Manufacturing abroad

[Harj]

My first question on this forum, the first of many.

How viable is it for a jeweller to set up and train local people who have no skills in the basics of metal jewellry making and then export these to wherever the jeweler wishes?

Has anyone ever done this, that you know of?

[Dennis]

Train jewellers when you have no experience yourself?

Then find a market for your products? Or is it the semi trained jewellers you wish to export?

It's a joke, right? Dennis.

[josef1]

I would say it may be a bit tricky.

[alastairduncan]

What is your market? If it's the lower end of the market, I suspect it is as you are talking about basic jewellery skills, then you will be competing with countries that have a lower costing labour force. That doesn't make any sense to me.

[CJ57]

You are speaking to a skilled forum Harj who are here to hopefully give advice to people of all skills who already have a passion for jewellery making.
What are you expecting us to tell you exactly? Training people up to make a quality product takes years of skill and a love for what we do. You sound as if you’re wanting to start up a sweat shop and there are enough of those all over the world.Or are you having a wee joke with us

[pearlescence]

Competitor on Apprentice?

[Harj]

I probably should have explained more.

I am looking to start a handicraft co operative for unskilled people in North India.
Most of the skills can be quite easily obtained, just by sending people on training courses.
Phulkari (ornate Indian embroidery) is taught at a few centers and also old style block printing. However Jewelry skills are not so easy to obtain. I suspect it is because the people who have them belong to certain communities and are just not willing to share them outside of their own group.

I have approached other co ops, however none seem willing to help (I don't blame them, it would be competition)

I am actually a carpenter so can train people on cabinet/furniture/toy making.

Jewelry is where I am lost. I do appreciate it is a very skilled and specialised art form.
The enquiry was serious and I am not looking at setting up a sweatshop !!

[china]

Hi Harj, I am a Cabinet Maker by trade, I make jewellery as hobby, to send someone on a course sounds easy, although to become proficient for even the basics, you would be talking a course of 12 months, in my opinion you may be better to find a retired jeweller who would be able to become part of the co-op and teach someone at the same time, just a suggestion.

[CJ57]

I probably should have explained more.

I am looking to start a handicraft co operative for unskilled people in North India.
Most of the skills can be quite easily obtained, just by sending people on training courses.
Phulkari (ornate Indian embroidery) is taught at a few centers and also old style block printing. However Jewelry skills are not so easy to obtain. I suspect it is because the people who have them belong to certain communities and are just not willing to share them outside of their own group.

I have approached other co ops, however none seem willing to help (I don't blame them, it would be competition)

I am actually a carpenter so can train people on cabinet/furniture/toy making.

Jewelry is where I am lost. I do appreciate it is a very skilled and specialised art form.
The enquiry was serious and I am not looking at setting up a sweatshop !!

If you had perhaps explained this in the first place Harj people wouldn’t have been so unsure of the random questions. We get a lot of spam posts on the forum.
I’m not sure how we have the experience of setting up workshops in India as we are mostly U.K. based working jewellers but who knows now that’s you’ve fully explained the situation

[Harj]

It was a rather random post I do apologise