The Boyolali Regency is renowned for its metal crafts, a livelihood for the local community for centuries. These globally recognized metal crafts are centered in Dukuh Tumang, Cepogo Village. Currently, the Tumang metal crafts have been designated as an intangible cultural heritage (WBTB). This presents a challenge for the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) to continue expanding the market for these small and medium industries (IKM). The IKM is also expected to keep innovating to maintain and even enhance their competitiveness against similar products, both local and imported. "The current global economic dynamics affecting the export market require metal craft IKMs, such as those in Tumang, to focus more on the international market. Moreover, the production process in Tumang’s metal crafts is still done manually, so consistency and quality of production need improvement," said Director General of Small, Medium, and Miscellaneous Industries (IKMA) of Kemenperin, Reni Yanita, in Boyolali, Central Java, quoted on Monday (1/7).
Reni stated that the ministry has carried out various coaching activities for metal craft IKMs, including automating the production process in Boyolali Regency. "We are helping to address production process issues, particularly in forming patterns or textures (engraving) on copper plates, which are still done manually, impacting the efficiency and productivity of workers, especially for products with high market demand," Reni said. In the trial phase of using machines in the production process, Reni noted that the evaluation results showed increased production capacity, improved work time efficiency, and reduced material waste (scrap). "Technological intervention through production process automation, in this case, using a copper plate texturing machine, is necessary. We hope that metal craft IKMs in Tumang and other metal craft centers throughout Indonesia can utilize these machines and shift to a more effective and efficient metal craft production process," Reni explained.
