This may not be totaly jewelery related but I had to imortalize this boneheaded move with a blog. As most of you guys know I make tools for jewelers and metalsmiths, so I have a machine shop at my house and occasionaly I get calls from people needing stuff usually it is just simple jobs that I charge a few bucks for. Well today I get this call from an engineering firm and they want me to quote a job for them he asks for my email and says Ill send you the cad file and you can give me a quote. I am thinkin this guy has no idea who he is dealin with he thinks I am some kinda real shop not just a guy in his garage, any way I tell him Ill come down and check it out. I get to this place and it is pretty snazzy a big glass building with a security system that you have to go through dang I think I am gonna raise my prices. I get to the receptionist and she gives me the once over, I can tell she thinks I am a vagrant since I am wearn work clothes ( no I am not being overly sensitive she almost didnt buzz me in). Anyway I try to explain to her why I am here and she is having none of it and tells me we arent hiring. I stop her mid sentence and say listen up cupcake I am here to see your boss, I didnt really say that but should have I would have gotten to the boss sooner. So I get by the receptionist and am led into this big office full of suits and cubicals, were I am formally introduced to the dude the head engineer the big deal the phd. He shows me the part that they need on his computer and tells me that he has done all the hard work and that all I need to do is make the prototype. Yep thats right he has done all the hard work, I have heard that crap before with what I like to call jewelery cordinators they dont know how to do anything but they can tell you how to do it. I refrain from dope slapping the guy and let him explain what he needs, all the while thinking why in gods name did he call me. I follow him into the back of the building so he can get me some parts that I will need and we walk into a machine shop, I cant contain it any longer I say what the hell do you need me for you got a whole machine shop right here just make them yourself. He looks stuned by my honesty. I stare at him anxiously awaiting his reply. Ok here it is folks the reason for this whole story the thing that got me all in a twist today are you ready. We laid them off we are going to outsource all of our prototype work. You laid off the only people in this place that actually do real work the only truly skilled individuals the ones who can take a drawing and make it real you axed them, why didnt you fire some of those secretaries or some of those suits out their in the cubical farm they wont be missed. When I worked in jewelry stores the jeweler would be the last person that would be let go a good goldsmith is like golden. I bet the owners of some stores would can thier own mother before getting rid of the jeweler, but not here they just figured it would be easy to get someone else to do it. I decided that the part was not for me to make and I hit the road.
kevinpotter
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I was a draftsman for a lot of years. You know the guy with pencil, triangles, scale, eraser all the goods to produce a drawing. One fine day the big man decides that the company is going CAD and all of you old guys that use your hands are gone, got new CAD draftsmen coming on Monday.Well a month later I get a call can you come in and teach these young men how to push a job out the door. Now I’m hired a consultant at four time my old salary but it only lasted a year so they could learn. I too learned how to a CAD job better then they could and got hired back and yes at a lower salary then as a consultant but they also hired back a lot of the other old hands too. They found out that shooting one’s self in the foot was not good business. It was easier to train old dogs then puppies. I don’t know what this has to with jewelery but I don’t draft any more, free at last.
Kevin,
I’ve seen pictures of your shop, you are not just some guy working in his garage.
As for the engineering company, well the reason we all start off with two feet is that we can shoot one off and still semi function. Shooting both (extra points for a single shot 🙂 is just evolution in action.
jeffD
Kevin, I have to say that, while sad, this story is also kind of funny, in an ironic sort of way. Yes, I suppose they can outsource, but isn’t that MUCH more trouble than walking a design down a flight of stairs or a hallway and handing it to someone and then getting the prototype back in a few days? But everyone has different priorities—-chances are, the person(s) who decided who to lay off knew a lot more “suits” than jeans and sneaker employees! Teri
http://teribaskett.userblogs.ganoksin.coms
Dear Kevin
I work in an engenieer company in the mining sector in Chile (yes I am one of those suits that often are not missed), also, I do some jewlery as a hobby and I really love to be able to go from the drawing to the real thing all the way…
that saied, my point is that often we (me included) tend to judge other peoples desitions with out all the information. and second we tend to forget what is the core of our business. I think you made the right desition by not doing the prototype, since it is not the core of your business, also maybe the engenieer company was right to outsource the prototype shop since there was no his core business (and could be an excelent oportunity to the people that worked in that shop to start his own shop doing the prototypes for all the companies in teh area). I can really be sure until i have all the facts and yes some times we also tend to think that our part of the job is the hardest one and the rest is the easy, but at the end all part matters the same to finish something.
is just my two cents (as i belive you say over there)
regards
Alvaro.
PS I hope my english is not as bad as I think it is hehe