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KIT Concept
 
Isolated fishing villages do not have access to marine plywood, epoxy or fiber tapes. Many do have access to bamboo and all have access to coconut wood. Other timbers suited to laminated boat construction may be available and as far as possible, these will be used for boat components so that substitution can occur when skills have been demonstrated.

In the early stages of prototype development and trails, all components will be precut and laminated at the AM Training Center then trucked or delivered to these villages by boat. After modification and acceptance by fishermen, 'production' boat kits will be sent to villages with the minimum of components needed to ensure building work goes easily. Priority will be given to fishermen who lost craft during the tsunamis until they have all received boats.

To meet the needs of continued demand for superior boats and to replace old boats that are near the end of their useful life, it is important to help to establish Assembly Centers in as many communities as possible.  If woven bamboo can be sourced locally, a boatbuilder from the area will be trained in laminating techniques. This boat builder will be offered micro credit to pay for the tools and equipment needed to set up an independent boat building operation. Imported adhesives and fixings will be supplied to these small enterprises to ensure quality is not compromised by the substitution of inferior material. In other cases where materials are not available due to the extent of tsunami environmental damage, the AM Training Center can continue to supply complete kits leaving the labor intensive but simple task of assembly for the boat owners or trained members of their families substantially reducing the cash .

In some areas this process may take a long time to develop and some communities may decide against the need for self sufficiency in boat assembly and/or boat building. In these cases we will try to ensure that there is a boat building facility within reasonable range of the community so that repairs and new orders can be directed to trained builders. Hopefully this will prevent exploitation of buyers who are not familiar with the technology and new materials.

In India, the SIFFS affiliated boat yards set a high standard and became known for their value for money. Private builders who had not been trained often attempted to provide lower cost boats using look-alike techniques. This will happen to some extent but buyers will quickly learn that substitution of cheaper resins or lack of seasoning of materials will cost more in the end. Micro credit availability will be strictly limited to trained and approved boat builders who maintain technical affiliation with AMTC and who keep good records of loan repayments and ensure a minimum of defaults in their community.

West coast Sumatra differs from SW India in many respects and the pattern of adopting will be different here:
In India all villages are serviced by an extensive inland road network so transport costs are much lower than for remote island communities in our are of concern.
During the period of introduction and wide spread adoption of plywood stitch and tape boats in India, plywood remained cheap and readily available. This is not the case in Indonesia and so the economies of scale in the highly mechanized laminating of wood veneer for plywood will not apply. Lamination will be labor intensive but it will also help job creation and boost employment.
Natural Fiber Composite laminating techniques and the use of epoxy resins not readily available in rural areas will demand a much closer collaboration between the AM Training Center and the distributed Assembly Centers.