JNA Awards 2012 Jewellery Industry Best Practices

58 JNA AWARDS 2012 Nelson Jewellery Arts Co Ltd Smooth operations Similar to its strides in manufacturing efficiency, NJA runs an equally effective corporate operation. “Beginning with a top-down culture that instills our corporate values, we have always prided ourselves on achieving financial success while balancing corporate responsibility and sustainability,” revealed Ho. “Throughout our history, technical innovations have granted us a competitive edge towards commercial success, but it is our personnel, corporate ethics and commitment to quality that have made the NJA name synonymous with excellence.” Ho, the recipient of the 1998 Young Industrialist Awards of Hong Kong, is also a firm believer in customer service and information technology. NJA’s own Accessories Manufacturing Hub ensures prompt delivery without the need to overstock inventory for reorders. The company has also adopted Computer Aided Design (CAD) to maintain an organised system for reorders and eliminate the need for sampling for smaller quantity production. More than 20 percent of NJA’s customer orders are now CAD-driven. Systems-wise, NJA became the world’s first company to use the world-class ERP Enterprise Resource Management System in the jewellery industry in 2000 and became ISO 9001-certified in 2003. The company has kept clients satisfied throughout the years by anticipating their needs and requirements. It sells a significant amount of Invincible Setting styles by adapting the methodology and price point to the clients’ retail environment. Looking ahead Given NJA’s relentless pursuit of design and manufacturing excellence, the best is probably yet to come. The company’s excitement over its JNA Awards nominations is however “tempered by a sense of humility,” according to Ho. “We realise yesterday’s achievements speak little of future accomplishments. In today’s geopolitical and global economic environment, success in the trade is constantly being redefined by an ability to identify and adapt to market trends, be it increasing cost of manufacturing inputs or volatility in raw material price,” Ho commented. “Consistent with our management ethos to never fall victim to complacency and always seek to improve, we look ahead to the future where it is incumbent upon those of us representing the trade to move the industry forward.”