We chatted with Ms Sayuri Daluwatte, Group COO of Jinasena Group of Companies, on supporting national development and sustainability efforts during these turbulent times. The Jinasena Group is a General Member of Biodiversity Sri Lanka. This is what she had to say…
“Sustainability as an add on, can quickly become a budget constraint, but sustainability as core, which is done right will never be on the chopping block. It is vital for doing business well and doing business right”
Q: Can you give us a brief introduction to your company?
A: The organization was founded and established in 1905 by the young visionary Jinasena with an ambition to startup an engineering establishment which was to service and repair machinery. This was the first Sri Lankan owned business of that time which marked the beginning of change in the engineering landscape in Sri Lanka.
Jinasena has been a household name for many decades and a quintessential facet of our legacy is delivering customized engineering solutions that enrich lives. The Jinasena Centric Water Pump popularized over five decades ago and continues to be an integral part of our business heritage. It is a name that has passed through every household and still stands firm at the core of our business. Today, we have further fine-tuned the product portfolio to include innovative, cutting edge agricultural and industrial solutions that complement the needs of contemporary customers and most importantly present an unmatched consumer experience.
Q: What drives the Company’s sustainability agenda and what are the key focus areas?
A: As a company, Jinasena’s innovates and develops effective sustainable solutions as part of its core business proposition. We believe our efforts are focused on, socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable solutions. Our core product portfolio is focused on supporting Sri Lanka’s economy through supporting the efficient development of agricultural, water & water recycling, and renewable energy sectors. We develop turnkey solutions for commercial, private, and smallholder operations in these sectors.
Jinasena has been dominant in the agriculture sector, supporting the local farmers and agricultural community for many decades. Introducing our very own centrifugal Jinasena pump and agriculture machinery such as threshers, multi grinders, multi choppers, tea cutters, and straw cutters have mechanized the industry by providing durable and affordable solutions for farmers.
Q: Could you give us an outline of your current sustainability initiatives/ projects?
A: We work on numerous projects across sectors. In the 1990’s we developed a solution to combat the rising prevalence of the Chronic-Kidney Disease (CKD) that was burdening the Sri Lankan healthcare system in the Anuradhapura/ Polonnaruwa districts.
Through partnerships with the Ministry of health, research and innovation, we were able to provide a nanofiltration and reverse osmosis water purification system which is designed to remove contaminants from water including bacteria, viruses, nitrates, sulfates, fluoride, arsenic, and much more. Out of numerous projects we have undertaken designing solutions with various institutions in the country, I would like to share our current efforts on water recycling, to ensure that our people have access to clean drinkable water across the country.
There were a few cases of unidentified kidney disease reported in the Medawachchiya area in the Anuradhapura District in the late 1990s which was spreading systematically, and today the number of patients has increased vastly due to not having clean drinking water. The government has provided clean drinking water to disease-prone areas. However, as a solution to this matter, RO technology has been introduced. At present the government is spending money to install these RO water filters in these areas and medical clinics have confirmed that drinking this clean water will help in controlling the undiagnosed kidney disease in those areas and reduce the rate of new cases. With this in mind, our company established a RO Water Purification System as a Pilot Project in the Koonkatiyawa area of Padaviya. Also, we opened new Water Treatment Plants at Pulichchakulam, Puththalam, and at Thuppitiyawa, Thanthirimale as well for clean drinking water.
Q: What are your company’s key achievements in the sustainability domain and the reasons behind their success?
A: At Jinasena’s, our values are based on quality, integrity, and service. These factors determine the way we work, the quality we offer, and the unsurpassed treatment we give our customers. This is what drives our business and we hire for similar values. Undoubtedly, we have the best technical team at Jinasena to support us. With over 117 years of history and some employees who have been with us for more than 20 years – their knowledge and expertise has been a great strength for our success. We provide our customers with high-quality, durable product/services that gives them a long-term quality solution for their needs.
Q: What are the challenges you see in driving your sustainability agenda forward in the current, extremely volatile business context?
A: The current financial crisis in the country is unprecedented and similar to other businesses in the country, we are also revisiting our strategies and adopting agile strategies to safeguard the long-term interests of the company. Given the sectors we are involved in, we understand our customers need advanced products/solutions to address the current energy crisis and alternatives for fertilizer requirements. During the fertilizer crisis, we introduced several pieces of machinery to produce compost with maximum outputs including a domestic range JSH 3ES, Jinasena Shredder Machine with 3HP single phase motor which can be used effectively to produce high-quality compost in a reduced time.
We appreciate the fact that we can support our communities in economic development ensuring sustainability to our people and their businesses. We strongly feel, that there should be improvements in policies that would support local manufacturers to further drive sustainable initiatives along with their sustainable business operations.
Q: Any interesting future plans?
A: We are currently working on a few initiatives connected to the water industry and the renewable energy sector. While we adjust to volatility of this existing market, we are committed to investing in our human capital continuously. We strongly believe that in these challenging times, we will create more resilience in the company as the nation continues to embrace the worst ever economic crisis since Independence. We are currently exploring how we can support our farmers to transport their crops due to fuel shortages with our fleet operations and while doing so allowing our people to have access to fresh vegetables at an affordable price.
Q: Any message to our BSL members in their Sustainability Journey?
A: Whilst we navigate through these tough times, we should never overlook the importance of doing small things that can make a big impact. As businesses struggle to adapt to the volatility of the market and secure some level of business growth, we should adopt sustainability initiatives that will fuel into a better future for our communities. I strongly believe now is the best time for each business to identify and eliminate waste in the business processes and challenge the status quo. Applying lean six sigma methodologies to review existing processes, and cost structures will lead to reducing waste and costs in operations allowing businesses to focus on key problems and to provide better, quality products/ solutions.
