Handicraft maker jumps on bike bandwagon

Handicraft maker jumps on bike bandwagon

By Heru Prasetya

YOGYAKARTA (JP): It's always a case of different strokes for
different folks. Creating wooden miniatures of Harley Davidson
motorcycles during his spare time from his studies was what
eventually brought success for Nugroho Heru Hermanto. Today he
exports his crafts to many countries and enjoys a monthly
turnover of over Rp 20 million.

A resident of Klurak Baru village in Bokoharjo Prambanan,
Sleman -- some two kilometers south of Prambanan temple in
Yogyakarta -- Heru started with capital of only Rp 400,000.

It was tough at first but demand began to swell when he
offered the souvenirs to tourists visiting Prambanan temple and
other tourist sites in the area.

Today he has 30 employees to help him produce the Harley
miniatures along with miniatures of other vehicles.

"The business kept me busy and as a result it took me 10 years
to complete my studies which I began in 1987," said Gadjah Mada
University alumni.

In the process, he had to face tough marketing competition.

Souvenir shops in Bali, he recalled, once rejected his
products as they feared there would be little interest in them
and also because they were fragile.

"Then, I gave them a no-payment guarantee if the products were
damaged. In two weeks, they ordered more," said Heru, who
displayed his works during the recent Jakarta Fair.

Following his success, many similar businesses emerged in his
village and neighboring areas. Heru's younger brother, Kunto
Winarno, who is also in the business, now has 40 workers while
some of Heru's former workers have opened their own cottage
industries. In total, there are about 165 people in the
neighborhood who are in the same business.

Besides Harley Davidson motorcycles, Heru also produces over
70 types of automotive models like limousines, VW and Mercedes
cars, choppers, trucks, tankers, F-16 jet fighters, Pinishi
vessels (schooners), pedicabs and bemo (three-wheeled motorized
vehicle).

According to Heru, some buyers specially order their preferred
items.

The business is profitable. Heru disclosed that a miniature
model only cost a third of its selling price. "But as a work of
art, the price is still low," he insisted.

The miniatures are made of quality teak wood. They come in
small and irregular pieces, remnants of furniture production, and
cost Rp 400 per kilogram for good A-class type and Rp 300 per
kilogram for medium B-class type.

In a month, Heru needs 1.5 tons of A-class wood and a ton of
B-class wood to produce about 1,000 of the smallest Harley
Davidson models, which are sold at Rp 9,000 each. The miniature
motorcycles come in bigger sizes too: a 20-centimeter model costs
Rp 14,000, 35 cm at Rp 25,000 and 60 cm at Rp 55,000.

The largest model -- a real-size Harley Davidson -- cost Rp
7.5 million per unit. So far, he has created five such units --
all of them for export to Germany. He has received two more
orders for the real-life Harleys to be delivered to the
Netherlands.

The time taken to produce these models depends on their size
and complexity. For instance, a worker can complete about 100
units of smaller sized models (15 cm, 20 cm, 35 cm and 60 cm) in
10 to 15 days.

Real-size Harley Davidson motorcycles, which will take three
workers three weeks to complete, are not only made of wood.

"Some parts like the axles are made of steel so that the model
is strong enough to be sat on," Heru said.

Other models, like the VW cars, are cheaper, at Rp 4,000 per
unit for the 10 cm model, Rp 8,000 for 25 cm model and Rp 12,000
for the 30cm to 35 cm model.

Production

There are seven stages in the production process from carving
the wood manually or mechanically to giving it its final touch of
melamine spray.

However, exported products are given better treatment than
locally sold ones. Teak wood for models to be exported, for
instance, is heated in an oven for a finer finish.

"The different treatments are made to meet market demand.
Unlike foreign buyers, locals prefer lower prices rather than
good quality," Heru explained.

Apart from Yogyakarta and Central Java, the crafts' local
market covers big cities like Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Malang,
Bali, Bukittinggi, Riau, Lampung, Palembang and Tebingtinggi.

Heru also exports his products to as far as Australia,
Britain, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the United
States.

So far, Australia is the largest importer with a bimonthly
record of about 3,000 units worth Rp 55 million, followed by
Britain with 3,000 units every six months and the United States
with 3,000 units annually.