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Monday, 18 October 2010 19:11 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Asian Paints has announced plans to expand production capacity and its product offering in Sri Lanka and further revolutionise colour retailing to give Sri Lankan consumers and dealers a new experience in how they buy and sell paint.
The India-headquartered multinational coatings company completed 10 years in Sri Lanka in 2009, during which it introduced many product and category firsts and established a 300-strong network of ‘Colour World’ computerized tinting and dispensing outlets, completely changing the dynamics of the retail paint business.
“We plan to grow the Colour World network to 500 over the next two years, and replicate some of the latest colour retailing innovations of our parent company for the benefit of this market,” said Joseph L. Pulikottil, the company’s Director/General Manager in Sri Lanka.
The essence of the company’s strategy would be to use its retail strengths and its extensive portfolio of products and services to convert buying paint and colour decisions from the hassle that it can sometimes be, into a fun experience, he said.
Among the company’s short and medium term plans for Sri Lanka are the introduction of the unique ‘Colour Ideas’ concept that has enthused retail consumers in India, new generation paint products such as Asian Paints ‘Royale’ paint with a tough Teflon coating, and the opening of a corporate sales office in Colombo, Pulikottil disclosed.
Colour World outlets have already increased the degree of interaction between end users of paint and retailers and created greater interest in mixing and matching of colours, Pulikottil said. The unique software developed by Asian Paints enables customers to experiment with colours on images of their own homes or offices before they buy the paint.
The company has also increased the number of brands available through the Colour World outlets providing consumers with the widest brand choice as well as several price options to suit their requirements.
Among the innovative products that Asian Paints Lanka has introduced to the local market over the past decade are the first wall putty formulated specifically for exterior walls in Sri Lanka, the country’s first stain-resistant interior emulsion paint ‘Royale Luxury Emulsion’, the unique special effects paints products ‘Royale Play’ and ‘Royale Play Metallics’ and Weathertuff Ultima a high performance exterior paint that is guaranteed to last seven years even in the harshest of conditions.
The company has progressively moved out of paint formulations that contain lead and other potentially toxic heavy metals and switched to organic pigments in the manufacture of its products. Asian Paints now guarantees that its paints do not contain any added lead, mercury, arsenic or chromium.
Asian Paints was the first paints manufacturer in the country to be granted Sri Lanka Standard (SLS) certification for paints dispensed through Dealer Tinting Systems and has also received ISO 9001:2000 international quality management systems certification.
The company was also the first paint company in Sri Lanka to implement Microsoft Navision, an innovative Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Solution that streamlines business processes for accelerated growth.
