Fifty-five professional painters trained by Nippon Paint Lanka Academy

• Over 150 professional painters trained since 2015
• Upskilled painters could be recruited at www.painter.lk

Fifty-five painters recently received a professional certification following a three-month training course at the Nippon Paint Lanka Academy which has trained over 150 professional painters since its inception in 2015.  This was the seventh batch to receive the specialised training and certificates were awarded at a graduation ceremony held recently.

Nippon Paint Lanka General Manager Nemantha Abeysinghe explained the objective behind the training. “We launched Nippon Paint Lanka Academy as a CSR project to help develop professional skills among painters in Sri Lanka. The training is designed to raise the standards in the industry and provide our consumers with a higher quality of usage of the technologically advanced paints and coating products that we offer.”

Nippon Paint Lanka manufacture and market a range of paints and coatings including decorative paints, industrial coatings, protective coatings, design paints, waterproofing solutions, floor coatings, auto refinishes and car care products, sealants and adhesives, and tools and accessories. 

“This time we had participants from all over the island including Ampara, Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Colombo, Galle, Hambantota, Matara, Polonnaruwa, and Trincomalee,” said Nippon Paint Lanka Head of Technical Support Prabath Jayawardena. “In Sri Lanka painters become professionals with great difficulty. The reason is that many of them are those who have come in as casual assistants. They work with a ‘Head Baas’ and gradually develop the skills. They lack the knowledge to be classified as professional painters. Advanced knowledge is still at a basic level. It is only up to around NVQ Level 3 or 4. Our aim is to have professional painters with advanced knowledge in Sri Lanka.”

“Even the best product in the world is unless it is applied properly,” Jayawardena continued. “That is the painter’s job. This training is given by us free of charge and any painter can connect with us to obtain this specialised training. What we give is the technical knowledge to understand the surfaces correctly, to know the environmental conditions such as the temperature and humidity, the correct product to be used, and the correct method of using it. We show them that they won’t be professional painters simply by using a brush or a roller. They are taught which brush to use, how to use it correctly and how to get the correct finish.

“It is through our programs that the painters acquire the knowledge that there is one roller for painting interiors and another for exteriors. Often, the home owners or end-users attribute the lack of a finish to a problem with the paint, whereas it is due to the lack of professionalism. We were the first to start such a training programme for painters but it is not restricted to those who use our products.”

Nippon Paint Lanka is a member of the NIPSEA Group which is a global leader, providing innovative solutions in the paint and coatings industry. Headquartered in Singapore, with 135 NIPSEA companies spread throughout 22 geographical locations, the group is Asia Pacific’s No. 1 paint and coatings manufacturer in both production and sales revenue. After more than 140-years of growth, the NIPSEA Group has over 27,000 employees with 102 manufacturing facilities and operations, efficiently serving all aspects of the business, from production to customer satisfaction.

The training programs are conducted on weekends over four or five months in Colombo at present. Trainees are provided with food and refreshments, all learning materials and even a uniform during the training which consists of both theory and practice. “They are even trained in how to deal with customers, how to negotiate skilfully and how to apply the technical knowledge to obtain the best result,” Jayawardena continued.

In addition to the in-depth training programmes conducted in Colombo, Nippon Paint Lanka also conduct regular workshops around the country for painters. “These are often one-day workshops,” said Jayawardena. “The company also maintains a website; painters.lk, which is a database of the painters and their specialisations from which a professional painter could be selected by the consumer. Successful trainees are also given membership in the Nippon Paint Lanka Academy with an identity card which is often used by them as a marketing tool,” Jayawardena said. 

“The training gives them the opportunity to network and obtain business by word-of-mouth and by the recommendation of a multinational company,” added Abeysinghe. “It helps the consumer to source a painter trained in the newest technology.”