LAUGFS clinches three more awards at NBQSA 2016

The LAUGFS team at the NBQSA 2016 Awards ceremony

LAUGFS’s portfolio of accolades was further augmented at the recently concluded National Best Quality ICT Awards (NBQSA) with the prestigious Chairman’s Award and two Silver wins. The ‘Chairman’s Appreciation Award’ was presented for developing and deploying the highest number of innovative ICT based products during 2015/16 period, while the Silver Awards were bestowed for LAUGFS’s GNTracker device and Grocerypal.lk online retail platform.

“We are delighted to have received these awards, which serve to recognise some of the key ICT-related projects carried out by our in-house IT teams. As a company that is continuously focused on developing and providing innovative solutions, which add value to the lives of our customers and stakeholder, these awards will provide even greater encouragement for our teams to pursue their pioneering work,” remarked LAUGFS Holdings Chief Information Officer Indika Gunawardena, commenting at the awards ceremony. 

“We are also honoured to have received the ‘Chairman’s Appreciation Award’, which reaffirms our commitment towards driving organisational development and improved efficiencies through innovation and technology. We will continue to engage in extensive R&D work with our in-house resources, with a focus to innovate and offer technologically-driven solutions to our customers and other stakeholders.”

The GnTracker device, which clinched the Silver Award this year under the ‘Industrial Applications’ category, was developed by the in-house Industrial Innovation team as a solution to a critical challenge faced by one of the LAUGFS businesses. This has enabled LAUGFS International, the authorised distributor for Yamaha and Airman generators in Sri Lanka, to proactively monitor the health and readiness of their generators even whilst they are still located at their customers’ premises.

“Prior to the launch of this facility, customers would inform us when service was required for their generators, to which our maintenance team would respond immediately. Now with the GNTracker device, our team is able to remotely track the performance of generators while they are located at our customers’ premises. This has added tremendous value to both our customers and our maintenance team, enabling them to provide an enhanced level of service,” commented LAUGFS International CEO Wasantha De Silva. 

A first of its kind in Sri Lanka, the GnTracker is an ideal solution, not simply for LAUGFS International, but for many other organisations and industries to remotely track performance of devices, equipment and machinery.

Grocerypal.lk was presented the second Silver Award at the NBQSA 2016, which was bestowed under the E-Inclusion & E-community category. This was in recognition of the project’s features and facilities geared towards creating greater engagement with stakeholders that generally belong to non-digital segments. Grocerypal.lk is part of Lfinity Ltd., the online retailing arm of LAUGFS, and is the latest e-supermarket platform offering online shopping facilities for groceries, beverages and other household needs.

Commenting on the significance of this online retail platform, Grocery Pal.lk Team Head Muditha Thebuwana remarked, “With GroceryPal.lk, our goal is to make e-commerce an attractive and viable platform to the general public and expand our reach to those beyond the segment of e-savvy customers. As a result, we’ve focused on targeting customers such as senior citizens, stay-at-home mothers, and mobility-restricted individuals who can benefit immensely from the conveniences offered by Grocerypal.lk, such as express doorstep delivery of essential items. We have come up with many features to cater to such customer segments, which are operationally cumbersome but highly beneficial to customers. We are greatly appreciative of, and encouraged by the fact that the expert NBQSA judging panel recognised the effort we have put into creating greater inclusivity of the non-digital community, enabling them to experience digital solutions such as e-commerce.”

The National Best Quality ICT Awards is an annual event organised by the Sri Lanka Section of the BCS – The Chartered Institute of IT. Conducted for the 18th consecutive year, the NBQSA serves as a platform to provide recognition to outstanding achievements of individuals and organisations in Sri Lanka for high quality ICT products.