Mumbai: The 1st edition of India Jewellery Excellence Symposium (IJES) an initiative of the Gem & Jewellery Skill Council of India (GJSCI) was held in Mumbai on January 8th & 9th, 2020. GJSCI works towards the advancement of the gems and jewellery industry through its various skilling initiatives all over India. It covers skilling under all the areas and functions of the industry under various sub-sectors. Creating course and curriculum NSQF aligned Qualification Packs, Establishing Centres of Excellence, Recognizing and Certifying existing artisans, training and preparing candidates for IndiaSkills & WorldSkills Competitions, etc. all of which fall under the purview of GJSCI. IJES is an initiative of GJSCI to organize the only technology symposium for the jewellery industry in India in order to fill a long felt vacuum.
Dignitaries from Ministry, NSDC & Trade Bodies made their significant presence for the grand inauguration of the symposium. The lighting of lamp signifying the auspiciousness was done in the presence of Chief Guest – Ms. Rupa Dutta, Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Guest of honour – Mr. Manish Kumar, MD & CEO – National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Mr. Pramod Agrawal, Chairman – Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), Mr. N. Anantha Padmanabhan, Chairman – All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC), GJSCI Chairman, Mr. Sanjay Kothari, and Director, GJSCI Mr. Shishir Nevatia & Executive Director – CEO, GJSCI, Mr. Rajeev Garg.
Speaking on the occasion, GJSCI’s Chairman Mr. Sanjay Kothari outlined – the motive of skilling and achieving manufacturing excellence in the gem and jewellery industry to set the tone for the symposium. He said that the industry had a dream to have a knowledge platform similar to the Santa Fe Symposium for Indian Jewellery companies especially the small companies at an affordable cost. He also said that “India has the tremendous potential to become preferred sourcing destination for world’s leading jewellery brands like Cartier, Tiffany, etc. & has ample of aspiring work force. The skill gaps can be minimized by imparting focussed training & facilitating access to the world’s latest technologies / best practices”.
He further added, “Once we have better skills, we will turn and lead to better surplus. IJES has been unique / unparallel in the sense that it could nicely blend the combination of technical & management system related topics making it equally interesting for different set of target audiences.”
Acknowledging the overwhelming response from the industry, Mr. Kothari said the IJES would continue its journey and would like to see more number of participants and speakers in the upcoming versions.
Ms. Rupa Dutta & Mr. Manish Kumar assured that both the Ministry and NSDC will back every future initiative focussed on skilling, upskilling or technological upgradation by GJSCI. Mr. Pramod Agrawal congratulated GJSCI for such an important initiative and shared the big stride made by GJSCI by improving their ranking from 32nd position to 7th position among all other Sector Skill Councils. Mr. Padmanabhan extended his best wishes and hoped that GJSCI continues to organize this symposium year after year.
The 1st edition of India Jewellery Excellence Symposium recorded a registration of approximately 300+ delegates representing more than 140 companies all over India. The first day was entirely engaged with the sessions led by eminent speakers viz. Mr. Ravi Gilani, Mr. Frank Cooper, Mr. Ashish Arora, Dr. Anand Deshpande, Mr. Peter Bubendorfer, Ms. Jill Goodson, Mr. Anikesh Pandey, Mr. Ashish Arora, Mr. Luigi Carboni all accomplished names from the gems and jewellery industry world over.
The Panel discussion shared by successful industry leaders like Mr. Mithun Sancheti (Caratlane), Mr. K. Shinivasan (Emerald Jewel Industries (I) Ltd.) & O. Asher (Malabar Gold) moderated by Mr.Bobby Kothari of Jewelex India Pvt. Ltd. Has revelled various traits to become a successful organisation.
The first day concluded with a Networking Dinner, a unique opportunity for all the delegates who attended the symposium & Speakers to interact exploring the possibilities of further collaborations & knowledge sharing.
The second day was equally exciting delivering various Sessions by renowned experts like Mr. Jayant Murthy, Ms. Dierdre Featherstone, Mr. Hemant Shah, Mr. Gani Iqbal, Ms. Meghna Saraogi, Mr. Jason Fava, Mr. Soran Jota, Mr. Fulvio Sinisi, Dr. Po. Hung Ko, along with other eminent speakers . Topics like Lean / Kaizen, Robotic process Automation, Augmented Reality, Theory Of Constraints, Best Practices in HR & long term employee engagement added different perspectives/dimensions for the symposium. Technical Sessions based on 3D Metal printing, Investment Casting, Upgrading Bench Skills, Modern Stone setting techniques, Low cost mass finishing solutions, Plating Cost Optimization, Choice of alloy gold & unusual gold colours have touched upon innovation & process excellence aspects of jewellery manufacturing. Every session was followed by a Q&A round to address the attendees queries. IJES also had uniquely designed One-To-One session of delegates with the interested speakers in a privately allotted space for better interaction and to promote business opportunities.
IJES indeed turned out to be a one- stop source for bringing together the industry’s most innovative and diligent experts to share their ideas, innovations, best practices, experiences, techniques and insights on manufacturing excellence. The event gracefully concluded felicitating the eminent speakers & also demonstrated the commitment of GJSCI to continue IJES with yet another edition in January 2021.
It doesn’t end here, GJSCI on successful execution of IJES, is planning to further organise exclusive workshops by renowned Process Experts with interested industry stakeholders to meet industry needs.
IJES Core Committee consisting of Mr. Sanjay Kothari, Chairman, Mr. Kunal Shah, the Convenor of IJES, along with Mr. Shishir Nevatia, Mr. Colin Shah, Mr. Bobby Kothari, Mr. Kunal Mehta, Mr. Sohil Kothari, Mr. Raj Parikh, Mr. Anish Birawat, Mr. Vicky Mehendroo, Mr. Mehernosh Printer and Mr. Jeetendra Mirwani worked rigorously behind the scenes to make IJES a success what it was.
