Business

First and only local company to receive SLS certification for fire rated cables

Published

2 years ago

2020/12/24

Creating history and proving its dominance in the cable industry once again, ACL Cables PLC announced it had been awarded the SLS 1504-3-31 certificate under the product marking scheme for its fire rated – Low smoke Halogen Free (LSHF) non – sheathed single core cables by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) recently.

SLSI is the highest local authority that awards quality standardizations for products sold locally. Upon complying with the requisite standards ACL Cables PLC has become the first company in the country to obtain this certification. The equivalent British Standard (BS) for the above local certification is BS EN 50525-3-31.

Moreover, ACL Cables is currently the largest and pioneering company that manufactures a wide range of LSHF cables locally. The certification was awarded for cables with voltage up to 450/750 volts. The tests were conducted at ACL in-house laboratories located at their factory premises under the supervision of the SLS audit committee. ACL cables is the only company in Sri Lanka that has a comprehensive lab facility for testing fire rated cables.

Currently ACL cables markets three brands under the category of fire rated cables, namely; ACL Fireguard, ACL Firezero and ACL fire survivor. ACL Fireguard is the core brand out of all three that has reached the masses island wide and is manufactured with a specially insulated PVC compound. The latter two falls to the category of LSHF cables and vastly marketed for high-end construction projects.

As the No. 1 Cable Company in Sri Lanka ACL Cables has always placed itself at the forefront of the local cable industry, which has earned them a strong following in the market.

Up on receiving this certification it proves the reliability of the range of fire rated cables ACL produces. This accreditation makes ACL the only company in Sri Lanka that produces fire rated cables as per appropriate local standards and regulations that has the genuine properties of fire prevention. ACL has also gained international certification from PSB Singapore for the same range prior to receiving this.

Fire related accidents in buildings can occur as a result of electrical short circuits. Thus, the main objective of fire rated cables is to prevent the spread of fire whilst extinguishing within a very short period of time. Designed with fire retardant qualities by the use of special material and compounds, ACL fire rated cables is the perfect, trusted solution to safeguard all buildings.

In order to receive the SLS 1504-3-31 standard ACL Cables was required to complete the following additional three quality tests stated in the standard: Test under fire conditions for vertical flame spread of vertically mounted bunched wires in accordance with BS EN 60332-3-24 (Category C), Measurement of smoke density of cables burning under defined conditions in accordance with BS EN 61034-2 and Assessment of halogens (acid gas) for all non-metallic materials in accordance with BS EN 50525-1(Annex B).

Commenting on this landmark award, Suren Madanayake, Managing Director said, “We have constantly placed great importance and responsibility in the quality and authenticity of our products assuring customers of the highest levels of reliability and safety specifications. I am very proud that ACL Cables has achieved this prestigious local status. We have once again demonstrated to the market our quality and dominance. I appreciate the effort of my technical and quality assurance teams for their untiring efforts to ensure this Product certification process was a success.”

Madanayake added, “Since our inception in 1962, ACL Cables has always been the trendsetter in introducing new products and receiving proper certification. This is one such milestone. Currently we are processing a considerable number of orders for LSHF cables and this is the main reason to push ourselves towards gaining this certification. The certification enables customers to have more confidence when they purchase LSHF cables from us. I am convinced that as the recipient of the SLS standard, we will be able to grow our market share further with this product and strengthen our top and bottom lines.”

Based on the process, ACL had to initially study and follow the respective British Standard that complies with the above criteria. Following which presentations were made to the SLSI, who then awarded the equivalent Product certification as per local regulations and standards.

ACL Cables PLC own 70% of the market share recording annual revenue over Rs. 18 billion as a group.

All News Advertisement

Business

Share investors worried over Wealth and Heritage tax

Published

17 hours ago

2023/03/24

Thilina Walpola

By Hiran H Senewiratne

CSE trading kicked off on a positive note yesterday but the momentum could not be sustained for long owing to investor worries that the government is planning domestic debt restructuring involving the imposition of a wealth and heritage tax on citizens, market sources said.

Amid those developments both indices moved downwards. The All -Share Price Index went down by 131 points and S and P SL-20 declined by 46.8 points. Turnover stood at Rs 3.4 billion with four crossings. Those crossings were reported in Agalawattte Plantations, which crossed 45.3 million shares to the tune of Rs 1.5 billion, its shares traded at Rs 35, CTC 420,000 shares crossed for Rs 269 million and its shares traded at Rs 640, Cargills 100,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 24.5 million; its shares traded at Rs 245 and Hayleys 300,000 shares crossed for Rs 24 million; its shares traded at Rs 80.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were, SLT Rs 234 million (two million shares traded), Hayleys RS 121 million (1.5 million shares traded), Lanka IOC Rs 106 million (115,000 shares traded), Softlogic Capital Rs 69 million (5.6 million shares traded), CTC Rs 65.3 million (101,000 shares traded), Sampath Bank RS 54.7 million (one million shares traded) and Commercial Bank RS 52.5 million (801,000 shares traded).During the day 164 million share volumes changed hands in 20000 transactions.

Business

Brandix ‘RightToRead’ initiative gains momentum enriching Sri Lanka students and transforming learning

Published

17 hours ago

2023/03/24

Thilina Walpola

Inspired by the challenge to provide Sri Lankan children with better access to learning materials and the transformative power to read and comprehend English, Brandix launched the ‘RightToRead’ project in 2018 in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

Accordingly, Brandix introduced the ‘ReadToMe’ English learning tool, created by English Helper – India, to improve reading and comprehension skills of Sri Lankan students. Last Monday, Julie Chung, the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, visited Susamayawardhana Vidyalaya in Borella, to observe progress of the project and experience how children and educators in Sri Lanka engage with educational technology.

Brandix Lanka Limited, Director, Ajit Johnpillai, said: “Education is the most powerful tool to enrich communities and futures, and Brandix is committed to build a strong foundation for transformational learning for students across Sri Lanka. The progress we have made with RiteToRead over the past two years is promising, and the potential for change in the education sector harnessing such digital technologies is immeasurable. Brandix will continue its commitment to deliver Inspired Solutions for the people of Sri Lanka.”

Business

Dialog TV Boosts Resilience and Capacity with Norsat Satellite Earth Station

Published

17 hours ago

2023/03/24

Thilina Walpola

Hytera, a leading global provider of professional communications technologies and solutions, is proud to announce the successful deployment of a new backup satellite station for Dialog TV, Sri Lanka’s No.1 satellite Pay TV service provider. The project was fulfilled in 2022 by Hytera and its subsidiary specialized in Satellite Communications (SatCom), Norsat International Inc. The new station enhances the resilience and capacity of Dialog TV’s existing system and ensures continuity of service in the event of damage due to natural disasters.
Dialog TV provides coverage over the entirety of Sri Lanka through the Intelsat 38 Ku-band satellite. As the business expanded, it opted for a backup solution to support its existing satellite station and to strengthen the network’s disaster tolerance.
Hytera and Norsat provided an end-to-end satellite earth station solution that includes the installation, integration, and setup of satellite antennas, a transmission and receiving system, a new network management system (NMS), and a carrier monitoring system (CMS). The NMS makes routine work easier and simpler for on-duty staff, as equipment status, parameter monitoring and configuration, and remote control of the devices can be viewed and accomplished via a single interface. The CMS monitors the carrier spectrum status of satellite signals in real-time and ensures stable signal transmission and receiving.
“We are excited to have been able to work with Dialog TV on this important project,” said Kevin Sun, Sales Director for Hytera South Asia, “Our ability to seamlessly integrate our new equipment and software with Dialog TV’s existing systems has helped to ensure a stable and reliable service for their millions of customers across Sri Lanka.”