ERP Today embarked on the IFS Sri Lanka media tour this year to witness the enterprise cloud organization’s Columbo-based innovation center and labs first-hand. Our second visit to the country, IFS appears to be leading the march to capture, nurture and develop the impressive software engineering talent that exists in this subcontinental island nation’s technology hub.
IBM who?
In Sri Lanka, the average person in the street has vaguely heard of IBM, just about. The technology company that people think of most readily is IFS. As the second largest technology employer in the country, IFS marked 25 years of operations in Columbo this year by explaining how its team here is working in unison with IFS operational hubs across Europe, the Americas and the rest of the world.
During the tour this year, press and analysts were able to meet a variety of IFS customers, some of which we have detailed below.
Singer
Singer is of course known for its iconic sewing machines. Singer is the market leader in Sri Lanka’s consumer durables industry, with a reach of over 5.7 million customers, a penetration of nearly 30% of the country’s population.
Through partnerships with over 60 international brands, Singer has also been instrumental in offering Sri Lankan consumers the world’s best solutions in electronic items and home appliances. The group is a subsidiary of Hayleys PLC – one of Sri Lanka’s most diversified and respected conglomerates. Singer is one of IFS’s longest standing customers in Sri Lanka (15 years) and is the company’s largest account.
IFS work here includes connectivity to internal and external stakeholders; a single, real-time version of the truth; automated invoice generation; minimal modifications to core code’ and bespoke reports and dashboards using IFS lobbies
Hatch X & IFS
IFS is building a comprehensive event-modelling suite, which allows clients to define one or more events and view the resulting workload as well as model the workforce they would utilize to address this workload in the event of major ‘events’.
Events in this context could include everything from earthquakes to wildfires; anything that affects a geographical area where an organization’s assets are deployed.
To support the creation of this technology fabric, IFS has partnered with Hatch to form the IFS x Hatch ChallengerX incubator, a 6-month residency at Columbo-based Hatch, a coworking space and innovation hub for Sri Lankan start-ups. This residency will provide the ChallengerX finalists with access to events and membership benefits at Hatch, where they will also be mentored by international experts from Hatch and the IFS mentor pool.
The Incubator will focus on improving predictive modelling systems capable of maximizing the readiness of organizations in the service industry to face unforeseen circumstances, such as natural disasters. Workforce composition and location, overall impact on a customer’s assets and readiness factor are all elements of concern to IFS customers, and the participants will be providing a solution that addresses these concerns as best as possible utilizing the AI and machine learning talent in Sri Lanka.
Silvermill Group
Silvermill began in 1920 as a desiccated coconut factory in Giriulla. Today, over a century later. The business is now managed by the third generation of the Silva family, who have mastered the art and craft of cultivating coconuts and producing a range of value-added coconut products including desiccated and high-quality milk.
Silvermill has evolved into a dynamic company that has forged strategic partnerships with some of the world’s leading FMCG and confectionary brands. In the mid-1960s, Mars Incorporated conducted the world-famous Bounty Bar trials at the Giriulla manufacturing facility. Thereafter in the mid-1980s, Silvermill joined hands with Nestlé Lanka PLC, to process coconut milk powder in Sri Lanka for the first time.
As Silvermill (S.A. Silva & Sons Lanka), looks ahead to the future working with IFS, the company remains dedicated to enhancing its product portfolio and production volumes, to meet the growing demand for high quality coconut products in both local and global markets.
Silvermill Group always been excited to embark on its digital transformation journey with IFS Cloud technology, with technology that has been underpinning their operations since 2015.
