Handicraft export development (A.D.A.M.)

Interim evaluation covers the period 5/87-6/87; no methodology is given. ADAM"s performance to date has been impressive in terms of size, production capability, and commitment to quality control and community service. Each member organization has benefited from increased orders, current design information, and quality control instruction. There is some concern on the part of the members about ADAM"s role as it has evolved over the course of the project. In particular, ADAM"s advertising has promoted ADAM rather than the individual member organizations. Another problem is that production is not always well controlled; in one case, members were engaged in making more of an already overproduced sweater, while orders for more popular models went unfilled. Knitting classes, in which ADAM personnel teach new knitting techniques to member organization workers, have been one of the most positive aspects of the project, but there is some concern that strong native knitting traditions, and potentially profitable native products, are being supplanted by the modern production methods. Finally, ADAM needs to develop its own identifiable style; currently member organizations make design decisions in an uncoordinated manner, and often the styles selected are inappropriate for the highly competitive American marketplace. Action decisions for ADAM are to improve communication with producer groups, decentralize quality control to the producer groups in order to avoid a high rejection rate; control knitwear orders more efficiently to avoid overproduction of some models and underproduction of others; and to establish a coherent ADAM "look" (by centralizing design decisions in a single stylist). Abstract is based on PD-AAX-013 and XD-AAX-013-A.