Procuring uniforms for the employees of ConocoPhillips’ Matak Island operations was a costly and complicated effort. The uniforms were made in Jakarta – two and a half hours away by plane. A tailor had to be flown in to take measurements, and ill-fitting uniforms had to be returned to Jakarta for tailoring. ConocoPhillips and the Matak community solved this problem through a tailoring training program for the Matak women of Payaklaman, the village closest to the company’s base.
The community provided non-electric sewing machines, and ConocoPhillips provided the trainers, materials and classroom space. Upon completing the first of four courses, the women could fill orders for basic school uniforms.
In 2001, the first graduates of the highest level of training were able to fill orders for security uniforms for ConocoPhillips’s operations. In addition, the Matak tailors filled hundreds of orders for school uniforms and work clothes for the contractor employees who support the ConocoPhillips base.
The training program has been replicated in two additional villages, enhanced with classes on creating household linens. ConocoPhillips continues to seek ways to support the program, such as guiding the trainees to find markets for their products and developing plans to handle larger productions.