Sysco LABS Triumphs at the SLASSCOM National Ingenuity Awards 2023 

Colombo, xx June 2023: Sysco LABS, the captive innovation center for Sysco, the world’s largest foodservice provider, won two prestigious awards at the National Ingenuity Awards 2023. Organized by SLASSCOM, the Awards, now in its fifth year, recognize the remarkable talent and achievements of individuals, school teams, universities, and companies across Sri Lanka, under multiple categories.

The Sysco LABS Engineering and Architecture Group’s (EAG) Process Team were adjudged winners in the ‘Best Innovation in Internal Processes, Technology or Framework – All Island’ and ‘Best Innovation in Internal Processes, Technology or Framework – Western Province’ categories.

Speaking about the awards, Rasika Karunatilake, Managing Director, Sysco LABS, said: “Innovation of internal processes, technology and frameworks are as important as product and service innovations because they enable you to operate at a superior level. I’m proud of the team’s work in creating the Beacon Dashboard Suite and we are honored to receive this recognition for our continuous improvement and optimization efforts.”

The winning ‘Beacon Dashboard Suite’ and supporting process framework were created by Sysco LABS’ Process Team with the support of engineers from different teams, with the aim of transforming the company into a metrics-driven organization. The solution ensures a greater level of transparency across different teams and provides valuable insights. It facilitates data-driven decision-making throughout the organization.

Elaborating on the winning tool, Nishantha Hettiarachchi, Director – Engineering & Architecture added, “Being an engineering organization, Sysco LABS generates a significant volume of data in our day-to-day operations. However, this data often resides in disparate systems and exists in different formats, tailored to specific operational needs. As a result, it may not be readily consumable by senior leadership. Our process team’s focus was on creating a tool to facilitate data accessibility and develop a leadership dashboard designed to present the most vital information in a unified view – ensuring everyone within the organization could be on the same page.”

Members from Sysco LABS’ Process Team collecting the award for ‘Best Innovation in Internal Processes, Technology or Framework – Western Province’. (L-R): Nishan Mendis, Vice President – SLASSCOM, Charindra Wijemanne, Co-Lead, Entrepreneurship & Innovation Forum – SLASSCOM, Zhara Cader, Forum Lead – Women Technopreneur Forum – SLASSCOM, Ahmadh Abdullah, Team Lead – Process – Sysco LABS, Pradja Dolewatte, Senior Manager – Process – Sysco LABS and Achintha Bandara, Software Engineer – Sysco LABS.

Members from Sysco LABS’ Process Team collecting the award for ‘Best Innovation in Internal Processes, Technology or Framework – All Island’. (L-R): Nishan Mendis, Vice President – SLASSCOM, Achintha Bandara, Software Engineer – Sysco LABS, Chandana Ranasighe, CEO – Accentura (Category Sponsor), Buwaneka De Silva, Senior Associate – Process – Sysco LABS, Channa Manoharan, Past President – SLASSCOM, Pradja Dolewatte, Senior Manager – Process – Sysco LABS, Thilini Jayawardena, Associate Project Manager – Sysco LABS and Isuru Mohottala, Associate Software Architect – Sysco LABS.