Month: April 2022

Diamond Jewellery Manufacturing – India Vs China

China and India have now become the go-to destinations for manufacturing. For cost-effectiveness and large-scale production capacity, there is none apart from these that have been able to make a name for themselves in global sourcing of products. Same is the case with diamond jewellery manufacturing. Today, diamond jewellery is majorly sourced from India or China. These countries have come to hold the edge in jewellery production and export, when compared to the rest of the nations. However, there are some factors that differentiate these nations too. A retailer needs to take a balanced view of the individual manufacturing strengths of these nations and match it to his requirements to decide upon his sourcing destination. Here are some strengths of China:

China has a highly evolved physical infrastructure and logistical set-up, which ensures timely delivery and transport of goods

China’s labour force is efficient and is also known to be the cheapest in production of diamond based jewellery

With single-window clearance of most business proposals, China has a conducive environment for conducting fast-paced business

Some strengths of India vis-a-vis diamond jewellery manufacturing:

India has a large number of traditional, family-run diamond jewellery manufacturing units. These units have manufacturing and export expertise virtually ingrained in their DNA, owing to generations involved in carrying out the business of manufacturing and export of diamond based jewellery. The family businesses have strong experience in making best use of India’s logistical infrastructure to ensure timely delivery of goods

Indians are more creative than the Chinese due to stronger IP laws. While Chinese will often copy designs to put the retailers in trouble thereafter, the Indians do a lot of original creative work which is word-class. To add to this, there is the widely acknowledged advantage that India has over China in high-tech jewellery manufacturing R&D

There is hardly any cultural barrier between West and India. Democratic traditions, similarity of laws in West and India and widespread westernization has lent depth to India’s’ understanding of Western tastes, market choices and preferences

Indian jewellery is almost as cheap as Chinese jewellery, but there’s a greater amount of long-term benefit to be gained from Indian sourcing of jewellery as the well-established family based manufacturing units in India are adept at neutralizing the negatives involved in logistical bottlenecks in India by means of finding the right means to ship items on time. They have been doing this for many decades and their experience can indeed be trusted. The topmost jewellery retailers have been sourcing diamond jewellery manufactured from India.

India is the world’s largest diamond polishing/cutting center. Even Chinese manufacturers source their finished diamonds from Surat in India. Hence, the availability of finished diamonds is never going to be a reason of delay for shipment of jewellery pieces.

China has covert relations with regimes of blood diamond mining countries like Zimbabwe. That means, the money you use to buy jewellery from Chinese traders would be used to fund civil wars in some of the poorest countries of the world like Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and Angola. So, there is a huge ethical issue that arises in buying from Chinese traders.

Using this comparison of diamond jewellery manufacturing processes in India and China, you can make an informed choice for the supplier of your diamond-studded jewellery wares.…

Green Manufacturing in the Cabinet Industry

“Green” has become the generic term used to identify the complex, multi-faceted products and processes that reduce carbon footprints on the environment. Marketers have adopted simplistic branding labels that identify products as being “eco-friendly”, “recycled”, “green”, or some other environmentally friendly identifying logo. Considerable attention has been focused on green marketing and the overall idea of green products, but what differentiates one product from another and makes a specific product “green”?

When asked to define “green manufacturing” within the cabinet industry, the responses from manufacturers, kitchen and bath dealers and consumers will vary dramatically. Over the past few years environmentally friendly products have saturated the marketplace which accommodates alternatives to virtually every available product from building materials to home appliances to apparel and personal grooming items. Knowledgeable consumers; more savvy and educated on environmental conservation and protection, are making decisions to purchase “green” products that have minimal impact on the environment.

While an item may be identified as “green”, its actual environmental impact cannot be negated completely. Manufacturing processes utilize raw materials, consume energy, and generate emissions from the actual production cycle. Local, state and federal government agencies have established regulatory boards that monitor product emission levels and set parameters on those emissions.

Within the cabinet industry, environmental accountability is in the forefront of established standards to promote environmental responsibility and sustainable cabinet manufacturing. Five categories for compliance within the cabinet manufacturing industry have been established and include:

-Air Quality – Reduction in the emission of hazardous air pollutants (HAP’s).

-Product Resource Management – Use of recycled and sustainable products.

-Process Resource Management – Establishing and documenting recycling, waste management, and energy conservation programs.

-Environmental Stewardship – Documented commitment to environmental quality and the review of vendor practices and policies.

-Community Relations – Demonstrate community involvement through service and/or charitable organizations.

In addition to the environmental compliance categories listed above, stringent international standards for formaldehyde emission levels on particleboard, medium density fiberboard and plywood have been established. Formaldehyde, a by-product of natural metabolic processes and combustion, is also used as an adhesive in a wide range of building products, floor coverings, cabinetry, wall coverings, and furniture and has been found to be a toxic material affecting indoor air quality. Regulations mandate the systematic reduction in usage of materials with added urea formaldehyde.

Cabinet manufacturing alternatives for resource sustainability and environmental stewardship include the conversion to non-added urea-formaldehyde hardwood plywood, the elimination of wood waste in landfills, the recycling of hazardous waste into cleaning material, new material options like Bamboo, reconstituted veneers and Thermofoil laminates as alternatives to stain and painted finishes. Through material optimization, waste recycling initiatives, raw material alternatives, available options to finishing, cabinet manufacturers are having a more positive impact on the environment and our daily lives.…

Benefits of Maintaining Your Factory Parts

If you own a factory, maintenance is one of the biggest head aches. It is very important that all the machines in the factory are working well and are putting out their performance to standards. If there are any problems with the machinery, then the down time that is caused can do serious damage to the bottom line. Hence for a factory owner, it is very important that the machines are in good condition, are not stressed too much and have a lot of maintenance checks done on them periodically. Some of the main points that one needs to concentrate on are as follows. The maintenance crew must be available and ready for any sort of emergency. All the main repairs should be done with least possible stoppage time and also done well. Preventive maintenance is the key word here.

For a factory which is into manufacturing machinery such as automobile spares and such other things which have a very high demand, maintenance of the machines which are manufacturing these products have to be in pristine condition. The maintenance crew is one of the main cogs in the machinery. If they are not good, then down time will be a very common occurrence.

The main purpose of this crew should not be just to make sure that all the repairs are done, but to do systematic checks so that the repairs are not required. This should be the procedure to follow. Most of the times, the crew is called in when there is a problem, but they should do preventive maintenance to make sure that there are no problems. Some of the other advantages of doing this are that some times when the problems are fixed before hand, they may save money that would have been spent on parts which are spoilt. Most of the times, the equipment which is used in these factories are very precise and cost a lot. If there are repairs which require extra parts, it can prove a costly affair.

Motor winding is a very important part of maintenance. This makes sure that the motors which are in use do not burn up. Good motor winding equipment is available and it is wise to use them whenever the time comes. The crew should make sure that the motors are well wound and do not give out sparks. This is a serious fire hazard. The crew need to maintain a sheet of the schedule when the maintenance checks are required for the machines. This will ensure that the machines get their periodic checks; faults are seen much faster before they become serious and costly.

This will ensure that the machines stay in working condition for a much longer period of time. This should be the top priority of the factory owner after setting up the production line. All these things are very important parts of the factory set ups and this is one the main reasons why factories have been shut down even.…

Metal Shear – The Cutting Tool in the Metal Processing Industry

A metal shear is a precision tool which has a high-carbon steel or chromium blade, and is used to cutting a metals like aluminum, copper, brass or light-gauge steel or even plastic.

The various types of shears available are alligator shear, guillotine, power shear, throatless shear and Tin snips.

The Alligator shear is more popularly known as a lever shear. It is a metal-cutting shear with a hinged jaw. It is usually powered by a flywheel or hydraulic cylinder. The jaw size used can range from 4 to 36 inches long. These are used to cut steel members such as pipe, angle, etc. The alligator shears are used for cutting long metal stock or to prepare scrap for shredding.

Guillotine is also called squaring shear or power shear. It may be powered by foot or mechanical energy. It first clamps the material with a ram and then the two blades make contact with each other to shear the material. The moving blade comes down to the fixed blade and shears the material. The technique used for larger shears is different, with the moving blade set on an angle. The other parts of the equipment include a shear table, work-holding device, upper and lower blades and a gauging device. The metal to be sheared is kept on the shear table and the work-holding device keeps it from moving. The gauging device ensures the right place of cut.

Power shears are powered electrically and are hand-held devices. They are used to cut straight lines or very large curves.

Throatless shear can be used to cut complex straight and curved cuts in sheet metal, because the metal can be moved around the cutting blade.

Tin snips are hand tools that can cut sheet metal and are available in two variants. The tinner’s snips are similar to the common scissors and compound action snips use a compound leverage handle system. The tinner snips have long handles and short blades and have extra wide jaws. The straight pattern tin snips can be used for straight cuts and the duck-bill pattern is used for cutting curves and circles or other required shapes. Other variants available include hawk-bills snips, circle pattern etc.

Compound action snips can handle aluminum up to 18 gauge or mild steel up to 24 gauge. They can be used for straight cutting, left cutting and right cutting. The blades are serrated to maintain the friction and prevent the slipping of the metal.

There are many other variants of shears. These may be available in the market according to the requirement of the shapes to be cut and the metal used. Some of the shears are usually designed for cutting soft metals, although occasional use on steel is possible.…

Managing Your Business in Manufacturing With an Integrated ERP

When you are running a complex business in the manufacturing or distribution sectors it is really helpful to have a system in place within which you can consolidate all your business processes. Gone are the days when having separate databases, spreadsheets and documents were good and efficient enough. Having all your processes integrated in one IT solution is pretty important, especially as businesses grow and evolve. Implementing a good quality manufacturing, distribution or specific industry such as food ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is pretty essential.

Let’s focus on industrial equipment manufacturing as an example. Industrial equipment and machinery manufacturers produce some of the most complex products in the world, while faced with strict environmental regulations and tough global competition. An IT solution would need to not only be suited to general manufacturing processes, such as stock control etc, but would also need industry specific functionality.

Manufacturing software needs to be flexible, but reliable, which can be a balance which is hard to achieve. An example of a business who recently decided to take the plunge and update their systems to a better ERP solution are leading LED display manufacturers Hanover Displays. Hanover Displays is Europe’s leading manufacturer of electronic destination signs for the public transport industry. Established in 1985, the company has consistently grown and developed, continually refining its product range to meet the specific demands of their customers. The company decided they had outgrown their IT systems, and the inability to gain real insight into their business was beginning to cause increasing inefficiencies with in it.

Hanover chose Microsoft Dynamics AX as their ERP solution, and this ERP product in particular has a series of add-on modules which are industry specific. This suited Hanover to the ground. Microsoft Dynamics AX replaces the three disparate systems that the company was running for finance, manufacturing and repairs. The new 35 user system will include the Industrial Equipment Manufacturing module, which fits the needs of the business.

Utilising Manufacturing ERP software which is tailored to your business can really help towards improving operations and reducing costs, as well as enhancing collaboration and delivering superior customer service and support. It is also possible to shorten development cycles by integrating product development with manufacturing, accounting, purchasing, and suppliers. Another really useful feature is the ability to connect customer requirements directly to manufacturing, suppliers, and distribution operations; really handy as your customers are what drives action in these other departments. Information and analysis tools within an ERP solution enable informed decision making within a business, as you can create custom feeds and information for specific roles within an organisation.

Without an integrated solution, collaboration on this level just wouldn’t be possible. With an ERP solution, you can be confident your business management solution is relevant to the needs of your people and the demands of your industry and business.…