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.