Sri Lankan new start knitted fabric maker Lumiere Textiles Ltd commenced production recently ahead of its official opening in May 2013. The $ 15 million Sri Lankan BOI (Board of Investment) approved company, which has an initial production capacity of 10,000 kg (around 40,000m) of circular knitted fabric a day, made its first fabric deliveries to customers in the past few weeks, which will go into underwear garments for a renowned international retailer.

Lumiere’s capacity will be increased to 20,000 kg (around 80,000m) a day, with the purchase of state-of-the-art machinery in the coming six months and well planned infrastructure will enable the company to increase its production capacity to 40,000 kg a day within the next two years. Presently Lumiere manufactures value added cotton and cotton blends and viscose and viscose blends will be added to its product portfolio within the next two months.

Located at the Biyagama Export Processing Zone (24km north east of Colombo), Lumiere is said to be the only textile mill in Sri Lanka to be based in one single building has floor area of 250,000 square feet. This houses not only the company’s machinery but also water storage with a capacity of 2 million litres and an effluent treatment facility with a capacity of 3 million litres.

According to the company, the design of the building was meticulously carried out with the help of experts in this specialised area to ensure maximum use of daylight and minimum use of electricity and air conditioning.

Lumiere Textiles says it will also use some of the best machinery in the world which will offer both energy efficiency and shorter processing times. With initiatives involving the use of renewable energy, rain water harvesting and day light harvesting to complement the eco design of the building and energy efficient machinery, the company says it plans to become the first 'Green' textile mill in the world. Lumiere also says the Lean Manufacturing Practices it is embracing will further help this cause in addition to generating improvements in quality, lead time and cost.

The company came into being at a time when the government of Sri Lanka provided special incentives in its 2012 budget for new textiles industry ventures. It also commences operations at a time when the country is experiencing rapid growth and economic development, whilst making significant improvements on many fronts including the 'ease of doing business'.

Lumiere Textiles is a 100% Sri Lankan owned company and says its flat organisational structure will enable faster decision making. “Thus all our stakeholders will find it easy doing business with us. Unquestionably we will also offer the quickest lead time in the industry to complement the superior quality of our products to our customers. We are excited to come into the market having so much to offer and we hope after above brief introduction you will be just as excited seeing the potential unique opportunities available to you through these offerings. We invite you to be partners with us and look forward to hear from you,” Lumiere says on its website.

“It was a tough and challenging task for the start-up company to commence commercial production within one-and-a-half years of signing of the agreement with the BOI, Deputy Chairman and the Managing Director of the company, BandulaWeerasinghe,” told the country’s Sunday Observer this weekend.

www.lumieretl.com