Rs. 6 m project to increase competitiveness in 30 factories

by Surekha Galagoda

The Ministry of Industrial Development will implement a project to increase the competitiveness of 30 factories selected from seven sectors at a cost of Rs. 6 million.

According to a member of the Steering Committee of the Ministry of Industrial Development the pilot project will be launched in 10 factories selected from three sectors at a cost of Rs. 1.7 million the second stage which includes thirty factories will be launched in 2007.

Of the allocated funds Rs 1.2 million will be paid to the National Institute of Business Management (NIBM) as Consultancy fees while the balance will be for other expenses.

The sectors selected for the pilot project are processed food, rubber and leather. The ten factories represent large-3, medium-3 and small scale-4. The factories under the pilot project include Soy Foods, G. Seelanatha Kuruppu & Sons, Arpidag International (Pvt) Ltd, J.S. Enterprises & Co Ltd, TET Lanka Engineers, Nippon Nature Forms International Ltd and Polymer Products Ltd.

The anticipated output of the project include improving the productivity by 15%, reduce the production cost, eliminate waste, mobilise the employees and management of the factories, participate in annual quality competitions and prepare industrialists to win the quality award.

The company has to qualify for the project by getting through the initial study which analyses whether there is potential for improvement. If it qualifies the company has to sign an agreement with the consultancy agency for implementation. The ministry will contribute Rs 200,000 for each factory while 25% of the cost will have to be borne by the individual factory.

A steering Committee comprising nine persons including the Ministry Secretary Jayampathy Hettiarachchi, Additional Secretary (Development) R.V.D. Piyatilleke, Sector 1 Director Epa Dayaratna, Sector 2 Director Elsie Ponnamperuma, Sector 3 Director Bandara Menike Tennekoon, NIBM Consultant Kulasooriya and three industrialists representing the processed food, rubber and leather have been appointed by Minister Kumar Welgama to handle the project.