Since past 35 years, the establishers of the company Arvind Shah, Arun Shah and Dilip Shah are dedicated to their business. Vasant Shah, Pravin Shah and DilipSonijoined them to strengthen the manufacturing system of Ankit Gems. Together they are consolidating the business over the years by their cautious approach and have earned a strong good will in the trade. The responsibilities of managing the company's activities have been now gradually passed down the family to the highly qualified and professional young generation, who now play a vital role in the key areas of purchasing, processing, marketing and overall management.Ankit Shah, one of the directors says, “It is our vision to be a leading global player distinguished for our value creation, enabled by an extensively developed supply chain, right from sourcing of rough to manufacturing to distribution of quality polished diamonds and jewellery leading to diversified customer servicing portfolio. We want to create enduring relationship with clients, relationships founded on mutual commitment and trust. He further adds, “We have also been specially selected as one of the limited number of ForevermarkDiamantaires which confirms that our business meets Forevermark standards, including fulfilling the Forevermark best practice and pipeline integrity requirements.”

Their core business is manufacturing and selling diamonds from 0.30cts to 3.00cts in all shapes, colour and clarity. While talking about rough sourcing, he explains, “Our entire rough sourcing is based on our manufacturing requirement which in turn is derived from polished requisition of our customers.The sourcing activity is primarily focused on purchasing the right quality, at the right price, from the right source and at the right time. This is ensured by employing our ERP systems which has adequate checks in place to determine stock requirements based on average consumption level and stock turnover in specific categories and internal segments. We buy same range and sizes of rough from all the sources to have a consistent polish product mix which gives us the confidence to execute our customer requirements on time.”

Coming to manufacturing, Ankit Gems manufactures in Surat in India and Windhoek in Namibia by employing the best workmanship available and using the latest means of technology. “Our manufacturing is carried out at three integrated manufacturing facilities with space of over 50,000 sq. ft area, 700 employees and 1,45,000 carats per year production capacity, managed by team of four full time directors. Manufacturing decisions are influenced by our sales and marketing arm. Customer requirements are directly fed back into the manufacturing cycle to ensure what we produce is what client wants,” Ankit Shah informs. The factory is fully equipped with the latest means of technology and they constantly stay up to date with developing technologies and sophisticated machinery.“We are also equipped with advanced machinery like Helium rough, M-Box, Avalon, Laser machines, Galaxy 1000 etc. Thus we balance our current procedures with latest technology and our tradition of diligence to ensure excellence at all levels of manufacturing,” he further adds. They have implemented ‘Lean Manufacturing Concept’ which has helped them to improve productivity, minimise process cost, reduce process cycle and develop continual improvement culture(Kaizen). He continues, “Our manufacturing process is ISO 9001:2008 certified and we are committed towards constant upgrade in quality system through optimum utilisation of manpower, resources and latest technologies by following our in-house developed Quality Management Principles & PDCA (Plan, Do, Check & Act) Cycle.”

Moving on to distribution and marketing, he says, “We at Ankit believe that, commerce of selling diamonds is more at creating a ‘buying an experience to the customers’ rather than ‘merely selling the product’.It is more ‘people-oriented’ than ‘sales-oriented’.”On-time delivery, impeccable quality standards, innovative and fine craftsmanship distinguishes Ankit Gems from the ordinary. The company has unique grading system, which comply with the international standards. It can also provide certification from laboratories like GIA, IGI and HRD. It provides volume assortments and calibrated parcel selections as well as choice of exclusive diamonds in range from 0.20 cts to 3.00 cts in all shapes, colour and clarity. “Our head-office in Mumbai undertakes centralised assortment and distribution to offices in Hong-Kong, Australia and marketing associates in Antwerp, Dubai, America and Namibia. Through our extensive marketing network we successfully service global markets. Distribution and Marketing is our principal activity which drives all other business activities including sourcing, manufacturing, administration and training”, he says. They have integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) into their distribution and marketing activities by addressing all aspects of customer management such as customer engagement, market research, product/design development, branding, advertising and promotion and customer servicing.“We participate in more than nine international tradeshows to endorse our products on global platform, to gain imprints in untapped markets and for increased business propositions,” he informs.

They have developed a precise and gauged assortment system i.e. Ankit Gems Grading System to meet the customers’ utility functions. “Our unique and consistent grading system provides a transparent diamond structure to our customers. Our in house system facilitates grading of diamonds on ‘Single piece per parcel’Basis as well as provides flexibility to make precise mixed parcel assortments,” he says. 'Single-Piece-Per-Parcel' is their self-developed servicing concept of expressing each diamond's characteristics individually on its packet with their maximum grading details provided by different labs or Ankit Gems Grading System accurately printed on it. “We assort individual stones on the basis of 4Cs as well as on the basis of 16 other parameters recognized by us.On account of extensive in house grading parameters, we proficiently grade diamonds of specific and better colour range i.e. G+, H+ and H– and simultaneously ensure extended version of clarity i.e. SI1+, SI2+ and SI2–.All 16 parameters are subdivided in such a detailed way thus providing precise assortments and on-the-money value to the customers,” explains Ankit Shah. This distinct concept reduces the customer's efforts in selecting their desired diamonds among multiple options available, suiting their Price and Quality Models. “We facilitate provision of third-party certificates for majority of our stones. This service assures customers of authenticity of the diamonds as-well-as bringing time efficiency in the supply chain”, he adds further.

To cater to volume-based customers who manufacture jewellery on programme basis, they provide precise-mixed parcel assortment. To service such customers, they categorise diamonds into about 1000 different combinations of parcel assortments based on 4Cs’. “We assort diamonds to individual colour and clarity gradings, rather than broader quality bands that are standard in the industry. Sub-assorting polished in this way enables us to give greatest value to our customers by supplying precise products”, he says.

At the end, coming to the social responsibility, Ankit Gems contributes to the society in areas of education, humanity, health, infrastructure development (drinking water, improving village infrastructure, construction of schools etc.), environment (Tree plantation, Save Water Campaign), relief and assistance in the event of a natural disaster, and some other activities such as contribution to other social development organisations. The group always strives for sustainable community development. “Ankit Gems believes that contributing to the community is an important duty of a company with the means to influence and improve areas of neglect,” he concludes.

Moving on to distribution and marketing, he says, “We at Ankit believe that, commerce of selling diamonds is more at creating a ‘buying an experience to the customers’ rather than ‘merely selling the product’.It is more ‘people-oriented’ than ‘sales-oriented’.”On-time delivery, impeccable quality standards, innovative and fine craftsmanship distinguishes Ankit Gems from the ordinary. The company has unique grading system, which comply with the international standards. It can also provide certification from laboratories like GIA, IGI and HRD. It provides volume assortments and calibrated parcel selections as well as choice of exclusive diamonds in range from 0.20 cts to 3.00 cts in all shapes, colour and clarity. “Our head-office in Mumbai undertakes centralised assortment and distribution to offices in Hong-Kong, Australia and marketing associates in Antwerp, Dubai, America and Namibia. Through our extensive marketing network we successfully service global markets. Distribution and Marketing is our principal activity which drives all other business activities including sourcing, manufacturing, administration and training”, he says. They have integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) into their distribution and marketing activities by addressing all aspects of customer management such as customer engagement, market research, product/design development, branding, advertising and promotion and customer servicing.“We participate in more than nine international trade shows to endorse our products on global platform, to gain imprints in untapped markets and for increased business propositions,” he informs.

They have developed a precise and gauged assortment system i.e. Ankit Gems Grading System to meet the customers’ utility functions. “Our unique and consistent grading system provides a transparent diamond structure to our customers. Our in house system facilitates grading of diamonds on ‘Single piece per parcel’Basis as well as provides flexibility to make precise mixed parcel assortments,” he says. 'Single-Piece-Per-Parcel' is their self-developed servicing concept of expressing each diamond's characteristics individually on its packet with their maximum grading details provided by different labs or Ankit Gems Grading System accurately printed on it. “We assort individual stones on the basis of 4Cs as well as on the basis of 16 other parameters recognized by us.On account of extensive in house grading parameters, we proficiently grade diamonds of specific and better colour range i.e. G+, H+ and H– and simultaneously ensure extended version of clarity i.e. SI1+, SI2+ and SI2–.All 16 parameters are subdivided in such a detailed way thus providing precise assortments and on-the-money value to the customers,” explains Ankit Shah. This distinct concept reduces the customer's efforts in selecting their desired diamonds among multiple options available, suiting their Price and Quality Models. “We facilitate provision of third-party certificates for majority of our stones. This service assures customers of authenticity of the diamonds as-well-as bringing time efficiency in the supply chain”, he adds further.

To cater to volume-based customers who manufacture jewellery on programme basis, they provide precise-mixed parcel assortment. To service such customers, they categorise diamonds into about 1000 different combinations of parcel assortments based on 4Cs’. “We assort diamonds to individual colour and clarity gradings, rather than broader quality bands that are standard in the industry. Sub-assorting polished in this way enables us to give greatest value to our customers by supplying precise products”, he says.

At the end, coming to the social responsibility, Ankit Gems contributes to the society in areas of education, humanity, health, infrastructure development (drinking water, improving village infrastructure, construction of schools etc.), environment (Tree plantation, Save Water Campaign), relief and assistance in the event of a natural disaster, and some other activities such as contribution to other social development organisations. The group always strives for sustainable community development. “Ankit Gems believes that contributing to the community is an important duty of a company with the means to influence and improve areas of neglect,” he concludes.