INSEE Cement, Sri Lanka’s market leader in cement products and the only integrated manufacturer of cement in Sri Lanka has been hard at work inspiring innovation in the industry. One way the company is achieving this is through a series of monthly knowledge sharing webinars, which brings together all stakeholders in the industry. The webinar series is part of INSEE’s i2i Collaboration Space, a dedicated centre of excellence that develops and promotes new products and solutions for the building and construction industry in Sri Lanka. Since June 2020, more than 12 webinars have been conducted on the last Thursday of each month.
Explaining further, Jan Kunigk, Executive Vice President, Sales, Marketing & Innovation at INSEE Cement said, “We believe in the power of collaboration and that true innovation occurs when we work together. This is what inspired our i2i Innovation to Industry Collaboration Space, where we would meet for knowledge sharing sessions pre-pandemic. However, all that changed as the pandemic took hold. Still, we were unwilling to give up. Though the toughest of times, we leveraged digital technology and transformed our sessions into a virtual collaboration platform. We are committed to reshaping the local construction industry and bringing it in line with international standards. We hope to achieve this through constant engagement with students, industry experts, academics, designers, masons, contractors, engineers and other stakeholders and opinion leaders from both the public and private sector.”
Located in Peliyagoda, INSEE’s state-of-the-art i2i Collaborative Space promotes collaboration between all industry stakeholders, including market competitors, with one unified objective; that of transforming and advancing the local construction industry. The knowledge sharing webinars acquaint stakeholders with new ideas, trends and technologies, while also providing a space for discussion and asking important questions. Session topics range from global trends to local industry challenges and help to seamlessly transfer knowledge and expertise in an open, informal environment.
Jan Kunigk further added, “Since we began the knowledge sharing sessions in June 2018, we have noticed, on average, that each session benefits bbetweenmore than 150 members of the industry community. Some are now active returning participants, but we are seeing many new faces each time, which is very encouraging. The transformation to digital has made it very much more accessible and expanded our reach greatly. We intend to continue with our sessions in the future too and, even when we resume in-person sessions at our i2i Collaborative Space, we will probably continue to allow online participation as it has become so popular.”
In addition to serving as a space for knowledge sharing and as a repository of information, INSEE’s i2i Collaboration Space features state-of-the-art testing facilities, that have the capacity to exceed all of Sri Lanka’s present standards for concrete, to ensure absolutely accurate and reliable test data. Testing facilities for concrete and other cement products include a Durability Space to study structural performance and extend service life; a Chemistry and Rheology Space that allows researchers to assess properties of fresh concrete, far beyond a traditional slump test, which can help with improving quality and consistency; an Aggregate Space for wide-ranging tests to ensure aggregates meet the requirements for the structures they will be used in; and a Wet Lab and Strength Testing Facility which allows for wide-ranging and comprehensive testing for fresh and hardened concrete properties.
INSEE Cement or Siam City Cement (Lanka) Limited, is a member of the Siam City Cement Public Company Limited (SCCC), a leading cement manufacturer in Southeast Asia, founded in 1969 in Thailand. The Company – INSEE Cement, manufactures INSEE branded – Sanstha, Mahaweli Marine, Mahaweli Marine Plus, INSEE Rapid Flow, INSEE Rapid Flow Plus and INSEE Extra cement. INSEE Cement is the first certified ‘Green Cement’ in Sri Lanka with the Green Labelling certification awarded by the Green Building Council. The company is the only fully integrated cement manufacturer in Sri Lanka.