Plastics & Rubber Institute of Sri Lanka and partners hold workshop on latex technology

The Plastics & Rubber Institute of Sri Lanka (PRISL) in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (SLEDB), and the Sri Lanka Association of Manufacturers and Exporters of Rubber Products (SLAMERP), organised a highly successful three day on-line workshop on technological advancements for the latex rubber product manufacturing from 26 to 28 November. 

From its inception six decades ago, PRISL has been in the forefront in providing training and education to the polymer industry in Sri Lanka, with a strong commitment for reliability and consistency and industry visibility.

The topics for the workshop were selected through the joint participation of the industry professionals, in line with the current and emerging global needs for gloves and latex based products, which included:

• Excellent potential for the growth of the Sri Lankan rubber industry.
• Quality of centrifuged latex and its impacts on the quality of dipped products.
• Eco- friendly latex preservation systems to meet EU Standards.
• Structure property relationship of synthetic lattices and their applications.
• Control and troubleshooting of latex product manufacturing.
• Optimization of leaching process, and effective thermal energy management in latex products 
• Forensic and reverse engineering of latex products.
• Innovative and advanced products and global trends in latex products industry.
• Product robustness in latex products manufacturing.PRISL was fortunate to obtain the services of some of the world renowned professionals and academics from Malaysia and India and our own local expertise. 

The inauguration ceremony was conducted under the distinguished presence of SLEDB Chairman Suresh de Mel, SLAMERP Director General Rohan Masakorala and PRISL President Kalyana Dhirasekera. 

During their inaugural addresses they reiterated the national significance of collaborative efforts of the SLEDB, SLMERP and the PRISL in assisting the industry. Sri Lanka currently supplies about 5-6% of the global demand for gloves which is predicted to grow up in the foreseeable future, and the knowledge sharing initiatives such as these will be instrumental in enhancing the industry competitiveness.

In addition to the participation of large scale glove and other latex product manufacturing companies in the country, a significant number of SMEs also participated in this workshop, which is a definite positive trend. It was very encouraging to have enrolled a total of 78 participants, which amply demonstrates the trust and confidence placed by the industry, on PRISL.

Another key feature of the proceedings was the opportunity given to some of the up and coming technologists and professionals in Sri Lanka, to serve as the Chairmen of the sessions to develop their interactive leadership skills.

The consistent role of the Technical Committee and the administration staff of the PRISL, who worked diligently behind the scenes, over the past five months to make this event a remarkable success is highly appreciated.