Ringo and Bondhan have been busy since the last time I was here. They have had a new mezzanine floor installed across the back section and added more racking to make better use of the space.

Production, stock of packaging and finished goods area is much better organised. It's always nice to see things progressing and getting a little better and better every visit.

But I had an important task to work on. Tomas had given me strict instructions to fix our under supply of Molten Glass Bowls. In the Slovaian warehouse these have become the number two selling product family. Before Christmas I had been told customers had been screaming for stock,   almost to the point of tears. We currently have two suppliers, a nice family business not far from the warehouse and the Godfather of singing bowls in Bali who has a huge factory out in the wilds of Tegalalang up in the hills beyond Ubud. During the pandemic when the tourist gift trade vanished and foreign buys couldn't come, I was stranded here and we were able to work with both companies and support them with enough business to  keep the staff busy. The Godfather always says how grateful he was for that support at that time and he does his best to meet our needs but even he cannot produce enough. So we figured we need maybe two more suppliers to meet our supply needs. My mission is to find them and sign them up on supply contracts. But these workshops don't have websites, some have showrooms but many just work under contract and are hard to find.

Ringo's brother sadly passed away during covid, there was no proper Balanese funeral allowed and so the family consulted a holy man as to how to make an acceptable passing. 

The holy man's house was next to a Molten Glass Bowl factory, which it turned out belonged to the brother of the holy man. Ringo noted that at the time... and so now we really need more suppliers we went along to see if we could possibly do business.  When we arrived the boss was in the process of making a beautiful hand blown cocktail glass, for a Japanese client. We had to wait while the process was completed.

Hot work in hot weather..

We got chatting and made friends.  And he showed us his specialty products.  He was proud of discovering a way to put small flecks of colours into the glass creating a nice rainbow effect. (Watch out for a new product coming soon). But he told us the same sad story as many suppliers do. The artisans are leaving for more stable jobs in hotels and resorts. He told us every time he trained a new worker after a few months he or she would be off. He'd like to supply us but that was the problem. I have mentioned this before in newsletters. The shrinking pool of artisans is our biggest supply line problem. The answer is to simply pay more no? Then they would happily stay in the home village and do what they love. Turns out the money in the hotels is not really any more than they can make, but offers a stable, reliable job.  A supply of orders to an artisan is often feast or famine. To many people a steady income is more important than the amount paid.  So I wanted to test my theory.. 

I asked if we could make a supply contract. He shook his head.. no contract please. Because those aggressive (often American) agents come with contracts in hand that are full of penalties, discounts, drawbacks and exclusivity deals and they end up losing money. No no, I said not like that - no penalties, no dodgy stuff - just a commitment to buy a fixed amount every month at a fair price. So that you can say to your artisans.. here this is a regular and safe job. He told us he would think about it.

Well we'd drafted a contract (using ChatGPT) and today we signed our first Artisan Supply Agreement (ASA). I'm so happy.. but let's wait and see how it pans out.

All day today I have been pitching my "ASA" idea to all the visiting artisan suppliers and I think it's getting a warm reception. What people want is a sense of security. 

This young lady just came, Tomas found the family last time he was here. They make masks and Elephants. She brought these samples to show us. I was impressed with how obsessed and knowledgeable she was about the finish and details.  Normally it's older ladies doing this type of job, but yes her mother and grandmother and friends work in the village. Our current supplier has trouble supplying for the same reason as I mentioned but her family would be very happy with a contract. After consulting with Mum.. she said they would be happy to make 150 a month. Not much but  it will supplement our current supplier.  And yes despite the heat she is wearing jacket and gloves.. I never understand this, Indonesians whatever the weather dress like winter to ride a bike.. and are shocked to the core to see foreign tourists half naked on bikes. It's cultural. 

So much to do.. very busy. We even have meetings this weekend. In a day or so James from UK arrives, it's his first business trip, first time in Bali and  I'm going to enjoy it :)

He will be working with the AW-Advantage.com team in the beach office.. because James is our Fulfilment manager and we need API making to improve that service.

That's all the news so far..

Meanwhile in the UK.. there has been a few containers arriving. Including Indian products (lots) back in stock. (see below). 

More updates later.

Take care.. or as they say here, Hati-Hati!