Notes from the Workshop
Each production process provides a new experience, and each customer offers a new perspective.
Notes from the Workshop; created to share the real production processes experienced at Glowleather Atelier, the challenges encountered, and the lessons learned from these processes.
Every story told here is based on a real production experience.
Our aim is not only to recount our successes, but also to share the mistakes that helped us improve, the lessons we learned, and the experiences that shaped the production approach we use today.
What Did Our First Production Teach Us?
Many of the production principles that Glowleather Atelier embraces today stemmed from our experience with our first client.
We had just established our workshop.
Previously, we had only produced for our own brand. Now, we were excited to be producing for another brand for the first time.
To reach our first customers, we were researching boutique handbag brands in Türkiye one by one and sending them emails introducing ourselves. One day, one of those emails received a reply.
At our first meeting, the model seemed quite simple to us.
We still smile as we remember talking amongst ourselves after the meeting, saying, "This model is quite easy; we can produce it quickly with high-quality leather."
In reality, that model would be our first major lesson in teaching us that production is not just about drawing.
The model's simple appearance had deceived us.
Once production began, we faced a new challenge at every stage.
The bag's form, the leather's behavior, the spin-down production technique, the final dyeing process, and the craftsmanship details were far more complex than we had anticipated.
Moreover, the problems we experienced were not only technical.
As production dragged on, stress within the team increased.
The deadline has been delayed.
The sewn-on pieces were removed again.
While we were searching for a new solution every day, we were actually learning something new every day.
Finally, we delivered the products to our customer.
However, we also knew that the resulting product was neither the quality our client had envisioned nor something we were satisfied with.
The next day, the phone call we were waiting for came.
Our customer was not satisfied.
We went to see him without making any excuses.
We clearly explained the entire process we went through and returned the full down payment we received.
We lost financially that day.
But looking back today, we see that we actually gained something far more valuable.
Production planning...
Risk analysis...
Expectation management...
And most importantly, how customer trust is earned...
Our first customer taught us.
What was interesting was that the story didn't end there.
That customer later worked with us again.
We developed other projects.
He even recommended us to other brands.
In our view, the reason was that we chose to do the right thing when a problem arose.
Many of the production principles we apply at Glowleather Atelier today are built upon that experience.
Some successes are achieved by making a profit, while others are achieved by gaining experience.
We had to choose the second option in our first production run.
And today we believe this is one of our company's most valuable investments.
The Glowleather Atelier Principles were born from this story.