Mrs Paula Pedro, Director of the Assay Offices’ and Supervision Unit (UCF), on behalf of INCM, will take part in a conference on “Growth and Sustainability in Gondomar”, to be held at the Municipal Auditorium of Gondomar on next 10 September from 02:30 PM.
The UCF Director will address the panel on “The Jewellery Sector and Foreign Markets”, counting also on the participation of Mr Nuno Marinho, president of AORP – Association of Jewellery and Watchmaking Professionals of Portugal, and Mrs Eunice Neves, Director of CINDOR – Professional Training Centre for Jewellery and Watchmaking activities.
The conference will be broadcast live on the social media of the Municipality of Gondomar and the weekly publication “Vida Económica” (Economic Living).
Today’s assay offices face new challenges in order to protect final consumers, not neglecting the necessary partnership with economic operators.
Read here the point of view of Mrs Paula Pedro, Director of the Assay Office and Supervisory Unit, on this and other topics.
The Assay Office has constantly monitored the activity of the Goldsmith and Jewellery Sector in this crucial phase of recovery where some difficulties are still felt. This analysis is based on a constant dialogue at regional level with the most representative operators, companies and their associations. In order to contribute to the revitalisation and recovery of the Portuguese Goldsmith and Jewellery sector, the Assay Office has been considering a solution we announce today: continuing to offer free of charge, and for a minimum period of 6 months, a Safe Transportation Service to the districts of Braga, Aveiro and Coimbra on the routes announced in March and described here.
Similar to the practice already followed, subscribing to the Safe Transportation Service presupposes, in order to ensure greater efficiency and quality, that the Assay Office will place the mark of responsibility on all batches.
With this initiative, the Assay Office continues to ensure the removal of one barrier: the geographic one.
We will continue to reflect on new ways to serve our customers and to support this remarkable Sector, affirming our mark of efficiency and competence: the Mark that makes the difference.
Last week, reciprocating the Assay Office visit to the premises of APAO (Association of Official Expert Appraisers of Goldsmithery and Jewellery) held in October last year, this Association decided in turn to be present at the Assay Office Delegation of Gondomar.
Alfredo Russo, from the APAO, had the opportunity to visit the Goldpark facilities and to know about the marking techniques and other processes implemented by this official service. It was also the opportunity for a conversation about the history of evaluators and assay marks and an occasion to promote greater partnership between these two entities bound by a common goal: Consumer Rights Protection.
MERE PRIOR COMMUNICATION BECOMES SIMPLER AND MORE INTUITIVE
The Assay Office has been promoting open and frank communication procedures with the entire sector of Goldsmiths and Jewellery, with a focus on simpler and more intuitive dialogue for the sake of more informed, less complex administrative procedures .
For that purpose, the mandatory forms have been revised in order to simplify their filling, a process that began with the reformulation of the Mere Prior Communication procedure. The production of illustrative videos as regards some procedures in order to elucidate our customers and final consumers is now under way.
The first of those videos, which you may see here, focuses precisely on how to complete the Mere Prior Communication form, but others will follow.
Stay attentive!
Culminating a process that began with the publication of Portaria No. 374-A/2017 of 31 October 2017, we now inform you that new symbols of the official assay marks will enter into force on next January 1st.
The new updated marking frames may be purchased, as of today, at the Assay Office counters and at the INCM online store.
In line with a simplification approach and with a view to greater proximity of the Assay Office to the Sector and to the final consumer, in addition to their new symbols, the marks will show a unique perimeter, regardless of whether they are set at the Porto/Gondomar or Lisbon Assay Offices.
This simplification approach, besides having the main and obvious advantages of better communication with the final consumer, is consistent with the current process to improve the Assay Office operations and services, an evolution that gained full impetus throughout 2020 and which we will enhance all along 2021, by reaching new efficiency and innovation levels.
In the context of the latest communication initiatives and with a clear purpose of disseminating the contrast mark before the final consumer, the Assay Office has started a partnership with Catarina Furtado, a most popular TV figure among the Portuguese.
The disclosure, made on Instagram by the TV presenter, actress and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, has provided the Assay Office Communication Plan with the undeniable credibility granted by this mediatic personality, whose impact will be felt, by association, in the very Goldsmith and Jewellery sector.
A TVI team visited the Gondomar Delegation at Goldpark last Wednesday to learn about the secrets behind the Assay Office and to disclose the common citizen the meaning of contrast marks set on the rings, bracelets and gold chains worn in everyday living. This news appears at the right time, when the Portuguese are preparing for Christmas shopping, traditionally a time when they turn to the Goldsmithery and Jewellery sector in order to invest in precious metal items or to offer something special.
This action is the result of an Assay Office Communication Plan specially focussed in promoting the value of the certification mark as a fundamental tool for the protection of consumer rights, contributing to the valorisation and prestige of gold and jewellery articles.
The report on the visit was broadcast in the Jornal da Uma (One o´clock News) last Sunday. You can watch it here.
THE MARK THAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
Christmas has arrived at the Assay Office!
The Assay Office is committed to permanently hear and take into account the Sector’s signals. That is why, as of today, it will mobilise its team to extend the hours of service till 20 PM daily until Christmas.
In October, there was a clear increase in the number of articles entered into the Assay Office services, which I’m glad to announce. This trend will be sharply felt in the coming weeks until Christmas and will, of course, have greater impact on the Gondomar Delegation, which already accounts for an increase in the number of customers served and an expected increase in the average waiting time:
In order to anticipate this tendency and satisfy its Customers’ needs, starting today and during the next 6 weeks, the Gondomar Delegation will have an extended service schedule by another 3 hours, while Lisbon keeps its current timetable:
In this way, the optimisation of the levels of service and efficiency of the Assay Office will be ensured. Similarly, the Assay Office hopes to contribute to a greater spacing in the service throughout the day, trying to avoid clusters within the facilities, since these constitute additional risks to the spread of Covid-19.
We call for the best collaboration of all, if possible by collecting works between 18:00 and 20:00. In addition, we request the permanence inside the Assay Office to be avoided, by waiting for service to be completed preferably in vehicles or outside.
In the partnership logic that guides the relationship between the Assay Office and the Sector, we emphasise the importance of maintaining an open and direct communication channel with customers, so that we may continue to know their real needs. At this moment, and because so justified, this kind of communication will be increasingly frequent, given the challenging situation we are going through.
THE MARK THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
It was with optimism that, in September, the workload entered at the Assay Office was normalised, with values very close to those recorded in the same period of 2019. This trend was confirmed in October, with the number of articles entered at the Assay Office services having reached this week more than 2019. This increase reflects the collective efforts in the recovery of the Jewelry and Goldsmith Sector, which we are pleased to note and that it is important not to slow down.
Coinciding with the increase in workload, it was necessary to implement mirror teams in Gondomar, in order to guarantee the continuity of the Assay Office activity, which is the main priority at the difficult and worrying time we’re going through worldwide. However, the operation with mirror teams necessarily implies a reduction in response capacity, both at reception and in the assaying and marking service. The Assay Office assures its customers and the Sector in general that it is exceeding its efforts to ensure the lowest average waiting time (AWT) in service and to continue guaranteeing the short delivery times that are generally verified in the assaying and marking service. For example, among other measures, we have resorted to additional work, sometimes through the night and even on weekends. While there is certainly enormous satisfaction by all when seeing this fantastic recovery of the Sector, it is also believed that the effort made by the Assay Office to contribute and to do its best is also undeniable. It is important that the Sector and customers have the real perception of the commitment of the teams, not only to convey a message of tranquility and security, but because this will also galvanise the motivation with which the Assay Office embraces its mission daily. We therefore thank the customers who gave this feedback. Together we’ll make the difference.
Now, more specifically…
In order to increase response levels, the teams and customers of the two Assay Offices in the North have met at Goldpark. The initiative proved to be very effective, as shown since the third week on the following chart. However, it is unavoidable that, along with the increase in the number of articles received, the Assay Office is now limited to about 50% of the response capacity at reception, which is aggravated by the fact that one of the teams has 1 clerk less. With all transparency, the Assay Office notes that some variation may therefore occur over the weeks.
It should be noted that, this week, the record of more than 200 clients served in a single day was reached, and there was an average of almost 20 thousand articles a day being admitted to the Assay Office, a much higher number than last year’s.
As a result of the strategy and investment that the Assay Offices have implemented, the following graph clearly shows the significant rise in efficiency occurred in all four levels of service – express rate, very urgent rate, urgent rate and normal rate – globally in the Assay Offices of Lisbon, Porto and Gondomar. Indeed, nowadays, even with an increase in activity and when the Northern region has reached its half capacity as a result of the formation of mirror teams, the average delivery times at the express rate, for example, range only between 0.2 and 1 day.
Our focus at the Assay Office remains: providing the best service to our clients, safeguarding the health of all.
THE MARK THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
A MARCA QUE FAZ A DIFERENÇA
