We are a collaborative platform made up of a network of 82 partner organizations and projects that share a common interest in design, creative production, and local, fair, and responsible commerce.

We believe that design is a bridge that can strengthen communities, find solutions, and link innovation with social entrepreneurship.

We have created a space for exchange and collaboration to address the economic uncertainty triggered by the effects of social distancing due to the pandemic. We directly support 5,060 artisans who celebrate and preserve the cultural heritage of our country through the techniques they work with.

Our goal, in addition to promoting artisanal creation, is to give recognition and reinforce the maintenance of formal value chains that have created horizontal work links and that guarantee a source of income for communities of artisans in Mexico.

Thanks to the generosity of foundations and organizations that joined the platform with donations to reactivate and promote artisanal production in Mexico, Ensamble Artesano, in collaboration with a total of 406 artisanal groups in 22 states of the country in its two editions, has managed to finance the production and artisanal work of two limited edition collections and develop an online commerce platform for their sale with the aim of having financial capital to continue strengthening the sector.

The Ensamble Artesano collections are the result of the effort and work of thousands of people who have joined together for the preservation of culture and the economic reactivation of the artisanal sector.

Ensamble Artesano is a non-profit initiative, the sale of the collections is entirely destined for a development program for artisanal groups and the strengthening of the sector.

 

We invite you to learn about the scope of the platform

The Value Chain is the set of activities that make a product go from those who produce it to those who want to buy it. This includes not only production and sales, but also other complementary activities that are equally important. These activities can range from the internal organization of the Artisan Group to achieve the formality that facilitates their participation in the market, to packaging and logistics to take their products from their community to different sales points, as well as customer service after they have made their first purchase. Each step requires special attention and professionalization.

These organized activities are named as links in the Value Chain, as you will see below:

START >> 1. Formality >> 2. Design >> 3. Production >> 4. Logistics >> 5. Sales >> 6. After-sales >> END

Formality is the beginning of everything. Small or large businesses need to be formal to integrate into a value chain and generate constant income and customers. Formality allows businesses to make invoices, which opens up a large range of customers and allows them to improve their pricing conditions and negotiation with all types of customers and suppliers. Formal businesses have an important advantage in accessing new markets within and outside of Mexico. Additionally, formality allows for a credit history that can be very useful for opening savings accounts and facilitating access to other banking products and services such as insurance and loans to grow your company. The tools in this link serve to guide you in making decisions when starting to operate in the formal economy. However, seeking the advice of tax and accounting professionals will always be valuable in choosing the tax figure that best suits your artisanal company. 1.1. Tax Glossary Ensamble Artesano collectively developed a glossary of tax terms to facilitate understanding and informed decision-making for companies in the artisanal sector. This does not replace the need for professional advice from a tax expert to evaluate the best way to be part of the formal economy. Being a formal company, registering with the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, starting to issue invoices and paying taxes are activities of a company that require professionalization. If you have wondered about the differences between registering as a cooperative, an individual, a legal entity, or a Rural Production Society, here you will find a simple explanation of their obligations and responsibilities when choosing the type of formal company with which to operate.

The market constantly requires innovation to adapt to the changing needs of people and the world, and therefore, the market in general. Innovation is essential for artisanal businesses, and one way to achieve it is through the creation of new products adapted to market trends. But innovative design is more than just trends and colors; it involves ensuring that the product is costed correctly, has the measurements and shapes that customers are looking for, and that the colors show harmony. The tools available in this link will help you have better products for your customers and ensure that they include all costs to make decisions that contribute to the growth of your artisanal business. 2.1. Standardization of prices and measurements Ensamble Artesano developed a tool that collects the most recommended measurements and price ranges for artisanal products of various techniques, which can be taken as a good reference from the moment of designing your product. Product design requires not only understanding and applying fashion and trends but also adapting products to what the market expects in terms of measurements and prices, to what customers are willing to pay for a type of product. Most products have a range of measurements and prices on which we can design according to where and how we plan to sell them. For example, the size of a tablecloth, the length of a dress, the size of a cup, a plate, or a glass are products with measurements that follow universal design patterns. It will also be important to keep the design within standard measurements to streamline logistics issues such as packaging, shipping, and storage. Use this document to validate if your products are within the price range that the market expects and have the appropriate measurements. You can also use it to start designing a new product that adapts to the standard of its type and thus increase the chances of success. 2.2. Costing tool The costing tool will help you verify that all elements of a product‘s cost are included before setting its price for the final customer. It is essential to have costing tools that allow you to include all direct and indirect costs, such as labor, materials, logistics costs, a portion of the services of the place where it was produced, such as electricity or water, wear and tear of the tools and equipment involved in its manufacture, taxes on its sale, among others. At Ensamble Artesano, a costing tool was used that allowed transparency of the cost elements of each product, enriching knowledge of the techniques and their market viability from the design phase. 2.3. Best practices and tools for preventing cultural appropriation At Ensamble Artesano, spaces for reflection and questioning were generated regarding the product design process that dialogues with the use of techniques and iconography of ethnic groups in communities. These spaces, in the form of workshops, can be consulted as input prior to defining the design of a product. A decalogue of good practices for textile design in artisanal spaces was also disseminated. With the application of these principles, we seek to recognize creators and their active participation in various processes of the value chain, as well as honor and benefit communities. We make available to our artisanal community a workshop given by NGO Impacto on the topic of Prevention of Cultural Appropriation and the Macro Saber Artesanal Textil Decalogue, which gives us a reference point for identifying how to work when designers, clients, or anyone wants to start a collaboration with our artisanal business. 2.4. Color and trends The trends and color manual allows you to know in a specific period of time which products to design to take advantage of changes in fashion for the artisanal business. It is important to be prepared for new

The productive phase involves the artisanal work, the creation of the pieces established in the design phase. It is during this phase that artisanal mastery is present and raw materials are transformed into unique pieces with added value. Although each piece is unique, special attention must be paid to compliance with what was agreed upon in the design phase, in order to achieve the consistency and quality that will make the product competitive in the market. 3.1. Technical sheet The technical sheet is like a product‘s birth certificate. It accompanies the product throughout its life in the catalog of the artisanal company that produces it. All important information about the product such as its weight, measurements, colors, care, packaging, materials, and everything else that comes to mind, should be in its technical sheet. The technical sheet is a living document. Products change, fashions and trends are always moving, and when a product is updated, we must also update its technical sheet. Technical sheets have proven to be a great quality control tool to ensure compliance with the standards established during the design phase. You can find several examples of technical sheets and use the same format to begin standardizing your products.

. As important as production is the logistics link. Without these activities, products would not reach end customers, or they would arrive damaged or in poor condition due to inadequate packaging, wrapping, and storage. This link is becoming increasingly relevant due to the ways in which more and more people buy products from their homes, online or by phone, on applications such as Facebook, Instagram, or online stores such as Amazon or Mercadolibre. 4.1. Packaging Manual The Packaging Manual developed by Estafeta establishes the criteria that the market and industry demand in terms of protecting products with the appropriate packaging. It also details the ideal materials for packing them without risking them during their transfer from a warehouse to the end customer. You will also find for download the Packaging Manual of Ensamble Artesano used during the project operation.

Getting customers to choose our products is a permanent task for any business. The market is highly competitive and requires the use of tools that allow us to be efficient and clear in our conversations with customers, adequately communicating our product offerings and sales conditions. The following tools used by Ensamble Artesano contribute to achieving revenue generation objectives associated with this link.

5.1. Product Catalog or Dossier
Also known as a product catalog, it is a document with photos of each product and important information for customers, which may include: price, measurements, materials, weight, availability, care, minimum order, delivery times, sales conditions, among others. Ensamble Artesano promoted the creation of these Dossiers with valuable information about the entire collection to share with customers. This example will help you put together a catalog of all your pieces, including those made in collaboration with Ensamble Artesano, along with other pieces of your creation.
 
5.2. Quote
It is a basic document for all transactions between a business and its customers. These documents establish the final prices and sales conditions of an order requested by a customer. Payment methods, delivery and payment times, bank details, among other relevant data that the business wishes to communicate to its customer, can be included. Quotes are important to formally confirm an order and avoid producing pieces that the customer ultimately rejects or does not acquire due to lack of clarity about what they were going to buy. Use the quote format if you have not yet implemented it and always send it to customers to inform them of the total cost of their order before starting production or shipping.
 
5.3. Communication Manual
The Communication Manual compiles guidelines and best practices to reach our potential customers appropriately and generate their interest in our products and our business in general. It is important to be in the minds of consumers. Potential customers are exposed to advertising from our competitors and we must professionalize our communication to attract them and make them aware of our products. Digital presence is more important than ever, so a reliable, updated, and attractive social media profile is essential to attract and retain customers for the artisanal business. The content of our publications, messages, photos, and everything on our profile will be important to capture people‘s attention and convey our values and key messages with which we want to be identified.
 

This link in the chain consists of ensuring that customers received what they expected from our products. It involves follow-up through means such as email or phone calls to customers, to learn their opinions of our products and services. It may be that the product was very good, but it took too long to arrive, or arrived damaged. Post-sale service allows us to detect those areas for improvement in other links of the value chain, helping to increase our competitiveness. 6.1. Thank You Postcard Our opportunity to remain in the minds of our customers does not end with the sale. The purchasing experience continues when the customer receives their order at home. A common practice is to include in these packages a printed postcard with a message of thanks and a relevant photo that speaks to our project, conveying the essence of the pieces, the people behind their creation, and their context. See the example of the postcard used by Ensamble Artesano sent to each customer. Download the thank you postcard used by Ensamble Artesano → 6.2. Flyer In addition to materials such as thank you postcards, other printed materials such as flyers or brochures can be introduced. These can expand on information about our company, tell stories behind the project, make calls to action for customers to share their purchase and recommend us, or promote discounts and promotions. You can download the flyer used by Ensamble Artesano as a reference for this type of tool. Download the flyer used by Ensamble Artesano → 6.3. Certificates for Special Pieces Some pieces, due to their complex elaboration, special materials, artisanal mastery, or price, require a special document that accredits their creators and certifies that the piece is part of a limited existence. This is common for collectible pieces or those made to order or with very limited availability. The special pieces of Ensamble Artesano came with certificates that you can download as a reference to apply this tool to those made in your company. Download the certificate for special pieces used by Ensamble Artesano → Download the format for certificates for special pieces to adapt to your own pieces →