I'd like to make a general statement about deliveries, status updates, etc.
First of all, I'm primarily focused on getting K3s out the door each day
and as a result I only read the list every second or third day, so my
replies to queries here can easily be delayed by that amount. Also, when
the email load on the list is especially heavy I go into scan mode and
do not read every mail.
Regarding shipping and status. - We are steadily ramping up our ship
rate. Its nowhere as high as I would like, but it is increasing each
week as we add staff and our subcontractors deliver assembled PC boards
at a better rate. We have all the fun issues surrounding a significant
ramp up of any new product - supplier glitches, assembly errors,
engineering changes, part tolerance variations, employee training,
exhaustion, over optimism etc. All of these contribute to the
variability in shipping estimates. Each week is a new experience.
Everything is converging in a nice manner, but in a manufacturing ramp
up you never know where your next wave of excitement will come from. :-)
Some of the confusion about status is generated as a result of
inaccurate postings from users here and elsewhere. Every time someone
says something in error about what order date we've shipped, how many we
have on backlog, etc., we get a flood of emails and phone calls to Lisa
and our sales team. When that happens it actually slows our shipping
rate significantly (since Lisa's crew generates all of the daily
shipping orders, each of which is custom for different options etc. ).
Also, with the huge level of calls they are not able to give out
accurate estimates on shipping for orders likely to go out past the next
two to three weeks.
There have been widely inaccurate estimates of how many K3s we have
sold. While it is not prudent for us to post exact numbers, for
competitive reasons, I can certainly say that we did -not- sell 700-1000
at Dayton, and that our backlog is not in the 3000+ range :-) Based on
our current backlog, as the current ramp up continues, we will be caught
up with existing orders received today by March. Increasing our daily
ship rate is my prime focus, but we will not let quality supper in a
rush to ship boxes out the door.
We are trying to be as accurate as possible with our shipping status,
that's why we have added the 'what order dates are shipping next'
section to our status page. We try to update it every 1-2 weeks as we
get a new block of K3s out the door. To be honest, that's the only
accurate statement about shipping we can make. Anything past that is an
educated guess and I can guarantee will be inaccurate. Since our best
guesses are triangulated, dissected and picked apart and second guessed
each time, its best not to go there. :-)
Lisa and her sales crew are a dedicated group who are working very, very
hard to both get new orders entered, enter the huge number of change
orders ( different / added options), answer the flood of daily calls and
emails and to drive shipping with what needs to go out daily. I'm sure
in the heat of the battle they have not been 100% accurate when trying
to estimate exactly when an order will ship for orders shipping out past
2-3 weeks. They do their best, but they are human too and when
overloaded by calls they are certain to make mistakes when estimating
when an order will ship.
Several folks have asked why the shipping dates slipped for the FM
filter, 2nd RX, and DVR.
-- The FM filter delay is a pure function of our supplier. We asked them
to correct some design issues with the filter and they took longer than
we planned to do so. Those are now supposed to be resolved and we are
now awaiting delivery.
-- The delay on the 2nd RX and DVR are engineering resource related.
Wayne and Lyle have to release the final F/W for both of both of these
and also release the final PCB for the RX. They have spent much more
time supporting the existing K3 than we expected. If anyone know how to
clone engineers - we're interested! We have added additional engineering
talent, but for these two items Wayne and Lyle are the experts.
Lastly, if you have a serious concern about our performance, our
veracity or anything else along these lines, you can always contact me
directly. The buck stops here. I can't always give everyone exactly what
they want to know etc, but I do my best. Our office number is 831-662-8345.
Now - back to work!
73, Eric WA6HHQ
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