ADVERTORIAL

PCL Solutions supporting local manufacturing industry

Established over 30 years ago, PCL Solutions (Pvt) Ltd is the leading agent for world-class machinery and packaging materials supplier for manufacturers.

Formerly known as Package Care Ltd the company was recently renamed to reflect on the diverse solutions it offers.

GM Thushantha Karunanayake

PCL Solutions initially focused on sourcing packaging material and machinery for the development of the famous tea brand Dilmah under the MJF Group and later supplied the entire tea industry.

Today PCL have diversified into a variety of sectors, establishing their presence as a dominant supplier of machinery to a range of key industries, as a single source with diverse solutions.

PCL Solutions operate within the Food and Beverage, Healthcare, Automotive, Apparel, Tea and Green Technology industries.

The exclusive agent for over 50 multi-nationals, the company's clientele include organizations of all levels from multi-nationals to small-scale businesses.

Setting high standards in every industry they represent, PCL Solutions is able to assist in full-scale operations of their customer from production to packaging.

The company imports a range of machinery vital to each industry. Out of many, the metal detector is one such machine which is important to both apparel and food industries.

In terms of healthcare, they provide plasma sterilization machines, mobile incinerators to dispose hazardous waste as well as cancer and physiotherapy products to name a few.

The success of the company is the ability to identify gaps within the sectors they represent and take measures to fill that gap by launching new technologies. Being innovative is a part of their work routine and key to the company's success.

Commenting on this, PCL Solutions General Manager Thushantha Karunanayake says, "We always make sure to offer the country something that is unique. We identify the gaps in the market in the industries that we serve and try to bring about a change that will enhance the industry.

This is how we have become a value added company and we never simply go with the flow. We focus on sectors that need advancement and begin our work with passion. This has worked for us magnificently.'

Maintaining a clientele of renowned corporates, the company also serves small-scale businesses offering them tailor-made solutions and at times assisting in sourcing funds as well.

PCL works with a number of the giants in the market, including MAS Holdings, Brandix, Hirdaramani, Maliban, Cecil Foods, Ceylon Biscuits, Kandos, MD, KVC, Fonterra, GlaxoSmithKline, Ministry of Health, Durdans, Asiri Hospital to name a few.

PCL Solutions employs a dedicated team of professionals. Training programmes are conducted both locally and internationally for employees at all levels therefore; they gain the required knowledge and exposure to manage any type of project.

PCL Solutions is a fully owned subsidiary of MJF Holdings, better known for its signature tea brand Dilmah.

Power Scan expands into IP TV, Telephone solutions

Power Scan (Pvt) Ltd started its operations in 2003. Throughout the years the company's product offering and related services has expanded to Data Center Design Building and Total IT infrastructure solutions creating a name for itself in the IT industry in Sri Lanka.

The company has tied up with world reputed brands like Emerson/Liebert for power and cooling solutions, Systimax/CommScope for structured cabling, APC by Schneider Infracture range of data center solutions, FM200 for Data Center Fire suppression systems, Firetide for Wifi Solutions, Twisted Pair Solutions for Land Mobile Voice IP Integration. Together they design and deliver world-class solutions for the local companies.

Power Scan Director and GM Lalith Hewage

The latest venture that Power Scan is stepping into is IP Telephony. IP television, IP telephone and IP security systems are some of the areas covered through IP Telephony offered by the company.

They have tied up with a leading Russian based IP TV solutions company NETUP.

The main advantage of NETUP is its in a single 1U rack-mountable box which includes all the hardware required to deliver channels to the rooms. NETUP is extensively used in top Middle Eastern and European Hotels.

The advantage of IP Telephone solution offered by the company is it consists of a software base IP BPX and most importantly runs on windows platform. Unlike other linux based IP PBX systems where linux expertise is required to configure and manage, this can be managed by any person with a little knowledge of Windows operating system. The entire system can be backed up on a pen drive and installed within minutes.

Power Scan aims to support the booming hospitality industry in the country through IP Solutions. While IP technology is cost effective, time saving and efficient, it also gives a positive impression to the hotel guests with customized messages and an user friendly interactive interface. Presently Power Scan is implementing the structured cabling solution using Systimax for Serendib Leisure Hotel in Bentota.

The importance of selecting the right cable is of utmost importance when implementing an IP telephony solution because everything depends on the quality of the cable. With plenty of duplicate cables available in the local market companies have to be cautious in selecting the cabling vendor and the originality of the brand of cable used.

Power Scan is a Certified Partner of CommScope/Systimax brand of cables.

All cabling projects carried out by Power Scan come with a 20 year product and application delivery warranty from CommScope.

The good thing about systimax cables is that every cable carries a unique serial number, which can be checked on the CommScope web pages to confirm originality thus stopping the duplicate menace.

According to Hewage the success behind Power Scan is their commitment to design innovative and technologically upto date solutions along with their foreign partners and deliver a quality job at a reasonably good price.

Their biggest clients include companies like South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT), John Keells Holdings, Bharti Airtel, Credit Information Bureau (CRIB), ICICI Bank just to name a few.

Indian chefs join Galadari Indian Food Festival

Jai Sunthush ABEYEWARDENE

Colombo is set to taste Indian cuisine under a "culinary diplomacy" momentum placed in motion by Galadari Hotel with two Indian chefs already arriving in the city to take part in a long awaited Indian Food Festival at the Coffee Shop in Galadari from September 5 to 11.

Galadari's reputation as a food heaven is well known, with the widest range of cuisines and tantalizing food, its dining landscape is a mouth-watering delight for all gourmets.

Joining the discussion chefs - Gersome Frank Jayaseelan of Chennai and Saldanha Henzil from Goa described Indian Cuisine as unparalleled in terms of sheer diversity in taste, flavour, colour and presentation due to extensive immigration and intermingling through many millennia. Together with a multitude of invasions from Central Asia, particularly the Muslims and Mughals followed by colonial rule of Europeans (Portuguese, French, Dutch, Spaniards and the English), has left an indelible mark on the Indian culinary picture, Chef Jayaseelan said.

For instance, North India is known for its breads like roti, kachori, kulcha, bhatura, paratha, naan, puri... the list is virtually endless and the richness of its curries that use a high proportion of dairy products like butter, paneer (cottage cheese, ghee).

The food has also been strongly influenced by the Islamic rule which introduced fares like biriyani, kebabs and other grilled meats. This resulted in the birth of the Mughlai cuisine with its distinctive character, continued Chef Jayaseelan. Speaking about Indian cooking, chef Henzil particularly emphasized that the secret behind Indian cooking lies in the selection of spices and ingredients that makes curries tasty, nutritious and wholesome.

A commonly used ingredient is coriander and spices as cloves, cardamoms and cinnamon that enhances the flavour in food.

We use grinding and pounding to extract the essence of these ingredients that goes to make Indian cuisine so tantalizing.

South Indian cuisine is built around rice as the staple grain. The curries typically contain an abundance of locally available ingredients as fresh coconut, tamarind and curry leaves.

The tastes range from relatively mild (Karnataka) to super spicy (Andhra and Tamil Nadu's Chettinad cuisines).

The creole cuisine of Pondicherry best represents the cultural marriage between France and India where traditional French dishes are given an Indian twist, Chef Henzil said.

West Bengal is famous for its mind-boggling variety of sweets (desserts eaten as snacks), the most popular being the rosogolla. Gujarat is famous for its vegetarian fare and uses sugar and jaggery to sweeten its dishes.

The food here is relatively mild and free from pungent spices. Goan cuisine is an interesting product of the fusion between Portuguese and Indian cultures. The Vindalho (aka Vindaloo) curry comes from Goa and is now known across the world for its spiciness (although there's more to this dish than just the heat!) Chef Jayaseelan reminded.

HNB Towers was awarded the Silver Award in the large scale Category for Commercial Sector Buildings at a ceremony held recently. The Presentation of “Sri Lanka National Energy Efficiency Award - 2011” was held in BMICH organized by Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority. There was no winner for the GOLD Award in Large scale commercial Sector buildings. Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka presenting the award to an official. Sri Lanka National Energy Efficiency Award competition is an annual event conducted by the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority for public and private sector institutions with the aim of recognizing their contribution towards Energy Secure Sri Lanka.