Kingslake celebrates 15 years of partnership with Don Carolis

August, 30, 2022

Kingslake, Sri Lanka’s leading manufacturing solutions expert, is celebrating 15 years of a time-honoured partnership with the country’s most trusted, oldest, and largest furniture manufacturer, retailer, and exporter, Don Carolis and Sons (Pvt) Ltd. The collaboration was initiated in the year 2007 when Don Carolis sought to implement the Infor SyteLine ERP system, with the purpose of simplifying and automating the company’s complex manufacturing processes.

Infor SyteLine is an advanced and highly flexible solution that offers manufacturers the functionality required to remain competitive in today’s complex, global environment. Offering a range of capabilities from advanced planning and material management, to financials, SyteLine delivers everything manufacturers need in a standard package. With this solution, manufacturers are afforded a significant advantage in advancing their business operations through the deployment of advanced information technology.

“We implemented an integrated system where stores, customers, vendors, as well as production and finance operations are connected. The Log module was also of great importance since it is a highly specialized system which reconciles the outgoing Log with the incoming planks; thereby determining the Log yield,” said Kingslake Vice President-Business Consulting, Shalika Pituwala.

“Now that the core operational modules are in place, we are currently looking at taking advantage of automating our key business processes to align with Industry 4.0, also making use of the data that's available for digitalization in order to further enhance our customers' digital experience,” added Devika Waidyaratne, Director of H. Don Carolis & Sons (Pvt) Ltd.

“At Don Carolis, labour is a vital part of the production cost, and this needs to be tracked in detail operation-wise, especially because certain payments are made on a production incentive model based on the quantity produced,” commented Thusitha Ferdinando, IT Manager of Don Carolis. “It is also necessary to quantify the standard time and the actual time spent on a job,” he added. “The SyteLine Production module facilitated for us the maintenance of the employee standard and actual labor costs, and through time sheets, also assisted our finance department when it came to making payments. Overall, the SyteLine production module has aided our operations tremendously, owing mainly to the potential of the software to better define operations with machine and labour details”

Commenting on the partnership with Kingslake, Viraj Hewavitharane, Chairman & Managing Director of H. Don Carolis said, “It has been a pleasure working with the Kingslake team over the past few years, and we are truly appreciative of Kingslake’s professionalism and customer service. We look forward to continuing our growing partnership with Kingslake.

“From the outset, our mission has been to enable local manufacturers to excel; from product concept, design and manufacture, to delivery,” commented Kingslake CEO Duleep Fernando. “Leveraging expertise and capabilities built up throughout our partnership with Infor, we have actively supported diverse organizations in enhancing their efficiency and expanding productivity; from furniture to value-added tea, rubber-based products to complex electronics, high fashion apparel to elastics, packaging to plastics, molds to tools, and electrical devices to glass. Our clients have generated increased profits using our solutions and expertise.”

Since its founding in 1860, Don Carolis has crafted furniture with a singular, unwavering commitment to excellence and value. Combining traditional methods and commitment to craftsmanship with new advanced technology and modern equipment, Don Carolis- a family owned business- offers the very best in craftsmanship to its customers. The high quality of furniture supplied overseas has also been well-appreciated over the years, and Don Carolis products have won numerous awards at international exhibitions like the Paris Exhibition, the Indian Industrial Exhibition and the St. Louis Exposition.

Founded by Mudaliyar Don Carolis Hewavitarne- a well-known Sri Lankan industrialist, philanthropist, and pioneer of the Buddhist revival movement, Don Carolis is the oldest furniture manufacturer in Sri Lanka, and one of the oldest Sri Lankan companies overall. The company began in a very modest way in a corner of Keyzer Street Pettah supplying the Tea and Coffee Planters of European descent with solid, artistic furniture in the best European styles at moderate prices, and since then, has been able to maintain an unblemished brand reputation over the last 162 years.

Kingslake has been in the business of providing manufacturers mission-critical software solutions for over 25 years, with the goal of making its clients more agile in a fast-evolving business environment. The company delivers state-of-the-art solutions built with a mix of best-of-breed ERP systems, specialized software solutions, and experienced dynamic consultants. Kingslake’s team of experienced professionals ensure that their customers gain a competitive edge by the clever use of software.