Starter Kit. Idea 247 of 500. Cluster 12
Gem-cutting machinery service and repair, since every cutter's tools are imported
The mechanism, from the book
The sapphire is mined here and cut here, and its value is certified in Basel and turned into money in Geneva. Every step of that chain can be built at home, and the first one is the piece of paper.
The first step
Interview 10 cutters in Ratnapura and Colombo about what machines they use, what breaks most often, how long they wait for a repair and what it costs them. Offer to fix one machine for a trial fee. The proof is a list of common faults, a price per repair and one cutter who pays.
- Who pays first
- A gem cutter who loses days of work when an imported machine breaks and has nobody nearby who can repair it.
- What leaves today
- Every cutter's tools and their servicing are imported, so machine downtime and repair fees drain value from the one step already done at home.
Ask first
- National Gem and Jewellery Authority. Ask which cutting machines are most used, and who services them now.
- Sri Lanka Customs. Ask how spare parts for cutting machines are cleared on import.
Check before you spend
Whether you can get spare parts and the makers' manuals legitimately, and what you promise the cutter if a repair fails.
Find out these three numbers
- How long does a cutter wait for a repair now?
- What does a typical repair cost the cutter today?
- How many cutters in Ratnapura would pay a monthly service fee?
A comparison from the book
Zermatt. Chapter Five
"because those vehicles are made nearby, the money spent on them stays close to home"
When the tools are kept running nearby, the money spent on them stays at home.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.