DESIGNER WINS DOST SETUP AWARD
“Others asked how I survived after everything (I went through). I tell them it’s about hard-work and when you don’t know any other thing to do, pray,” says Vicente Ebarita Jr.
As a college drop- out, his talent and love for drawing found him a job, and now a stable and awarded business running for 19 years.
Vicente Ebarita Jr., founder and general manager of Ceramikhaus Cebu was awarded as Cebu’s oustanding small enterprise technology upgrading rogram (SetUp) adoptor of the Department of Science and Technology (Dost) last Wednesday.
“I am happy that the Dost recognized me as one of its outstanding adoptors, although, I honestly did not expect this,” he said in a mix of English and Cebuano.
It was in the 1988 when Ebar- ita left his job as a designer. For 16 years, he spent his time in a company creating patterns for ceramic plates.
But, wanting to gain more time and financial freedom, the once young designer pursued a rattan-made handicraft and furniture export business all by himself using the P3,000 money he received as a company bonus.
First downfall
However, in 1994, he had to stop exporting when most of his buyers preferred to source rattan furniture from neighboring countries like Indonesia and Vietnam.
This did not dishearten Ebarita. For him, there there was no time for closing down the business. Instead, he gradually diversified back into ceramic business where he had a vast working experience, and talent. He exported ceramic materials to countries like Japan and United States.
Like the first downfall, years went by and the businessman found himself unable to compete with the cheap ceramic products from other countries, primarily China.
“That time, I had to decide what to do, I’ve seen others close down and so I decided to cater to the local market instead of exporting,” said Ebarita.
Tapping the local market
It was on May 20, 1998 when Ebarita founded Ceramikhaus of Cebu.
Instead of tapping the softening export demand, he pledged to concentrate on the ceramic needs of the local market, from vases, plates, mugs, and other ceramic corporate giveaways.
“Others asked how I survived after everything (I went through), but I tell them it’s about hardwork, and when you don’t know any other thing to do, pray,” he said. Aside from being a businessman, Ebarita is also a pastor at the Mactan Christian Community Church.
Intervention
Bringing in innovations to the company by tapping new technology and resouces of Dost has also allowed him to survive and flourish in the local market, serving corporate clients all over the country, he added.
Ebarita obtained a loan worth P400,000 from Dost in 2014 through its StepUp program at zero percent interest. Fully paid last April 2017, the money was used to purchase a ceramic de airing pugmill technology.
Ebarita also received consultancy services from Dost for a productivity study, cleaner production, and energy audit.
These innovations introduced in the company has allowed Ceramikhaus, composed of 30 people to date, reduce downtime for rework and rejects, and increased production volume by 30 percent.