People

We like to present some of our artisans and administration staff.

Frame Makers

Frame makers cut the bamboo, splice it, shape the spokes and assemble the bamboo and small wooden parts. The result is the frame.

All our hand parasol and umbrella frame makers are ladies from our village, hand crafting bamboo frames for hand parasols to augment their family income. All are in or above their fifties and it appears that only they can bring up the diligence and patience necessary to craft and shape the smaller bamboo parts. Men usually make the frames for the larger garden parasols, as this requires more strength and physical exertion.

Ferrulers

Ferrulers shape the top ferrule and the lower runner. They also cut the grooves that house the bamboo spokes. All ferrulers come from our village as well. The wood is shaped on a wood lathe, usually by men, and the grooves are cut by specialists among the frame making ladies.

Polers

Polers measure, cut and attach poles to the frames. Polers are also from our village. They insert the pole into the frame ferrule and ensure that the parasol angle is properly set.

Coverers

Coverers shape and attach the parasol cover onto the frame. Most of our coverers come from our surrounding villages. As it happens, our cover team consists exclusively of younger ladies - our Cover Girls!

Administration

Our administration's main tasks consist of production management, personnel, supplier relations, interim and final quality control, packaging, shipping and the tedious task of bookkeeping.

Customer Relations

Customer relations handles all customer requests and is responsible for following up quality control and order timeliness on the production floor. Customer relations also manages product promotion and our web site.

All in all, aside from each of our individual skills, one qualification is paramount: Quality.