The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council’s (GJEPC) Surat regional office recently organised a seminar at Surendranagar on ‘Retail Sales & International Trade, Metal Purity and Production Excellence’. The event was supported by Shri Surendranagar Sona-Chandi Vepari Association, Surendranagar.

Jilpa Sheth, Regional Director, GJEPC gave a brief presentation on the current scenario within the G&J industry both in the domestic market and globally. She spoke about the potential to expand the business by selling in the international market and shared some basic information on global trade systems and the complete cycle of exporting goods, including the documentation required. She also gave some useful tips on the latest trends and points to be noted while dealing with a customer in B2C transactions.

Samir Joshi, Executive Director, IDI outlined the stages of gold refining from dore to bullion and explained the quality standards for gold and silver both from the official perspective of BIS and also with regard to existing trade practices. He discussed the provisions of the proposed Hallmarking Regulation 2018 and explained its practical impact on trade once it is officially brought into force. He also spoke about the different processes in jewellery making, focusing on the checkpoints where metal could lose its purity such as soldering, use of outsourced findings, plating of other metals, etc. He offered technical and operational solution for each of them.

Kamlesh Vyas, Managing Director, Mars Group, Hosur during his presentation on Production Excellence spoke about the disruptions, importance of quality, working environment & conditions, welfare, ethical practices, importance of SOPs, wastage control & recovery at each stage of production cycle. He also discussed concepts like JIT, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing and the need of transformation and adoption of better technology and tools.

A presentation was also made on GJEPC projects such as Common Facility Centre (CFC), G&J Parichay Card, Swasthya Ratna, Swasthya Kosh, etc. The local trade body expressed interest in working with GJEPC to establish a CFC at Surendranagar, and also signed an MOU with GJEPC for issuance of 5,000 Parichay Cards for members of the local jewellery companies.