Baki sub-district is one of the sub-districts in Sukoharjo Regency, Central Java Province, where many people work as guitar craftsmen. Among other things, Mancasan Village, Baki, has long been known as the home area for the guitar industry. Since 1975, the villagers have started a guitar making business. Over time, more and more artisans joined in making guitars and gradually this area became famous as a center for guitar making.
The rapid guitar industry in Mancasan Village has an impact on surrounding villages, one of which is Ngrombo Village. Baki guitar centers are known for their good quality, and always receive orders from various musical instrument shops in cities such as Surakarta, Jogjakarta, Surabaya, Bandung and Jakarta. Even the guitars produced by Mancasan Village and Ngrombo Village were able to penetrate foreign markets, such as Denmark, Germany, and Malaysia.
Seeing this potential, the Semarang State Polytechnic (Polines) community service team felt compelled to participate in increasing the competitiveness of this guitar craftsman MSME. Namely doing the guidance of SMEs on guitar craftsmen Al Bintang and Mr. Sukirno. The Polines community service team consists of Teguh Budi Santoso, SE, MM, Dra. Sugiarti, M.Sc., and Rani Raharjanti, SE, M.Sc. provide management, marketing and bookkeeping training. "Besides, it also provides equipment assistance to increase production turnover," said Teguh Budi Santosa, at Mr Sukirno's workshop recently.
Before providing assistance, the Polines community service team conducted a survey about the obstacles and challenges of this MSME. Both businesses face the same problem in managing the business in general as well as in bookkeeping. The equipment used for the production process is limited, in the Al Bintang guitar craft business it is necessary to add equipment in the form of a saw and sandpaper to smooth the guitar components, while in the guitar craft business Mr. Sukirno needs additional equipment in the form of a saw and a router tool to make profiles.
According to Teguh, the business prospects of the two partners have the potential to be developed, but the resources they have are limited. "This condition needs attention in order to be able to increase its production to enter business opportunities well," he said.
Based on an agreement with partners, the problems encountered will be assisted by providing business management management training, namely general management applied in business management and marketing management and bookkeeping, as well as equipment assistance. The assistance was in the form of saws, sandpaper, router tools and sewing machines to make guitar bags. With additional knowledge and equipment assistance, productivity increases are achieved.
With the implementation of this program, both partners can run their business better. "And it can increase production turnover so that it can meet the increasing demand from customers, and can improve product quality," he concluded.