The Brandix Group won the Cup Championship at the 2015 Inter-Firm Doubles Team Badminton tournament conducted by the Mercantile Badminton Association (MBA) beating Seylan Bank three games to one at the MBA Stadium.

The unbeaten Brandix A Team outplayed teams from Dialog, Commercial Bank and Nations Trust Bank in the group stage and semi-finals to reach the final on 28th June.

The Brandix team comprised of Laksara Aravinda (Captain), Nihal Amarasena, Imal Gurusinghe, Hasitha Premaratne, Janaka Gamage, Nirmal Perera, Ruwan Fernando, Sujani De Costa, Aveesha Dias and Roshni Fernando.

Meanwhile, the Brandix B Team secured fourth place at the Bowl Championship of the same tournament.

Pictured here is the Brandix A Team that won the Cup Championship at the 2015 MBA Inter-Firm Doubles Team Badminton tournament.

Twenty five aspiring Sri Lankan entrepreneurs, chosen from 100 candidates with ideas for potentially game-changing technology startups, have embarked on the 2015 MIT Global Startup Lab (GSL) programme in Sri Lanka conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in partnership with leading apparel manufacturer Brandix and WSO2, a leader in enterprise middleware.

Four MIT instructors are working with the GSL teams during the seven-week ‘incubation’ phase of the programme, designed to identify, develop and commercialise successful technology-based enterprises from idea validation to prototype by 7th August 2015 when the programme ends with a demo day pitch.

The decision this year to open up the programme to working professionals has significantly elevated the extent of domain knowledge and experience among the prospective startups, raising the intensity of the programme, according to Joseph Yang, the GSL Country Manager for Sri Lanka this year. Last year’s MIT-GSL Sri Lanka programme, also supported by Brandix, was limited to undergraduates and recent graduates.

The MIT-GSL Instructor team consists of Perla I. Villarreal (Technical Lead), a graduate of Computer Science and Engineering from MIT; Pallavi Mishra (Entrepreneurship Lead), a System Design & Management (SDM) fellow at MIT; Nitah Onsongo (Entrepreneurship Assistant), an undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering at MIT and Joseph Yang (Country Manager), also an SDM fellow at MIT.

As a co-sponsor of the MIT-GSL Sri Lanka programme for the second successive year, Brandix provides programmatic support in addition to mentorship and domain expertise to all teams.

“One of our principal focus areas is building an ecosystem for technological innovation,” said Udena Wickremesooriya, Director of Brandix. “The MIT-GSL Sri Lanka programme is one of several initiatives being supported by Brandix to stimulate technology startups, promote invention, innovation and advances in automation because we believe that the future of the apparel industry will be significantly technology-dependent.”

WSO2, the open source technology company that is redefining enterprise middleware is the co-sponsor of the 2015 MIT-GSL Sri Lanka programme. In addition to providing guidance and insights in the technology and IT domain, WSO2 is providing its training room at the WSO2 head office for the GSL classroom as well as helping to host the demo day at Trace City on 7th August.

The first MIT-GSL Sri Lanka programme supported by Brandix last year resulted in eight possible startups of which four teams found funding for commercialisation of their proposals.

After seven weeks of intense brainstorming guided by international and local trainers and mentors, seven prospective Sri Lankan startups pitched their ideas and business plans to a panel of investors in Colombo recently, bringing to a close the 2015 MIT Global Startup Lab (GSL) Sri Lanka programme supported by top apparel exporter Brandix and enterprise middleware specialist WSO2.

Innovative adaptation of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for refined and more targeted products and services took centre stage, as the startups sought funding to commercialise ideas that could stimulate lifestyles, facilitate e-commerce and banking, assist and expedite recruitment and enhance education.

Conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in association with Brandix and WSO2, the MIT-GSL programme is designed to help identify, develop and commercialise successful technology-based enterprises.

The seven startups that pitched for funding at the ‘Demo Day’ were ‘Viral’ – a location-based social network that tells users what’s happening in their neighbourhoods; ‘Syna’ – a Unified Payment Gateway for SMEs to engage in e-commerce; ‘Prime HR’ – an intelligent application process for an inbound recruitment platform; ‘Pay Media’ – a payment kiosk that serves as an unmanned bank; ‘HandPiq’ – a specialised search engine based on an instant messaging user interface; ‘Captiosus’ – an online micro tutoring platform branded ‘Siplo’ for GCE (A/L) students and those awaiting university admission; and ‘ARton’ – an app for interactive learning using augmented reality and 3D modelling.

The panel of prospective investors to which these ideas were pitched comprised of Jeevan Gnanam, CEO of Orion City; investor and mentor Fayaz Hudah, Founder of ‘spiralation’ tech accelerator; Anarkali Moonesinghe, Deputy CEO of CIMB Investment Bank; Shehara De Silva, Founder of IDEAHA Institute of Social Design; Madu Ratnayake, Head of Digital, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Virtusa and Girish Anand Sobti, entrepreneur and investor.

“This was a committed and focused group that had the courage to visualise a new business and was then intensively coached on what it might take to realise its vision,” panellist Girish Anand Sobti said.

A spokesperson for the MIT team of instructors added: “GSL Sri Lanka 2015 has been a fulfilling and enriching experience for all of us. Several of our teams were approached for investment and mentorship opportunities from angel investors and successful entrepreneurs on the Demo Day. The feedback for the programme curriculum from our students has been very encouraging. We received tremendous support from our sponsors and local startup community during the entire duration of the programme. The enthusiasm to grow the entrepreneurship ecosystem by universities and corporates alike makes us hopeful that Sri Lanka’s entrepreneurial ecosystem will develop rapidly in the next few years.”

As a co-sponsor of the MIT-GSL Sri Lanka programme for the second successive year, Brandix provided programmatic support in addition to mentorship and domain expertise to the startup teams. WSO2, the open source technology company, provided guidance and insights in the technology and IT domain, and made available its training room at the WSO2 head office for the GSL classroom in addition to helping host the Demo Day.

The first MIT-GSL Sri Lanka programme supported by Brandix last year resulted in eight possible startups of which four teams found funding for commercialisation of their proposals.

‘Model Village’ programme provides water supply and sanitation facilities to key local institutions

The ancient Sri Lankan concept of village life revolving around the tank, the temple and the school has inspired Brandix to adopt a ‘model village’ approach to empowering communities in areas where the Group has a manufacturing presence.

A programme to identify and address water-related issues facing people resident within a five kilometre radius of the Group’s factories is implemented by providing water supply facilities to or upgrading existing infrastructure in schools, hospitals, places of worship, police stations and similar community locations.

Sri Lanka’s single largest apparel exporter plans to allocate Rs 5 million per model village project, through which its factories, usually one of the biggest employers in each community, become an intrinsic part of the social fabric of the village through their role as benefactors.

In a second phase, the Group said it envisages extending its largesse to an area within a 10 kilometre radius of its factories to empower people further afield.

The pilot project for this new model of community empowerment focussed on Polonnaruwa and has to date benefitted students and staff of nine schools in the district and the Kaduruwela police station.

Three of these schools, the Athumalpitiya Primary School, Sewamuktha Kandaura Navodya Maha Vidyalaya and Nagara Maha Vidyalaya have received drinking water facilities, while six others, the Galthabarawa Primary School, Wijayaraja Vidyalaya, Palugasdamana Maha Vidyalaya, Palugasdamana Primary School, Bandiwewa Maha Vidyalaya and Ananda Jayasekara Nursery have received assistance to build or repair their toilets and sanitation facilities, the company said. The police station received a new block of toilets for the use of its staff and visitors.

These projects directly benefit more than 6,000 school children and about 750 adults working in the institutions assisted, and help create greater affinity between the factory and the community, Anusha Alles, Head of CSR of the Brandix Group said.

“This new model village approach has a greater impact on the community than separate projects in different parts of the country, and builds a greater sense of mutual responsibility and belonging that makes the factory one of the indigenous institutions in the area,” she said.

For its second ‘model village’ Brandix has chosen Nivithigala in the Ratnapura District, Ms Alles disclosed.

Sri Lanka’s single largest apparel exporter, the Brandix Group’s principal CSR efforts are driven by the central corporate theme of ‘Water’ and constitute a long term commitment to increasing the availability of water and the provision of safe drinking water to those most in need.

Teams from the Brandix Group will vie for Mercantile Volleyball’s highest honours — the Men’s and Women’s Super League champions’ trophies — when they compete in the 2015 finals of the annual Mercantile Volleyball Association tournament on Sunday, 4th October.

Demonstrating the apparel manufacturing giant’s continuing passion for the game, teams from Brandix Intimate Apparel Minuwangoda dominated the preliminary rounds in the Super League to book their places in both the Men’s and Women’s finals.

The Men’s team defeated two other teams from the Brandix Group, Brandix Essentials Ratmalana and Brandix Casualwear Rideegama, as well as the teams of MAS Active Katunayake and SLT Human Capital Solutions on their way to the Super League final.

The Brandix Women’s team overcame Brandix Intimate Apparel – Uknits, Mirigama, and MAS Casualine Mawathagama to reach the Super League final.

Two other Brandix teams, Brandix Intimate Apparel – Uknits, Mirigama and Brandix Intimate Apparel Polonnaruwa won third place in the Women’s Super League and the Men’s Championship respectively.

In all, 96 teams representing mercantile sector entities competed in the preliminary rounds of this year’s tournament.

Sri Lanka’s single largest apparel exporter, Brandix conducts its own annual volleyball tournament for the ‘Rasadiya Kusalanaya’ (Mercury Trophy), which is considered the largest volleyball tournament organised by a private company in the country.

Brandix Intimate Apparel, Minuwangoda won the 2015 Mercantile Volleyball Men’s Super League beating MAS Linea Aqua – Kapugoda in four sets, 25-23, 14-23, 27-25, and 25-19, while the company’s Women’s team emerged runner-up in the same category. This is the second consecutive year that a Brandix Group company won this tournament.

Third place in the Women’s Super League also went to a Brandix company — Brandix Intimate Apparel – Uknits, Mirigama, while Brandix Intimate Apparel, Polonnaruwa was placed third in the Men’s Championship. The 2015 finals of the annual Mercantile Volleyball Association tournament took place on Sunday, 4th October at the National Youth Services Council Indoor Stadium in Maharagama.

In the Men’s Super League final won by Brandix Intimate Apparel, Minuwangoda, the company’s Ranga Fernando was adjudged Most Valuable Player of the Tournament, receiving a Bajaj Discover 125 Motorcycle for his feat, and was also adjudged Best Player in the finals, while team member Chathuranga Fernando won the award for Best Setter.

In all, 96 teams representing mercantile sector entities competed in the preliminary rounds of this year’s tournament.

Sri Lanka’s efforts to promote occupational safety and health at workplaces across the island are to be supported by the country’s single largest apparel exporter Brandix as principal sponsor of the 2015 National Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) week.

Organised by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the Ministry of Labour, this year’s National Occupational Safety & Health week is scheduled for 12th – 16th October 2015, with the National Conference taking place on Wednesday 14th October.

This is the sixth consecutive year that Brandix is taking the lead role among corporate entities to support the programme, and the eighth occasion overall that the Group is supporting events conducted for the National Safety Week initiative.

The theme of the week is aligned with the concept of ‘Fostering OSH Culture at the Workplace’ highlighting the importance of occupational safety and health, occupational injury prevention, minimising absenteeism and OSH based innovations to improve productivity in the country’s economic development drive.

“Occupational safety and health is one of the top operational priorities at Brandix because it contributes to employee wellbeing, enhances compliance and underpins productivity,” said Air Chief Marshal (Retd) Harsha Abeywickrema, Director, Brandix Apparel Limited. “Brandix is acknowledged as one of the leaders in occupational safety and health indicators, and we feel duty-bound to support efforts to inculcate a culture that recognises the importance of this aspect at workplaces in Sri Lanka.”

The sponsorship cheque for the 2015 National Safety Week programme was presented by Brandix to the Minister of Labour & Trade Union Relations, John Seneviratne in the presence of the Secretary to the Ministry Gotabhaya Jayaratne and Dr (Ms) Champika Amarasinghe, Director General of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

The pioneer of the concept of ‘total solutions’ in Sri Lanka’s apparel sector and a preferred supplier to some of the world’s top apparel labels, Brandix is also a benchmark and international award winner for eco-friendly manufacture and commitment to environmental best practice.

Launches ‘Junior Jalavahini’ with training programme in Kalpitiya for new generation of community water custodians

A new initiative to support young women holding office in community-based organisations responsible for water management and water security has been launched by the Brandix Group, as an extension of its ‘Jalavahini’ programme focussed on women community leaders.

Aptly titled ‘Junior Jalavahini’, this second phase of the programme is intended to empower a new generation of women with the knowledge they will need in the future, to become full partners in sustainable water development in areas where community water projects supply local needs.

The programme envisages the provision of financial assistance where necessary, and the imparting of knowledge, experience and training in areas such as storage and distribution of water, harvesting of rain water and sustainable water resources management.

The ‘Jalavahini’ programme was launched by Brandix in June 2012 to train women in rural communities who have ‘hands-on’ roles at the grassroots level in the water sector.

The first training programme under the Junior Jalavahini programme was conducted recently at the Coastal Environmental Centre, Kalpitiya and was attended by the next generation young women leaders from the area. Among the topics covered were Climate change adaptation and water management, Gender issues, Financial literacy, Non-toxic home gardening for livelihood security, Personality development and Leadership for community development in water.

“Although women play pivotal volunteer roles in community based organisations responsible for water distribution in many parts of Sri Lanka, they have little or no access to the knowledge and advice they need to manage and develop their projects or to improve their lives,” said Anusha Alles, Head of CSR at the Brandix Group. “Women are also the worst affected in times and areas where water is scarce. The Jalavahini and Junior Jalavahini programmes seek to systematically remedy this problem.”

Sri Lanka has about 3,500 community based organisations in the water sector, functioning at differing levels of success. They are estimated to be responsible for a sixth of the country’s water supply.

The Brandix Group’s principal corporate social responsibility efforts are driven by the CSR division of the company – The Bindu Foundation – under the central theme of Water, and constitute a long term commitment to increasing the availability of water and the provision of safe drinking water to those most in need.

Less than nine months after it was commissioned, the new head office of the Brandix Group won the ‘Gold Flame’ for Commercial Buildings in the Large Scale category at the Sri Lanka National Energy Efficiency Awards 2015, reaffirming the apparel manufacturing giant’s commitment to the environment.

The award presented by President Maithripala Sirisena to Brandix Group Director Feroz Omar and Head of Engineering, Environment & Energy Management Iresha Somarathna at the BMICH, recognises the substantial savings achieved in energy consumption through the eco-friendly design of the new eight-storey edifice of 37,800 square feet, its state-of-the-art energy-efficient technology and sophisticated intelligent building management systems.

Built on the site of the Group’s previous head office on the intersection of Rheinland Place, Colombo 3 and Marine Drive, the visually minimalistic tower’s double-glazed Argon-filled black tinted glass walls give the structure improved thermal insulation and a high solar reflectance index, keeping its interiors cool.

The all new building, purpose-designed by Architect Murad Ismail, accommodates approximately 200 people, sets a new benchmark for low-carbon smart buildings and makes a statement for the Brandix Group’s position as the thought and process leader in eco-friendly operations among Sri Lanka’s apparel manufacturers.

The extensive use of a unique self-cleaning glass as exterior walls provides the building’s occupants with panoramic views of the Indian Ocean and Colombo City while reducing energy consumption. Wired for extreme efficiency, sophistication and security inside, the new building is the home of senior management and all centralised corporate functions of the Brandix Group, Sri Lanka’s largest apparel exporter.

“Brandix embarked on its Green journey many years ago, and today, the environment is instinctively factored in to everything we do,” Group Director Feroz Omar said, commenting on this latest accolade. “We therefore set very exacting standards and specifications for the design and construction of our head office building. Winning Gold at the National Energy Efficiency Awards for this building gives us immense satisfaction.”

Commissioned on 1st March 2015, the Brandix HQ has 29,783 square feet of air conditioned office space, but has an electricity consumption of just 4.63 kWh/1,000 ft2, well below the baseline set for commercial buildings.

Daylight harvesting facilitated by a high window to wall ratio, the use of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting controlled by a smart system that switches on and adjusts lux levels based on ambient light and occupancy, and a highly energy-efficient water-cooled air conditioning system with magnetic bearing technology, — a first for Sri Lanka — variable speed drives, temperature and occupancy sensors and low power consuming fan coil units, are among the energy saving features of the new smart building.

It operates a series of integrated Extra Low Voltage (ELV) systems for its Building Management System, access control system, lighting control system, Lync telephony, meeting room management system, washroom feedback system, seamless wireless network connectivity and integrated fire safety detection system among others, making the building one of the most intelligent in the city.

Over the past two years, the Brandix Group’s operations encompassing Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh have achieved a 17.4 per cent reduction in emissions, improved renewal energy usage to 23 per cent, saved 2.9 million litres of heavy fuel oil, used 453MWh of solar electricity per year, harvested 208,719M3 of rain water, recycled 255,604 M3 of water, recycled 49 per cent of solid waste and diverted 96.8 per cent of solid waste from landfill.

One of the largest suppliers of apparel to top retail brands in the US and Europe, Brandix is a benchmark and international award winner for eco-friendly manufacture and commitment to environmental best practice. The Group was recognised as Sri Lanka’s ‘Organisation Committed to Green’ by the Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL) in 2014.

The Brandix Group emerged champions in two Women’s divisions and runners-up in two Men’s divisions and a ‘Veterans’ division at the 2015 Mercantile Badminton Association (MBA) championships, to be adjudged the overall runner-up, achieving its best ranking in Badminton to date.

Brandix fielded a total of 39 players at this year’s tournament, playing in nine divisions, six Men’s and three Women’s. Seven of the nine Brandix teams won places in the championship, which brought together 189 teams representing 67 organisations.

At the end of the tournament, the 32nd conducted by the MBA, Brandix annexed the Women’s B and C division trophies beating John Keells Holdings in both the finals. The Brandix Men’s teams were the runners-up in the Men’s B and E divisions, and in the Veterans A division.

Two Brandix Group company shuttlers, Sujani De Costa of Quenby Lanka Prints and Roshni Fernando of Brandix Intimate Apparel, were adjudged Best Players in the Women’s B and C divisions respectively.