Quality assurance centres undertake pre-shipment inspection

ED RICHARDSON
SRI LANKAN company Expolanka has identified Africa
as a major growth market – with its Durban office
acting as one of the main gateways, says branch
manager Brandon Brown.
While at the moment the operation is in its startup
phase, the company is rolling out plans which
will see it establishing a network throughout the
continent, says Brown.
Expolanka pioneered a number of services in Sri
Lanka which could be offered in Africa, he says.
One is Quality Assurance Centres (QAC) which
enable a client to store, sort and ship products, and
to establish the quality of a product prior to shipping.
The QAC also acts as a common point for receipt of
goods as consignees/buyers often work with many
suppliers. Customers can manage their QAC or entrust
the responsibility to Expolanka.
The company then undertakes the necessary
quality checks of products for buyers/agents, which
are independent of the manufacturers’ quality
inspections. Inventories are maintained by Expolanka.
Another service is sales order assembly, which
groups consignments of multiple purchase order or style
numbers to be delivered to one or more retail outlets.
Expolanka also offers dedicated services to larger
clients. Services include daily communication with
suppliers to determine shipment status.
If customers obtain products from a group of
suppliers, Expolanka staff conduct regular meetings
with the entire supplier group on behalf of the client
to determine their shipping schedules.