diplomas in offset lithography and typography after five years. Meanwhile, KSL shifted to the Homagama Industrial Estate where space is no longer a problem. The company exhibits at book fairs in London, Singapore, Korea and Frankfurt. Soon, son Mangala qualified as a software engineer in USA. Then, daughter Nisansala qualified from the St Jhose University in California, photography being one of her specialities. An exhibition she held at the Lionel Wendt Theatre in Colombo in 2002 drew a good response. Next, daughter Indu qualified in graphics designing from Diansa College in California. She has now settled down in California. KSL's annual turnover exceeds Rs 60 million. The group's total assets are valued at Rs 30 million. Books and brochures are among its direct exports to the Maldives. Indirect exports constitute tea cartons and garment packaging material. Karunaratne and Sons subsidiary Calcey Technologies Ltd, a joint venture with an US-based company, exports software to the United States and is managed by Mangala Karunaratne. On Karunaratne's 70th birthday this year, the Karuna Trust Fund was inaugurated to grant bursaries for needy students to learn printing. His monthly salary of Rs 65,000 goes towards the trust. Last month, two poor students received scholarships to learn printing at the Ingrin Institute of Printing. |
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