Jewelry Security League introduction

In our fourteen years of experience with the Jewelry Industry in helping them to conduct business in a safe and secure manner, one of the biggest concerns we have observed is about the people involved in the trade. Everyone, from the owner to the employee to the vendor come to work “not knowing who would do what at what time”. Its a pretty stressful situation for everyone in the trade. The Jewelry Industry takes enough security measures to make sure that their business can be carried out safely. Electronic surveillance systems have been adopted by individual businesses, exhibitors and others. However, they are right now used as a corrective and a reactive measure in case something out of the ordinary happens. At Associated Business Enterprises, we think its time we took this to the next level. The pathway we have envisioned for this is “Jewelry Security League”

What is Jewelry Security League?

Jewelry Security League (JSL) is a service organization that provides a platform for establishing and maintaining credibility of every individual involved in the jewelry business be it the employees, vendors or anyone who is involved in the jewelry business environment. JSL is a venture envisioned by Associated Business Enterprises (ABE) to ensure the safe and secure conduct of business in the high-risk environment of Jewelry Business. JSL, once operational, would be committed to Safety and Integrity in conduct of business.

Why is JSL needed?

Because of the high-risk environment in which the industry operates, the focus of the business is usually on making sure that Integrity is maintained by all concerned at all levels, rather than on providing customer service. Also, there is no standard way of verifying the credibility of all people concerned.

Business Impact

1. Because of the above concern, strategic initiatives such as store expansion, workforce expansion, operating multiple stores, etc., result in slow growth and loss of opportunity.

2. Jewelry Store owners, managers and staff have to spend a lot of time in ensuring that they are fully credible at all times. The focus, therefore, is shifted from customer service, which further results in loss of opportunity.

Business Impact

1. When something goes amiss and police intervention is required, there is a scramble to collect all possible information in the last minute. This puts pressure on everyone involved in the process, especially the business owners and the staff involved in manning the space in which the event occurred.

2. Police intervention leaves the people involved in the trade completely distressed. Due diligence that needs to be carried out by the police is not only harsh but also requires that the business owners comply with requests for not intervening in any of their investigative processes. As a result people who have given their life to the trade end up being disgruntled.

JSL reduces the pressure because of the high-risk environment by making its management a community effort, rather than an individual effort. Drawing on the vast knowledge of ABE in the field of electronic surveillance and security systems, JSL integrates all types of jewelry businesses in a coordinated effort to minimize the social impact and maximize business focus.

What will JSL do?

Background Verification : JSL, would do a background verification of every single individual involved in the business of jewelry like workforce, vendors etc., twice a year. The resultant data is stored in our servers and will be available for the member organizations whenever and wherever they require.

Crime Databases: JSL would have videos of thefts in its database which will be made available to all the members through a website. These videos are analyzed and safe practices would be created. These practices can be adopted by any member of JSL.

Training: From time to time JSL would design training programs for its members. These programs would ensure that the knowledge of safety and security in this business is shared and best practices are inculcated in every business. JSL would coordinate with various associations such as Gem and Jewelry Federations and Gem and Jewelry Export Promotion Council to see when and where such training can be effectively conducted.

News Letter: A monthly digital newsletter would be delivered to each member free of cost. The newsletter would cover the latest updates from JSL. All members are by default subscribers to this newsletter, unless they explicitly state otherwise.

Data Analytics and Intelligence: Having access to data on backgrounds of people, thefts and related crimes, JSL would closely work with different associations as well as with the police in identifying patterns in crimes and building business policy that would ensure the prevention of such crimes. When this policy is commonly adapted by businesses across the member base, it would reduce the risk of doing business enormously.

How will JSL do it?

JSL will setup a website that can coordinate and communicate with all its members in an easy and interactive manner. This website gives all the required information to the members and also acts as one contact point for collecting specific requests. JSL will operate from Bangalore as its headquarters.
JSL will request jewelry businesses to register themselves as members for an annual fee. The fee will be dependent on the size of the business and the services members want. Who will be key to JSL?
To be effective, JSL would need the support of premium bodies such as Gems and Jewelry Federation (GJF) and Gems and Jewelry Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). These two would play the role of a policy clearing body, which approves of every practice that is proposed by JSL. ABE will be responsible for the operationalization and day-to-day transactions of JSL. We also need the support of various Jewelry Associations at the local level, and of course, the individual jewelry business owners.

Where does JSL stand right now?

We have already initiated talks with various software vendors to develop web based applications which are integrated into various databases. Parallelly we have also started compiling our database of crimes. We intend to talk to criminologists as to how we can analyze this data and come up with a security policy. We are also talking to several firms that are in the business of background verification. Soon, we will tie up with a firm that can scale up to our standards. We have also spoken to key people in various associations such as Gem and Jewelery Federation, Gem and Jewelery Export Promotion Council and the Bangalore Jewelers Association for their support.
All in all, we are ready to launch a test case in the city of Bangalore. We are working towards scaling this to a national level as quickly as possible

Our Invitation and Proposal

We require your support in referring us to GJF and GJEPC so that:

1. We can present our case to the Council and request them to act as a policy clearing body.

2. We would also the Council to fund our venture. We are open to discussions on how much this venture can cost us. There are huge start-up costs involved and we require support. We can partner with your organization at various levels.