Kingslake solutions to support GRI’s next phase of growth with aim to increase rubber exports

From left: Kingslake Vice President Sales Dilshan Perera, Kingslake CEO Duleep Fernando, GRI Executive Director Ananda Caldera, and GRI Chief Information Officer Tharaka De Alwis 

• Aims at revenue target of $ 4.4 b set for 2024 up from $ 1 b in 2018

Global Rubber Industries Ltd. has partnered with Kingslake, Sri Lanka’s manufacturing solutions experts, to lay the foundation for its next phase of growth. By leveraging Kingslake’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) solutions, the country’s leading manufacturer of specialised tires hopes to make a significant contribution to the rubber industry, a key export of the country.

For the past 150 years, Sri Lanka has been one of the world’s most sought-after export destinations for natural rubber and rubber-based products, having contributed $ 1 billion to the country’s export revenue in 2018 alone. With a revenue target of $ 4.4 billion set for 2024, all eyes are on specialist companies such as GRI to bolster their own production, advanced planning, and scheduling capabilities so as to stay on par with global players. Additionally, as a member organisation of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (SLEDB), GRI’s move to partner with Kingslake will help the local export economy stay competitive as a result.

With Siemens Opcenter APS, GRI will have decision-making support for overtime, order prioritisation, split production batches, due date negotiation, and order processing clarity. With the new solution, the company will also have complete visibility and control to support better scheduling decisions. More specifically, GRI will be able to make better and more strategic its Bill of Materials (BOM) level Planning, Make to Order (MTO) Planning, and Make to Stock (MTS) Planning; all of which are critical to a tangible enhancement of existing manufacturing processes.

“Work order modifications, time overruns, and material availability issues frequently disrupt the production schedule. GRI is looking to solve these challenges by seamlessly connecting our planners to the shop floor, enabling capacity-based production plans, and real-time schedule changes with Kingslake’s experience and scheduling APS software,” said Global Rubber Industries Ltd. Executive Director Ananda Caldera.

“We have entrusted Kingslake’s interactive and multi-constraint scheduling APS software expertise to fortify and further digitise our operations,” said Global Rubber Industries Chief Information Officer Tharaka De Alwis. “The availability of resources and additional constraints such as tooling and materials, needs to be taken into consideration during scheduling to ensure an accurate model of our environment. This is of vital importance given the aggressive investments we are making, and our vision to position Sri Lanka and GRI as a tire manufacturing hub.” 

“Digitalisation is changing everything, and manufacturers must be able react quickly and intelligently to unexpected changes, while also being able to respond to shorter lead times and satisfy customer demands,” said Kingslake CEO Duleep Fernando. “Through this partnership with Kingslake, GRI will be able to sequence production orders faster, make production planning more accurate, improve production master plans, and enhance inter-departmental and inter-factory communication.” 

“Our systems have added immense value to the processes of a range of manufacturing companies, and subsequently their sectors which include tea, furniture, rubber-based products, complex electronics, fashion, gloves, packaging, plastics, moulds, tools, electrical devices and glass,” he added. “We are certain that our digital solutions and expertise will only reap greater dividends for GRI, and for Sri Lanka’s rubber export industry as a whole.”

Since its inception in 1994, Kingslake has focused on providing software to help mid-sized manufacturing companies grow. The company delivers state-of-the-art solutions built with a mix of best-of-breed ERP systems, specialised software solutions, and experienced dynamic consultants. Today Kingslake continues to build and deliver fit-for-purpose software that enables manufacturers to increase the visibility of their operations, be it customer service, inventory management, planning, procurement, manufacturing, engineering, HR, transport, or finance.

GRI was founded in 2002 and has expanded its business globally by taking high-grade Sri Lankan specialty tires to the world. The company produces radial agriculture tires, construction tires and material handling solid tires using locally produced natural rubber. GRI has sales offices and warehouses in nine countries, and a business presence in more than 50 countries. In 2018, GRI opened an advanced manufacturing plant in Sri Lanka primarily to produce radial agricultural tires. In 2020, GRI also commenced construction of a new mixing facility in the Mirigama Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) in Sri Lanka and in 2021 laid the foundation to expand its advanced specialty tire plant.