The Biggest Problem in Gemstone Jewellery Manufacturing Is Not Production-It’s Coordination

Coordination Is the Main Challenge in Jewelry Production

For the jewelry production point of view, making jewelry ina factory has less complexity.

The problem arises when the production becomes complicated.

As today's jewelers introduce more jewelry models on the market, the manufacturing becomes more difficult.

As soon as it takes more than one gemstone type with hundreds of SKUs to produce something new, the production itself is rendered as a less severe issue than coordinating the process.

How Coordination in Jewelry Production Becomes More Complicated

Making a single item in large volumes is relatively easy.

Production operations would follow the instruction of the design and use the necessary gemstones for producing the pieces.

However, having to produce several designs requiring various gemstones makes the situation different.

The same production order then involves:

• different shapes of gemstones,
• various sizes,
• various colors or gemstone modifications,
• hundreds of items in the production order,
• low volumes expected for each version,
• various priorities for the manufacturing process,
• frequent launches,
• short timeframes for making a replenishment.

When producing one jewelry item, the production process would create accessories from one model in large volumes.

The production capabilities are kept the same but the logistics of the order gets more complicated.

Solving the Problem of the Flow of Information

Some industries are still employing outdated techniques to coordinate production, including:

• Spreadsheets
• Conversations
• Written notes
• E-mails and messages
• Updates from departments
• Production records kept by hand

These older methods can still work for less complicated production operations.

But once the number of stock keeping units (SKUs) grows and the variety of gemstones increases significantly, the problem of processing and compiling the disconnected information involved in operations becomes challenging.

The types of information required for the production of gemstone jewelry to happen include the following:

What type of stone is needed?

What shape and size should be manufactured?

Is the gemstone available already?

Should it be manufactured or sourced?

What SKU is being used?

When will the jewelry be manufactured?

When is the finished product going to be shipped?

The danger here is that even a minor gap in a piece of information can violate the process in the production chain.

Why Spreadsheets Are No Longer Enough

Spreadsheets provide a simple tool for organizing the information in production.

However, it is insufficient in the environment with numerous SKUs, low minimal order quantities (MOQs), many types of gemstones, and constantly changing production conditions.

A particular gemstone requirement can change.

An inventory may be used for another order.

A new production condition may emerge.

A certain type of gemstone will have to be produced in advance that will prevent the manufacture of jewelry.

With all pieces of information being distributed across multiple files, departments, and sources of communication, keeping all parties in sync becomes a real challenge.

The outcome is a chain response that goes as follows:

Information delay → Coordination delay → Production delay → Dispatch delay

This is exactly why maintaining efficient communication and coordination in the manufacturing process is crucial for modern jewellery companies.

Let us have a look at a simple case with 6×4 oval-cut diamonds.

Take an example of an order that requires 6×4 oval-cut diamonds.

The design of jewellery may be completed, there may be metal ready for manufacturing, and the production team may have gotten prepared to make those products.

However, the diamonds ought to be defined and found to be in the exact place in the production process at the specific time.

In case coordination is done manually, there are higher chances of specification conflicts coming into the process.

Some of the crucial specifications of diamonds have already been considered.

However, this information should be put in the right place in time.

Another pivotal issue is making a shift from style-based manufacturing to SKU-based coordination

At DWS Jewellery, we have been working on this problem for years already.

We focus not merely on analysing processes according to types of styles. Instead, our aim is to develop an SKU-based gemstone manufacturing system to deal with complicated low-MOQ production.

Thus, this transformation will let us connect the requirements for gemstones to the requirements for jewellery manufacturing.

Hence, it will not be enough to answer the question:

"What jewellery is to be produced?"

But it is also necessary to ask in order to know which diamonds are required for making the product.

Linking Gemstone Stock with Production Needs

Understanding the availability of the stock is one of the crucial factors in the process of gemstone jewelry manufacturing.

The manufacturing system needs to know the answers to the following questions:

• What gemstones are now available?
• Which gemstones are already pledged?
• What gemstones need additional production?
• What upcoming SKUs need these gemstones?
• What quantity is needed?
• What production requirements are on the way?

At DWS, we’ve set up our internal systems to help with these questions more effectively.

This has allowed to combine the existing inventory of stones, the required stones for production, and the production needs more effectively.

The aim is clear and simple:

Make production of gemstones and jewelry production happen at the same time.

The Need for Better Manufacturing Processes

In the jewelry industry, there’s a clear tendency to turn to smaller, more diverse collections.

This means that brands should:

• Intensify design launches
• Try collections
• Decrease inventory risks
• Be responsive to consumer demands
• Offer more types of products
• React to the clients’ needs more quickly
• Produce small batches of products.

Using this very idea creates an entirely different manufacturing principle in use nowadays.

Instead of:

1 design × big number

Manufacturers need to switch to:

Hundreds of designs × different types of stones × smaller batches of stones.

It is about how efficiently the factory can coordinate thousands of individual requirements across the production workflow.

The Competitive Advantage Is Moving Beyond Production Capacity

Production capacity will always matter. However, for modern jewellery brands, manufacturing capability is becoming broader than the machinery, manpower, and production volume. Coordination of information can become equally important. There is no doubt that the manufacturer possesses excellence in craftsmanship with production capabilities, but if gemstone availability, SKU requirements, production planning, and dispatch information are not correlated, operational efficiency can suffer. That is why organized manufacturing systems can become a competitive advantage. Better coordination can help manufacturers deal with complexities, without treating every production requirement as a standalone task.

Building a More Synchronized Manufacturing Workflow

The future of gemstone jewellery manufacturing is expected to see more integration between stages of production.

Gemstone requests should liaise with:

Inventory → SKU requirements → Stone manufacturing → Jewellery production → Quality control → Dispatch

Once these stages are better connected, production teams can work with better information that also provides them with visibility about their future needs. For jewellery brands, this means that they have a manufacturing partner capable of acting according to the realities of modern product development.

The Future of Gemstone Jewellery Manufacturing

The jewellery industry is heading towards the broadening of collections, lower inventory risk, quicker launches, and smaller volume of production. This change is creating new operational challenges. Making jewellery is not the hardest thing about it. Coordinating everything needed for jewellery manufacturing is much more difficult. For gemstone jewellery manufacturers, the ability to deal with complex SKU requirements, gemstone inventory, production planning, and communications can increasingly predetermine their effectiveness in terms of providing support for modern jewellery brands.