|
A
FILIPINO entrepreneur from
Cebu is making
waves in the international scene with his metal craft by
supplying famous companies like Armani, Ralph Lauren and
Polo with high-end quality furniture, furnishings, home
accessories and gift products.
Arden
Siarot, 43, started his business with himself as the
lone skilled worker in 1993. With a P2,000 capital, he
and his wife Jen, a certified public accountant, put up
Arden Classics Inc. and started making miniature
furniture from mostly scrap wrought iron.
With
hard work, dedication and the much-needed support from
the government, Arden Classics was able to crack the
world market with its custom-made metal accessories.
Now, the company is one of Cebu’s more established SMEs.
Now,
Siarot’s company has 100 employees to help cope with the
increasing demand from his wide range of clientele. The
company won the 2006 Golden Shell Award for
Manufacfturing Excellence by the Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI). Siarot himself was also awarded the
Entrepreneur of the Year award by the Cebu Chamber of
Commerce.
Armani
is known for its table lamps and bathroom accessories,
while Ralph Lauren and Polo, aside from their more
famous elegant clothing lines, are also known for their
elegant home accessories like picture frames, pen
holders and card holders.
“Sipag
at tiyaga lang [It takes hard work and patience]. We
have to work hard to achieve something,” Siarot said.
Arden
Classics also supplies metal-craft accessories to The
Ritz-Carlton, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lane Crawford and
Neiman Marcus.
As a
young boy, Siarot recalls he would go to the cemetery
near their house in Cebu to gather leftover candles
after All Saints’ Day. He would then sell what he was
able to gather and save the money.
“Even as
a boy, I’ve learned the value of hard work. I was
already self-employed,” he said jokingly.
Siarot
took up a one-year vocation course after high school.
The “electromechanic” course has not only landed him a
job as an electrician, but also inspired him to learn
more and use his creativity.
Working
at the
Don Bosco Technical
High School’s machine shop department, he was able to
enhance his skills and perfected the craft.
“That
was the time I learned to create miniature furniture. I
was able to sell them, although cheap, at that time.
But as I improved my craft, I was able to feel the
financial reward,” he said.
Filipino
ingenuity, he said, had a lot to do with his success. In
1980s, he said, he used mosquito-killer spray for
painting the miniature furniture he produced.
Siarot
said since he had only a small capital to start his
small business, he put up a backyard shop at his home in
Cebu. Today Arden Classics has its own wrought-iron shop and
factory.
What
made Arden Classics’ experience different is the fact
that in spite of the poor performance of many Filipino
companies, it engaged in a very high-end business
venture.
Siarot
said Arden Classics would not have grown big had it not
been for the intervention of several government
agencies. He noted that the trade shows sponsored by the
DTI exposed his company to more opportunities, both here
and abroad.
Arden
Classics also joined international trade shows in Hong
Kong and Germany, which gave it the international
exposure it badly needed to be able to penetrate the
international scene.
However,
Arden Classics also faced a lot of big challenges.
In 2005,
Siarot said, the inferior quality of outsourced plated
component parts led to a rejection and rework of some
goods, which resulted in a loss of P1 million. There
was also a time that the delivery of outsourced
components was delayed.
“At that
time, I was already hesitant to expand metal-component
designs because of the lack of in-house electroplating
facility,” he added.
Through
timely government intervention, however, Arden Classics
managed to hurdle the problems.
The
Department of Science and Technology (DOST), through its
package of science and technology interventions under
the Small Enterprises Technology Upgrading Program,
helps companies enhance the productivity and thus the
competitiveness of SMEs through technological
interventions.
Consultancy services given by DOST expert, including
electroplating-technology acquisition and training of
supervisors and workers, including Siarot himself,
helped improve Arden Classics’ product quality.
This
reduced the number of rejects and reworks from 10
percent to less than 3 percent of the production output.
It also increased production volume by 100 percent, and
improved product quality through controlled production
of electroplated metal components.
Siarot
said that after acquiring the DOST’s technology, his
company’s sales increased by 30 percent. Its products
also improved in terms of high flexibility in the design
and quality, enabling the company to have access to new
markets.
Siarot
said he wants to see Arden Classics someday as a company
producing famous brands of high-end quality furniture,
furnishings, home accessories and gift products in the
Philippines
and the world, and providing excellent customer service
with global competitive standards.
“Although the future may present a lot of problems and
challenges, with higher level of enlightenment and with
the government as partner, I am confident we can surpass
the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities,”
he said. |
