sri lanka day 3 (photo heavy)

Mr. Samarasiri is the manager and the magic behind the Ezzy Factory.

(Click all photos for larger versions)

Mr. Samarasiri (above) is the manager and head of the Ezzy Factory, and he is responsible for its success. He helped build the first North Sails factory in Sri Lanka in the early ’80s. My dad, David Ezzy, was the first one to make sails in the North Factory and it was there that he first met Mr, Samarasiri. While David worked for North, he worked closely with Mr. Samarasiri on the production process. And when David left North to return to Ezzy Sails in ’93, Mr. Samarasiri was one of the many workers that left the North factory to work at the new Ezzy Factory. Since then, he has been instrumental in maintaining the high level of quality. If a problem arises, he knows how to fix it!

For example, Mr. Samarasiri was the one that found the land that the Ezzy factory is on right now. The first Ezzy Factory was on a small piece of land with a small building. My dad wanted to expand, but at that time there were very specific free trade zones, and all the land was taken up. But through some scheming, Mr. Samarasiri worked out that there was room on the hilly boundary of the zone. So, after buying the land and some landscaping, the Ezzy Factory moved to this plot. And there it still stands with over 20,000 sqft of workspace, a cricket field out back, and room to expand.

As a testament to Mr. Samarasiri’s importance, I should add that he is even close with David’s dad, Al (my grandfather). When Samarasiri was in Vancouver, Canada on a family vacation he visited with Al, whom he had met previously in Sri Lanka.

Here is an Ezzy logo silkscreen.

The workers are hugely important to the Ezzy Factory and the sail production. Happy people do better work, so it’s important that the workers have a good work environment. Back in ’93, David left North Sails because of the poor conditions for the workers and North’s refusal to fix them. Because of his support for the Sri Lankan workers, David has received much support from them. This loyalty makes it possible to have an insane attention to detail in the construction process. And ultimately it means that these workers can produce the highest quality windsurfing sails in the world (bar none).