We started a study session to improve the skills of our craftsmen in March!
Hello!
This is a HushTug Hariuner.
In my first blog post of 2020, I wrote about my goals for the workshop this year.
One of the goals was to "improve the technical skills of craftsmen."
In order to improve the technical skills of our craftsmen, we have been holding study sessions aimed at improving their skills since the beginning of March at our workshop.
Since we started the study sessions, the craftsmen's level has been gradually improving, so this time we will introduce the results of the study sessions and some glimpses of their work.
We started a training session for craftsmen.
One of the reasons for starting study sessions at the HushTug workshop is to increase production .
A bag is made up of several parts, and the craftsmen who make the parts are divided into those who sew the parts together to make the bag .
Craftsmen who make parts do not need to use sewing machines and do detailed work, so they can do the job even if they have no experience, but craftsmen who sew the parts together do need to use sewing machines and do detailed work, so they need a certain level of skill.
Currently, there are many inexperienced craftsmen in the HushTug workshop (craftsmen who make parts), and there are few craftsmen who can sew together using a sewing machine.
In order to increase the number of craftsmen who can use sewing machines, we start holding study sessions and providing technical guidance from early March.
The person in charge of the study group is HushTug's Technical Director, Furel Bartl (Furre) .
In addition to teaching everyone how to use a sewing machine , Furleigh also carefully teaches everyone how to apply rubber glue, how to paste products, how to prepare cut surfaces, and other finer details in order to improve quality.
Thank you for always letting everyone know!
It is not common to teach craftsmen all the steps
The HushTug study group aims to teach craftsmen how to make bags from scratch on their own, but in other workshops in Mongolia, it is common not to teach all the processes and techniques in order to prevent craftsmen from becoming independent.
As a result, the technical skills of Mongolian craftsmen have not improved, and a negative cycle of excellent craftsmen not being nurtured continues.
On the other hand, at HushTug, we generously provide all of our techniques to our craftsmen.
Even if a craftsman becomes independent, it would be a very good thing if the technology spread throughout Mongolia and the level of technology throughout the country improved, so we try to teach him everything we can.
What we do in the study group
The aim of the study group is to enable participants to complete all processes by themselves, from basic steps to final finishing.
I'd like to give you a brief introduction to what is actually covered in the study group.
Check the manual
We provide two types of manuals that even inexperienced craftsmen can understand.
The first one is a pictorial manual written in AUTOCAD.
This is used to check that the size and shape of the cut parts are correct, and we check them before and after assembly to make sure there are no mistakes.
The other is a manual (instruction manual) with images.
This is a manual with photos explaining how to finish the cut parts and how to assemble the parts.
Fortunately, there are now an increasing number of craftsmen, and as it is not possible to give detailed instructions to each one, we provide easy-to-understand explanations with photographs so that people can do it to a certain extent on their own.
Basically, I make things according to these two manuals, and if there's something I don't understand, I ask Mr. Fleury, the technical director, and then I work on it.
*New employee with no experience (working at HushTug for 1 month)
I am currently working on this while checking the parts I have prepared against the AutoCAD manual.
Finishing the parts
Once all the necessary parts have been cut out from the AUTOCAD manual, the next step is to finish the parts by processing the cross sections of each part and attaching accessories such as fasteners.
The craftsmen had been doing this up to this point as part of their regular work, so they were able to complete the work with ease.
*A craftsman who has been working at HushTug for four months is finishing the lining of a leather backpack.
*A craftsman who has been working at HushTug for three months is finishing the shoulder straps of a leather backpack. I was surprised at how well he was able to sew even the zipper pocket of the backpack.
The craftsmen in the picture above are all people who have never used a sewing machine outside of the workshop, but they were able to use the machine during the workshop. It was nice to see the craftsmen's growth.
Final assembly and stitching
Participants in the study group are not limited to those with no experience, but also those with experience who can use leather sewing machines.
The study group aims to improve the skills of the entire workshop, so it is open to not only inexperienced people, but also people who want to be able to make other products, as even among experienced people there are few who can make all of the products from scratch.
It has only been about a month since the study group started, but already more and more people are able to create products from scratch.
The three people in the front row are experienced craftsmen who can use a sewing machine, and the four in the back row are inexperienced craftsmen who have never used a sewing machine before.
The study group meets once a week for about three hours.
Because of this, it is difficult to make one item at a time, so I write the name of the person making the bag and store it in it.
By the way, I write my name with an erasable pen for leather, so I erase it later (lol).
The three experienced sewers have been studying for a month now and can now sew almost all kinds of items, from pouches to square backpacks. They weren't able to sew about three months ago, so I'm glad to see them all have improved.
Among the four inexperienced craftsmen, the two on the right have been working since November 2019.
I was surprised to see that both of them were able to make leather backpacks with many parts.
The two people on the left are craftsmen who have been working with us since January 2020 and were trying their hand at making products with few parts, such as square pouches and multi-purpose cases.
The square pouch and multi-case are small in size and intricately made, making them surprisingly difficult to make, but I was surprised at how beautifully they are shaped.
It has only been a month since we started, but the craftsmen are growing and I am glad that we held the study session.
lastly
It has been about a month and a half since we started this study group in March.
I was surprised to see how much everyone had improved since we first started, both in terms of their sewing skills and cutting and finishing.
I hope that all the craftsmen who participated this time will continue to hone their skills and then go on to become technical instructors and train new craftsmen.
It will take some time before we are able to perfectly create all of our products, but we hope that our craftsmen will be able to do so by then.
While the coronavirus pandemic seems to have not yet subsided around the world, infection numbers in Mongolia remain low and things are operating as usual.
There are currently zero cases of infection in Japan, and 16 people who returned from overseas are currently undergoing treatment. So please rest assured and continue to support us.
Thank you always.
HushTug
Hariuna