Ceramic Design Group on sat 26 jan 02
I don't see what all the bruhaha over materials prices is all about.
If you factor in freight to the per pound price and it doesn't matter if you
buy 100 or 1000 pounds, the clay bodies that we all use are still the
smallest and least expensive part of the cost accounting for your work.
Unless you are ordering materials shipped in by air from some remote
location......or some way expensive unheard of material that will make your
pots thrown themselves.......
We should be grateful that our materials costs are really pennies a pound.
We have a very detailed Excel spread sheet with lots of imbedded formula
within. We can input allocated time to all the operations that it takes to
make a piece of our pottery from getting the materials off the truck and
finishing, inspecting and UPS, and every small step in between. It factors
in insurance, labor, percent of the hour that is really billable, seconds,
profit, clay and glaze costs, everything.
The materials are the still smallest cost of the entire operation. But
knowing that most potters don't account for their labor or really have a
grip on costs accounting........but this is for another time.
Respectfully,
Jonathan
Jonathan Kaplan, president
Ceramic Design Group
PO Box 775112
Steamboat Springs CO 80477
voice and fax 970 879-9139
info@ceramicdesigngroup.net
Plant Location:
1280 13th Street Unit 13
Steamboat Springs CO 80487
(please use this address for all deliveries via UPS, comman carrier, Fed Ex,
etc.)
"Custom design and manufacturing for the ceramic arts, giftware and pottery
industries. Molds, models, and tooling for slip casting, jiggering and
hydraulic pressing. Consultation on clay and glaze formulation, production
systems,firing, and kilns.
chris Campbell on sun 27 jan 02
Jonathan
Hope everybody tacks your post up on their studio walls - amazing how
much effort people put into saving money at the least effective place in
pottery...materials.
My next column in PMI shows that the most effective place to save is
labor - mainly your own. There is no other studio cost that even comes close.
Chris
Chris Campbell Pottery
9417 Koupela Drive
Raleigh NC 27615
e-mail : ccpottery@aol.com
website : www.wholesalecrafts.com
claybair on sun 27 jan 02
Another factor is one I hadn't even thought of until corresponding with
Francoise in Spain.
She is having a devil of a time just getting a response from suppliers
(months). She has no clay. Circumstances have made getting to the closest
supplier which is 5 hours away nearly impossible.
Recently it has become even more apparent to me that we who live in the USA
are very lucky.
Friday I drove my husband to the dr., went to 2 clay suppliers, shopped at
Costco and a local grocery store. The procedure for my husband was done very
competently with no waiting or discomfort. Two appointments were made 4 days
in advance...... no months of waiting! The clay suppliers were helpful and
had everything I needed. The stores as usual were well stocked and checkout
smooth and rapid. I returned home with enough time to work in the studio.
I recall reading years ago about Russians standing in lines in the winter to
get a loaf of bread or roll of toilet paper. My mother after touring Europe
& the Middle East saying that the veterinary facilities here were
cleaner/better than the few hospitals she had to visit.
This babe is done with bitchin' and bickerin'!
Grateful..... you bet!
Gayle Bair- Did I really say I was done with bitchin'??? I can't believe I
said that!
Bainbridge Island, WA
http://claybair.com
Vince Wrote>>
snip>>
We should be grateful that our materials costs are really pennies a pound.
We have a very detailed Excel spread sheet with lots of imbedded formula
within. We can input allocated time to all the operations that it takes to
make a piece of our pottery from getting the materials off the truck and
finishing, inspecting and UPS, and every small step in between. It factors
in insurance, labor, percent of the hour that is really billable, seconds,
profit, clay and glaze costs, everything.
The materials are the still smallest cost of the entire operation. But
knowing that most potters don't account for their labor or really have a
grip on costs accounting........but this is for another time.
Respectfully,
Jonathan
snip>>
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