'Family unity, their strength':

A pioneer in local pantry cupboards

Ramani KANGARAARACHCHI

Rohitha Godagama

Certain areas in Sri Lanka are well known for various products for many years. However, innovative and intelligent people can make changes if they are keen to do so.

Managing Director, Techwood (Pvt) Ltd., Rohitha Godagama,a young entrepreneur from Kandy was determined to make his home town famous for furniture one day.

Over the years, he was committed and worked towards that cause and eventually achieved his objective by establishing a name for furniture in Kandy.

Today Techwood (Pvt) Ltd is a leading furniture manufacturing company in the country catering specially to the upmarket. It has also provided 225 employment opportunities to people in the area.

Godagama was interviewed by Daily News Business.

An old boy of Kingswood College, Kandy and Gampola Jinaraja Maha Vidyalaya, he was the youngest in a family of nine children. After his Advanced Level examination he followed a management training course because he was keen on securing a job. In 1979, he came to Colombo and joined a private sector company and gained experience for a few years.

Family unity

"In 1984 four brothers in the family got together and set up a company to have a business of their own. We had heard a lot about furniture manufactured in Moratuwa and we pondered why we too can't make Kandy famous for furniture. One of my elder brothers was a professional and academically qualified in carpentry with experience in designing plywood furniture and my other brother had a lot of experience at the State Engineering Corporation.

I had marketing and management experience in the private sector. It was a superb combination and with the unity in the family we progressed very well within a short period of time," he said.

They first started the workshop at their home in Gampola with an investment of about Rs 400,000 and ten employees and manufactured pantry cupboards. A few people imported pantry cupboards at that time and Techwood was the first to manufacture pantry cupboards locally.

Demand

"We conducted a market survey on pantry cupboards in Colombo and the variations available to capture the market. There were no pantry cupboards with wooden fronts among those imported so we fixed artificial wood in the front and manufactured them. There was a good demand for it. We created the concept of bringing pantry cupboards to the living room with modern technology which became very popular, he said.

Techwood installed the latest timber treating machines in the factory to provide better quality products.

At the same time they participated in every international exhibition and improved the designs. Within ten years Techwood got the opportunity to undertake orders to install pantry cupboards in condominiums to compete with imported pantry cupboards.

Employees treat the timber at the factory

"I am very happy that about 500 self-employed people in this field learnt from us. We gave a new facelift to this industry," he said.

In 1996 the company diversified into manufacturing furniture moving forward from pantry cupboards. "It was our clients who induced us to start this venture. As a result we became a company known for customer-based furniture manufacturing," he said. Customer satisfaction is our main concern and most of the orders they receive are through word of mouth, Godagama said.

Awards

Asked about the difficulties, he faced at the beginning, Godagama said that the DFCC and NDB Banks supported them during their difficult times and imported goods in the market at the time was a challenge, he said. "Although our products were better in quality, the importers gave credit facilities to their customers, which we could not provide because we had to run the factory. We pay taxes to the Government and provide employment to many people and developing an industry in the country but we found that some people imported furniture at cheaper prices without any benefit to the country," he said.

The company has two factories, one in Kandy and another in Piliyandala. Techwood is a regular customer of the Sri Lanka Timber Corporation and all timber requirements are met by them for their products. The company has also won several awards for the best aesthetic product from the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects.

Godagama said that the secret behind his success is the unity of the family and the trust reposed on his staff.

His future plan is to take the local furniture industry to the forefront and give it to the next generation. He is grooming his children and nephews to take over the business in the fields of engineering, architecture, law and management. The company is planning to provide whole packages for houses in the near future.