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.