Orange to create a wildfire brand for global markets

Hiran H. Senewiratne

A young Sri Lankan entrepreneur working hard to bring pride to Sri Lanka to manufacture a strong local brand to create a global brand or wildfire brand is and asset for any country. This person is none-other than Kushan Kodithuwakku the Head of Orange Electric Company.

Orange Electric commenced a few decades ago as a joint venture company with Clipsal Lanka of Australia as an assembly line to manufacture injection moulding.

Orange is now a 100 per cent Sri Lankan company with a global presence. It is engaged in manufacturing electrical accessories not only to the local market but also making a considerable presence in the international markets, its Managing Director Kushan Kodithuwakku said.

Kushan’s grandfather who hailed from Matara laid the foundation to this business. Kushan took-over this business from his father in 1995 and has developed into a strong local entity.

At that time they were only manufacturing switches. They are now manufacturing 400 plus products including light meters and bulbs for the purpose of giving total solutions for customers, he said.

He won several awards including the Gold Medal for ‘Entrepreneur of the Year 2004” organised by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka.

Products for the international market.

Their ultra modern factory in Navinna.

The flagship brand of the company, “Orange” enjoys market leadership and is distributed through a vast network of dealers and distributors and covers the entirety of the island.

It now has a wider portfolio of products with a 80 per cent market share. With strengths in manufacturing, distribution and engineering product development, the Orange Electric is already established in the region with offices and distributors in South Asia, Kodithuwa- kku said.

From 2001, the company manufactures wider portfolio of products with the up grading of technology and has started manufacturing all their products in-house.

According to Kodithuwakku Clipsal Australia sold the global company and the Sri Lankan company was running independently and were self-sufficient.

“In 2004 with the change of Clipsal Global, Australia within 48 hours they came back into the market with their new, “Orange” brand, he said.

When we started our brand, there were a lot of gaps in the product portfolio.

Then the company invested three per cent from the company revenue and now manufactures many products to international standards especially conforming to the British Standard certification,’ he said.

With the development of the company, it has now ventured into many countries in the world like UK, Australia, Singapore and Middle Eastern countries.

The versatility and reliability of Orange products, backed by the company’s professional approach towards employing cutting edge technology in its manufacturing facilities, its commitment towards quality and continuous product innovations has made Orange synonymous with excellence.

They have appointed distributors in many countries covering Middle-East, Singapore and Malaysia.

With the increase of their product portfolio the company has five major factories in Maharagama, Boralesgamuwa, Ratmalana, Meegoda and Ranala with a 1,000 employees, he said. In these five factories they manufacture more than one million items for a month.

With the high quality standards the company has been threatened with fake and unbranded products, he said.

It is also planning to go for a joint venture with a British company. Further the company is now planning to start a manufacturing plant in China under the Orange brand.

The recent years has seen the Orange group diversifying into niche markets and products and is well on its way to realising its vision of making Orange Electric a global electrical brand.

The company is mainly focusing on electrical products as they have the competitive edge to compete with any global brand.

Kodithuwakku said they have innovated their products to keep their head above water and their worry is that multinationals who are trying to break into the Orange market by selling cheap products in the global market, he said.

Their products are very popular in many countries. Now it is on its way to become a global brand.