Professional Assemblers and Installers

Dolores said:

I would think with the opening of IKEA in Santo Domingo there is going to be a need for professional assemblers and installers for their furniture. Dominicans are not ones to assemble for themselves. They have been spoiled, and very few men are handymen in the house. So, this is definitely an opportunity for a business.

I would think that just with the DR1 crowd there would be enough work to keep someone busy, and then quickly training staff to grow the assembly business.

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It's not just a Dominican problem, it's just plain not Hispanic culture to do things like home maintenance, building things themselves or doing repairs around the house or worse, preventive maintenance... if it was the contrary Home Depot would have come here and many other Latin American countries l o n g ago (HD is in Mexico thou).
Latinos prefer to have things done by their chopos... and since money is not always as plentyful as many would like to let it seem... things are often just left to rot and fall apart. Les gusta mucho estar con los brazos cruzados!
Yes, this raises a big question about the replicablility [sp?] of the IKEA business concept here and similar countries and since the rumor came up and became certified... I am wondering...

How much can a "professional" on-site assembler expect to make on a drawer chest or armoir? And won't that added cost make that piece of furniture more expensive than other furniture readily available?

... J-D.

Interesting, and a quite accurate picture by Dolores and J-D...IMO, that is. I am sure that there might be a few who could assemble, but not the ones I play golf with, mostly.

Any one of us that visits one of the hardware stores recognizes the fact that we are not really amongst our peers, are we? You can pick out the "furerners" really easily, can't you? And over there, in the gift section or the household items section, you can see the 'grand dames' of local society picking out wedding gifts....But not one of the 'grand sires' of the realm are there looking for tools, like Tim "The Toolman" Taylor....

An astute look at how things are....so, do we set up a tent just outside of IKEA? Do we get Infotep to create a new class of artisans to put things together>??? Cool idea for Ikea...

HB

Are there any good trade schools where Dominicans can learn the skills and get a quality qualification?
I ask as its something I am thinking about setting up if I can find the support and funding from businesses. I am thinking along the lines of vocational training full time first year and two years on the job apprenticeships with a trade qualification at the end.
Technical instruction and theoretical learning maybe on a day release or evening class basis.

Skippy1

Hillbilly said:

Interesting, and a quite accurate picture by Dolores and J-D...IMO, that is. I am sure that there might be a few who could assemble, but not the ones I play golf with, mostly.

Any one of us that visits one of the hardware stores recognizes the fact that we are not really amongst our peers, are we? You can pick out the "furerners" really easily, can't you? And over there, in the gift section or the household items section, you can see the 'grand dames' of local society picking out wedding gifts....But not one of the 'grand sires' of the realm are there looking for tools, like Tim "The Toolman" Taylor....

An astute look at how things are....so, do we set up a tent just outside of IKEA? Do we get Infotep to create a new class of artisans to put things together>??? Cool idea for Ikea...

HB

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Hmmm... the tent idea is gooooood! Aqui le almamo su baina!
Has anyone ever observed a Latin American reading the manual, I mean EVER?You know, these IKEA deals... it's a bunch of particle boards and two little bags of funny screws and other hardware... and a manual hidden in between the boards... :bunny:
They will get a L O T of returns "... miiira, que eto 'ta maaaalo! O e asi que e eta baina?" :cheeky:

Skippy1 said:

Are there any good trade schools where Dominicans can learn the skills and get a quality qualification?
I ask as its something I am thinking about setting up if I can find the support and funding from businesses. I am thinking along the lines of vocational training full time first year and two years on the job apprenticeships with a trade qualification at the end.
Technical instruction and theoretical learning maybe on a day release or evening class basis.

Skippy1

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The lack of (serious) trade schools is routed in the American (all Americas) lack of appreciation of trades. "Become an academic or be a nothing"! Somehow, the concept of year long state supervised apprenticeship paired with state trade schools has not carried over from Germany and other European countries... which have less Universities per capita but more certified professionals which can earn a good living, a major pillar of these countries economies.

Here it mostly boils down to "learning by doing"... and many times it looks more like "experimenting by failing"... which is easy, as there are more ways to fail than to succeed.

... J-D.

well the lack of correctly trained technicians is what puts off a lot of investors here. If they cant find the right skills they go else where.....China Japan Taiwan Korea etc.
Short sightedness costs the people jobs. Bad workmanships costs the people money.....as in paying two or three times to get the job done correctly.

Skippy1 said:

well the lack of correctly trained technicians is what puts off a lot of investors here. If they cant find the right skills they go else where.....China Japan Taiwan Korea etc.
Short sightedness costs the people jobs. Bad workmanships costs the people money.....as in paying two or three times to get the job done correctly.

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Yes, but also, well trained, really professional people tend to expect to be paid well... which in turn can make the market appear unattractive to outsourcing to the DR and foreign investment in the DR too...
Yet I'd prefer to see more professionalism and formal eduction because the future looks kind'a bleak for countries like these trying to live off beaches and cocoteros only.

... J-D.

Interesting topic this, whether the IKEA concept fits into Latin American culture. But I'm sure IKEA realizes this, and uses this first Latin American store as a test. Maybe they will provide an assembly service themselves, like they already offer a delivery option?
I really don't think this is about the availability of trained technicians; assembling something from IKEA is hardly DIY. It is constructed so that everyone, without technical skills or specialised equipment can put something together. IKEA clients are not necessarily the same as those using Home Depot.
In the DR, how people will use IKEA will not depend on whether people have technical skills, but on whether they are willing to put a table together; lower themselves to the level of a handyman, to put it crudely. In Europe (and I suppose North America) assembling your IKEA stuff youself fits in with at least an appreciation of egalitarianism. Surely IKEA knows it does not work like that everywhere, and they might use the DR to test the waters in parts of the world where a good section of their clients are used to having domestic help and handymen. And maybe adapt their concept somewhat.

Well if reports are true the DR is hoping to become the bread basket of the Caribbean. Perhaps they think its cheaper to grow food than invest in the people.

Skippy1

Assembling IKEA furniture is not that hard if you just sit down and read the directions, but the problem will be how long will it take to put it together. If you are going to charge by the hour, I think you should have some pretty good experience or practice assembling these types of items. I think its a good idea, because sometimes people just don't want to be bothered.

Just like in the UK and Europe the young and trendy will buy buy the truck load and assemble themselves only the old will need much help and it will be available for a price......just like the rest of the world

Skippy1

There are "trade" schools in the DR. INFOTEP is perhaps the best funded. The armed forces has schools that train welders, lathe operators, electricians and such...

the idea of setting up an IKEA assembly operation is probably very solid....as long as the final cost is still way below what you would pay to have it made in the first place.

This is going to be an interesting experiment, the way I see it.
1) The really rich won't touch it
2) The new rich won't either
3) The struggling middle class might
4) The poorer of the middle class and the richer of the poor might take to it as a way to imitate what they perceive as being "upwardly mobile" ....

Like I said, it's going to be interesting....

HB

Will be good for the hardware stores maybe

Hillbilly said:

There are "trade" schools in the DR. INFOTEP is perhaps the best funded. The armed forces has schools that train welders, lathe operators, electricians and such...

the idea of setting up an IKEA assembly operation is probably very solid....as long as the final cost is still way below what you would pay to have it made in the first place.

This is going to be an interesting experiment, the way I see it.
1) The really rich won't touch it
2) The new rich won't either
3) The struggling middle class might
4) The poorer of the middle class and the richer of the poor might take to it as a way to imitate what they perceive as being "upwardly mobile" ....

Like I said, it's going to be interesting....

HB

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Think of all the new customers that will be buying screwdrivers, and hammers. maybe even drills and bits, as things don't always line up right.

Fascinating thread, especially because of the clarity of perception displayed by JD Saucer, Hillbilly and Skippy1 !!!

I am amazed to read comments that I wouldn't have thought to post but completely express my feelings of a "long-term gringo" down here !