Leading paint manufacturer, Crown Paints Kenya, has introduced a first of its kind mobile application in the market that will make it easier for customers to make a more accurate selection of their preferred home interior colour scheme. The app dubbed Crown Colour App will be available on both the Google Play Store as well as the Apple Store.
The company Managing Director Rakesh Rao said that by launching the mobile application, Crown Paints has embraced the technological possibilities of the 21st century for the paints and adhesives market.
“Paint colours have become very vibrant, exciting and unique and the consumer is increasingly involved in the choice of colour they pay for. The Crown Colour App gives consumers the flexibility to choose the colour of their choice and the comfort in knowing that they can get that exact shade,” he added.
The launch of the Crown Colour App is a testament of Crown Paints continued market dominance with innovative products and services that meet customer needs and requirements.
“This mobile app makes our entire range of colours easily accessible to customers wherever they may be located. All the shade cards we have at our showrooms, can now be viewed by customers virtually. We believe that the Crown Colour App will greatly enhance customer ease, convenience and creativity,” said Mr. Rao.
Users will be able to navigate through more than 1,000 colours and search for any colour by name and code in the ambience colour chart. They can also browse pre-installed home interior images or take a picture from their phone camera to retrieve and identify colours.
“The app can detect the difference between wall space, furniture and fixtures and paints around contours in real-time as long as the user does not move too much. The app takes into account the light in the frame and adjusts the colour of the wall accordingly, so you can see what it will look like in genuine ambient settings rather than just present a blanket slab of colour,” Mr. Rao added.
With these capabilities, Mr. Rao added that the colour app will also appeal to professionals in different fields that work with colours, ranging from fashion designers, stylists and graphic designers, since it will give the exact colour code.
“Housewives, painters, professionals among others can download and use this application, not only for painting purposes, but also for other engagements that may require accuracy in colour.”
Users can save their favourite colours for future review or share with their friends colour names and codes via SMS, Email, WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook or Twitter.
Upon settling on the choice of colour, existing and potential customers can visit the showrooms to place their orders. Crown Paints has established various showrooms that give the consumer an opportunity to interact with the products and have a look and feel of the actual products.
[CNBCAfrica] This week on Unstoppable we feature the CEO of listed paint manufacturer Crown paints, Rakesh Rao. He talks about challenges he has experienced in the paint market and how he has overcame them to expand the firm which has major operations not only in Kenya but Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan.
East Africa’s leading paint manufacturer Crown Paints has announced its entry into Rwanda with the establishment of an ultra-modern paint showroom in Kigali with a five-year plan to invest about USD2.5million in the country.
Rwanda now becomes the third country to host Crown Paints™ showrooms in East Africa as the paint maker also owns five other in Kenya and one in Tanzania.
According to Crown Paints Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rakesh Rao, the company aims to transform the lives of Rwandese by creating more job opportunities and contributing to the country’s economic growth as it also aims to establish a paint factory in Rwanda.
“We aim to recruit more customers and equip them with knowledge on our paints portfolio. There is a boom in the construction sector in Rwanda and consumer tastes are changing fast, with more people using texture and stone finishes,” said Mr. Rao.
The opening of the showroom in Rwanda comes after Crown Paints opened a depot in Kigali six months ago.
According to Mr. Rao the firm has full confidence in the Rwanda market and believes it’s the next frontier for its growth in the coming years. “With the rise in construction, Rwanda market has posed great opportunity for Crown Paints and we have gained a great level of stability in a short period. The market offers a lot of opportunity for quality paints,” he explained.
The showroom will also serve customers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi.
Crown Paints has grown to become a company with an annual turnover of USD 61.2million and is now producing 2.3 Million Liters of paint per month.
Crown Paints specializes in decorative paints, automotive paints, coating, adhesives, flooring and niche paint brands such as Amourcoat, Silicon, Acryline, Flowcrete amongst others.
Crown Paints Group has a presence in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan and now Rwanda.
Crown Paints has put in place several initiatives geared to promoting the use of quality products to ensure safety and long-life of buildings.
The showrooms displays designer fashion finishes, textured finishes, waterproofing and construction chemicals from Pidilite.
This year alone, Crown Paints Group has transformed lives of more than 10,000 pupils in Kenya through painting their classrooms and dormitories.
In the word of famous author Paul Byrant, “Winning doesn’t always mean first, winning means you are doing better than you have done before”.
Company of the year 2014
The journey to being Company of the year has been long and winding. It is a journey that began as a small outfit in 1958. Today, Crown enjoys an enviable position as East Afric’s leading Paint Company with factories, depots, distribution infrastructures and showrooms spread across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Congo DRC. The company currently produces over 2.3.million litres of paint and has an impressive turnover of Kshs. 5.3 Billion. It is the only paint company listed in the Nairobi Security Exchange, the largest bourse in East and Central Africa.
Human resource is Crown’s largest asset.”In every market where we operate, we recruit only the best candidates, and continuously improve their capacities through training and other exposures. We are proud to have an excellent team”, says Hussein Ramji, the company’s vice-chair.
The company has anchored itself along three pillars; quality, innovation and distinction. It has put in place customer-facing systems and structures to ensure total customer delight through products and unique consumer experiences. It is no surprise therefore that in just one evening, Crown became the first paint company in Kenya to win the prestigious Company of the Year Award (COYA), CEO of the year award, Leadership and Management Award, and Productivity Award – all which Rakesh Rao, the Group CEO attributed to teamwork and partnerships. “These awards set the pace for transformation of this organization from good to greatness,” says Rao.
Quality and Productivity
Crown’s passion for quality ensures only the best of products are released to the market. All products are subjected to rigorous research and development. The board of directors is clear on one thing; Crown paints have to have low Volatile Organic Compounds (low VOC), must be environmentally friendly. This philosophy has seen the emergence of innovative products that meet the highest international standards. For instance, Crown Medicryl is an anti-bacterial emulsion that when applied in hospitals, kindergarten and public places fights bacteria, fungi and algae â ensuring healthier environments for mothers, newborns and children.
Crown Matt Emulsion, is an initiative by Crown Paints in partnership with United States-based DuPont Chemicals. The move essentially brought to market the first-ever surface protector ideal for hiding surface imperfections and enhancing wall wash ability. “Crown Paints is the first company in this region to bring surface protector to paint consumers in Kenya and which reinforces our commitment to innovation, quality products, and customer satisfactionâ€, says Rao.
In the recent wake of unfortunate fire disasters that cost organizations lives and millions in monetary values, the company introduced another first in the market; Crown Timonox is a fire retardant paint that slows down the spread of fire to allow for evacuation of persons and emergency fire responsiveness.
In October 2014, Crown introduced Crown Ultraguard silicone paint, using technology from the Wacker Company in Germany. According to Mr Rao, “This unique product is designed to suit the Kenya’s diverse weather conditions. It is suitable for the Kenyan environment because it’s withstands extreme weathers. In addition, it gives surprisingly self-cleaning properties, which does not allow dirt to settle on the painted surface. These high-end (self-cleaning and breathing) properties help in reducing the maintenance cost of the building.â€
Leadership and Management
The citation of Rakesh Rao as CEO of the Year 2014 is clear manifestation of the effective leadership at the helm of the organization. This announcement comes close on the heels of Mr. Rao’s nomination as CNBC’s
This year Crown Paints was among the first manufacturing firms to be awarded, a mark of identity by Brand Kenya Board (BKB). The mark of identity, titled A Touch of Kenya was developed by BKB to enhance the competitiveness of Kenya’s products and services.
In November 2014, Crown joined a handful of organizations certified with OHSAS 18001:2007 International standard for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems that promote healthy and safe working Environments by setting out international best practices – helping organizations manage and control risks, and continuously improve performance. The certification recognizes companies that link business objectives with operating effectiveness. Recipients of this certification demonstrates ;Effective implementation of documentation and records management, Top management’s commitment to the safety, health and well-being of their employees, Establishment of clear HSE policy and practice, Good planning and implementation, Good resource management, Efficient health and safety control, measurement, Preventive action and an institutionalized process for continual improvement. The certification provides evidence to customers, suppliers, employees and the community of Crown’s commitment to a healthy and safe working Environment.
Mid this year, Crown Paints commissioned a Ksh300 million paint factory in Kisumu County, the first of its kind outside Nairobi. The factory will manufacture various paint products and its first production of water based paints is expected to be ready in 2015.
As the market leader, crown has taken manufacturing to retail by investing in state-of-the-art showrooms across East Africa. Described by Waweru Gathecha, Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK), as the “ultimate designer labâ€, these showrooms showcase fashion and design. They are manned by qualified interior designers and have visualizers that can be used by customers to simulate room sets before making purchase decisions.
Finally, throughout 2014, Crown Paints Kenya Limited sponsored several CSR opportunities to uplift livelihood of less unfortunate people in the society. From music to arts, environment to education, health and hospitality, Crown Paints took a bold move to invest in unusual sectors. The firm is committed to supporting societies and enhancing the environment in which it operates in.
Crown Paints and Cube Movers are the new winners of this year’s Company of the Year Award (Coya) and Small and Medium Enterprise of the Year Award (Smoya), respectively.
The two bagged three awards each during a ceremony held at Safari Park Hotel on Friday to underscore exemplary business practices.
Crown Paints Kenya chief executive officer, Mr Rakesh Rao, was also named CEO of the year. The theme of the event was business excellence for global competitiveness.
“In the modern world, you either aspire to face competition by establishing sound systems, or you sit back and are edged out by the competition, mainly global firms that are expanding,†Kenya Institute of Management boss David Muturi said.
Kenya Institute of Management is the brainchild of Coya and Smoya, and uses an assessment tool – organisational performance index (OPI) – to rate the performance of businesses on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 as the highest score.
COMPETITIVE EDGE
The key objective is to assess the performance of companies in certain areas for purposes of benchmarking them against global business metrics so as to boost competitiveness and excellence.
Crown Paints and Cube Movers were also winners in the leadership and management category, as well as in productivity and quality sections of their respective categories (Coya and Smoya).
“This is a tremendous experience to all companies that participate in the survey. Whether you emerge a winner or not, it shapes an organisation,†said Tom Mshindi, Nation Media Group chief operations officer.
He added that adoption of the organisational performance index is the way to go for companies intending to maintain a competitive edge in the fast changing world. Nation Media Group is the media partner of the survey.
Jubilee Insurance bagged two awards in human resource management and financial management for maintaining a leadership role in the face of stiff competition.
The insurer’s head of human resource department, Mrs Emily Kamunde, scoped the manager of the year award. The award was introduced in memory of Kirit Dave, a renowned entrepreneur and industrialist.
Last year’s winner of Coya, Britam, took home the customer orientation and marketing award.
MANAGEMENT CAPABILITIES
This was the 15th edition of the annual awards ceremony that was launched in 2000 with a view of enhancing organisation’s management capabilities and performance excellence.
There were a total of 11 awards in the Coya category and nine in Smoya.
Speaking at the event, chief guest and Deputy President William Ruto said the survey should be introduced in the public sector to spur excellent business practices.
“We actually need such a survey both at national and county government level,†Mr Ruto said in a speech read by Mr Joseph Tiampati, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology.
Kenyatta National Hospital and Northern Water Services Board received the judges’ awards under Coya. The award recognises organisations that have shown positive response to the assessment process.
Other firm’s that were feted under Coya included County Provident Fund, Githunguri Dairies and Kenya Orient Insurance.
Tropical Africa Brands, Pewin Cabs, Meru-based Capital Sacco Ltd, and Metropolitan Hospital were also recognised under Smoya.
The judges award under Smoya went to Imaarika Sacco, AAKI consultant architects and Mombasa-based Yehu microfinance trust.
Crown Paints Kenya Limited has introduced a Silicone technology to its exterior range of paints. The NSE listed paint manufacturer will start manufacturing silicone paints at its factory in Nairobi, which will trade under the brand name Permacote Ultraguard Silicone.
The paint will be produced in Kenya using silicone technology from Germany and will be packed in 1ltr, 4ltr and 20ltr cans.
“For the first time in Kenya we are introducing a silicone based paints in Kenya. This technology isn’t new in the world since it has been practiced in other continents. We are delighted to announce that Crown Paints has partnered with Wacker Chemie plc from Germany. Wacker will provide expertise in silicone technology since they are a world leader in silicone based products,†Crown Paints Kenya CEO Rakesh Rao said during the launch.
Silicone helps the product to be strong and to withstand all extreme weather conditions.
Currently, Crown Paints produces 2.3million liters of paint per month and in the next five months the firm intends to produce over 70,000 liters of Permacote Ultraguard Silicone Paint.
Mr Rao added, “This unique product is designed to suit the Kenya’s diverse weather conditions. It is suitable for the Kenyan environment because it’s withstands extreme weathers. In addition it gives surprisingly self-cleaning properties, which does not allow dirt to settle on painted surface. These high end (self-cleaning and breathing) properties help in reducing the maintenance cost of building.â€
According to Mr Rao, Permacote Ultraguard Silicone Paint is ideal for almost all architectural structures such as exterior concrete, masonries, new surfaces, previously painted plaster, cement, brick, stone and many other surfaces including soft-board and hardboard ceilings and walls, asbestos sheets etc.
“This is another milestone from Crown Paints in the Kenyan paint industry. Permacote Ultraguard Silicone Paint has a visible water repellant property, combined with other excellent properties like self-cleaning and dust proof, which provides better vapor permeability to protect from minor cracks and longer durability,†explained Mr Rao.
He added, “The life expectancy of this product is up to 10years and it can be customized to the specific demand of additional improved life expectancy up to 15 years. It is proven and tested in foreign laboratories for it performance efficacy.â€
Mr Rao also said that Crown Paints has trained 500 personnel, who include customer care staffs’, sales personnel, and painters – for a hustle free product user experience and after sales services support – nationwide on this product only.
Permacote Ultraguard Silicone Paint is a non-toxic and it is safe to the environment. The product has met all Crown Paints safety requirements and is part of Crown’s go green campaign’ initiative.
The new paint comes in several ranges of colors, which are BS 4800 Crown Professional colors, and ambience cards.
This product will be available from Crown Depots in Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa and all Crown dealers.
East Africa leading paint manufacturer, Crown Paints Group has today announced its entry into the Tanzanian paint industry.
The Group, which was established in 1958, intends to invest USD$3.6million in the next 18months to build a market leading Paint Company that will transform the lives of Tanzanians. Crown Paints has also opened Tanzania’s first ultra-modern paint showroom located in Dar Es Salaam.
Crown Paints, which has major operations in the Nairobi, Kigali, Kampala, Arusha, Mwanza and Juba also announced that Dar-Es-Salaam will become the headquarters of Crown Paints Tanzania, enabling the company to expand into other provinces in the country.
Listed in EA largest securities exchange, Nairobi, Crown Paints specialises in decorative paints, protective, automotive, and innovative products such as Amourcoat, Acryline, Flowcrete amongst others.
Rakesh Rao, CEO of Crown Paints Group, said: “This is our second step into the Tanzanian paint industry, since we have already established a mini plant in Arusha and distribution depots in Arusha and Mwanza. We want to build a strong long-term partnership with the people and government of the Republic of Tanzania. We also want to help build a thriving paint industry that will transform lives of Tanzanian citizens. We have an ambitious vision for this business. We want to make it the leading paint company in Tanzania. And we will be making Dar, the hub for our Tanzania operations, providing a strong base for our expansion into other provinces in the country.â€
The Tanzanian construction sector is also among the very important sectors that contribute hugely to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Last year, it accounted for 11.9% of all the wealth that was generated in the country. The sector also employs about 9 % of the workforce in Tanzania.
The construction sector is expected to continue its strong growth path in the near future. This is backed by continued investments in the recently discovered natural gas reserves in Tanzania and the expansion in public investments (including the ongoing construction of USD 1.2 billion gas pipeline from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam), as well as the related investments aimed at stabilizing power generation in the country.
Crown Paints has grown to become a company with an annual turnover of USD 61.2million and is now producing 2.3 Million Liters of paint per month.
Speaking at the launch, Crown Paints Group Vice Chairman, Hussein Ramji revealed that the firm is set to expand into other markets. Mr Ramji explained that export market was a key contributor to the group sales volume. “Our export markets sales volume increased by 50pc in 2013. These export markets included Southern Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. With a robust marketing and distribution in place, this year, we hope to maintain growth in these countries,†he said.
At the same time, Mr Rao disclosed that Crown Paints Tanzania, will be part of Crown Paints Group CSR programme, which will be enabling local employees to support and volunteer for good causes. The company has invested in education, health and environment.
Mr Rao added CSR has assumed a new meaning in today’s world. “In recent years, CSR has become an increasingly important activity to businesses nationally and internationally.â€
Through Crown Paints CSR Program, he said we are supporting government directly and indirectly to better the society. In the last six months, Crown Paints has been proactive in sponsorship for destitute and underprivileged children through feeding programmes, talent development, school fees support and transformation of learning environment.
Dr. Abdallah O Kigoda, Minister for Industry & Trade said, “We are excited to welcome Crown Paints Tanzania. Crown Paints Group is a highly rated company in EA. And the announcement made here today, will create job opportunity for our youthful population and offer training for painters across the country.â€
Crown Paints reward their loyal painters with a World Cup celebration like no other. Painters from TEAM KUBWA were invited to Nyayo stadium to watch one of the Quarter Finals matches on big screen. Apart from the large amounts Nyama choma (200 goats), there was also a large variety of free food and drinks, as well live music from musicians such as Ken wa Maria.(more…)
Crown Paints Kenya PLC. Kenya’s leading coating company this week announced the availability of new product in their growing product portfolio. The local company will now distribute Fevicol in the local market as part of their partnership with Pidilite Industries, India’s leading adhesive, sealants and construction Chemicals Company.(more…)
Caption: MTN Business Kenya Managing Director Tom Omariba receives paints jerry cans from Crown Paints Kenya PLC CEO Mr. Rakesh Rao. As part of its annual CSR MTN Business Kenya will be setting up a Library and an ICT Learning center in Maralal Primary School. Crown Paints Kenya PLC announced 75 liters of paint sponsorship toward the library project.
In a bid to promote education in the country, MTN Business Kenya has launched a 21 day Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) campaign dubbed 21 days of Yello Care.(more…)
East Africa leading paint manufacturer, 
