Author Topic: First big order(50+ calls) - what to do ?  (Read 2436 times)

Offline Scott Ward

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First big order(50+ calls) - what to do ?
« on: October 27, 2016, 01:49:38 PM »
A well known company wants a sample call to determine the possibility of ordering 50.   That's out of my current ability to produce in a timely manner.  What piece or pieces of equipment are the "next step" for a small timer like myself, to handle this possibility ?

I have two lathes: a Jet 1221VS for inserts, and a separate lathe for barrels only, and a multitude of other power equipment.

When I say "handle it", I mean maintaining the quality as well.

A friend of a friend has helped the opportunity arrive.
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Offline LagrueCustomCalls

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Re: First big order(50+ calls) - what to do ?
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2016, 02:54:57 PM »
Scott, congratulations, that is an awesome opportunity!

Personally, in all my call-making years, I’ve only gotten one similar opportunity. It was for several dozen calls, all basically identical for a special group of people delivered all in one shot. The calls all had a number of special features as well. The job took a lot of planning and work, but I delivered. It paid off in the end and bought my wife and I our first ‘new’ furniture after we were married.

In the many years since then, I’ve built my ‘real’ career in supply chain, logistics and manufacturing. I wish I knew back then (when I got that big order) what I know now!

So some things to consider:

Get some clear expectations from the customer:
-   Get the expectations in writing (email, paper, whatever). Handshakes are great, but on a deal that big, you’ll be purchasing significant amounts of materials, etc. Documents are worth everything
-   Understand exactly which ‘models’ of your call they are looking for. Feature definition, etc.
-   Understand what is expected to come with them (boxes, extra reeds, etc)
-   Most importantly understand the delivery schedule! If it is a single store, they most likely cannot use or display all 50 at once. That would allow you to set up a 10 each week for 5 week delivery schedule during hunting season. A delivery schedule like that sounds much more achievable than ‘We need 50 calls delivered’. However, if they are a chain and can take all 50 at once, you may need to explain your production capacity and negotiate a similar delivery schedule.
-   If you can, underpromise, and overdeliver. No purchasing guy likes late deliveries (does not matter if it is a small sporting goods store or a tier 1 automotive supplier)

For production;
-   Consider/anticipate the quality fallout rate – Back when I did my big order, my quality to my customer was 100%, but my process delivered about 75%. I had to overproduce by 33% on endpieces to get enough done.
-   That Fallout rate affects both throughput time and material use and cost
-   Think ‘lean’ in production. You mentioned you have several lathes. You cannot turn on two lathes at once, but are there other processes that can be done at the same time (finish drying, etc). Anything where you are waiting is wasted time. (I teach lean production at work, so this one is a big one for me).
-   Look at your production process for bottlenecks and eliminate them. If you have only one tool that does a job, then buy another. Not only because that is a bottleneck, but because if that tool dulls, breaks, etc – you’re shut down! (I remember my first year as the plant manager in an Alternator factory I ran. We had a specific tool go down. Cheap. Simple. Not fancy. It broke. Took the whole line down until I could get the vendor to drive one over from the other side of town. Needless to say the toolcrib was well stocked with those after that incident!)

Good luck!
There's a duck call in that block of wood. I just have to find it!

Offline Scott Ward

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Re: First big order(50+ calls) - what to do ?
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2016, 11:46:57 PM »
 Thanks for the advice.  I'm pretty sure this ain't happening this duck season.  A guy bought 4 for himself, and it turns out he has connections.  I've enjoyed the interaction with hunters, making the calls sound the way they describe, showing them videos of existing calls to see if that's what they like, etc.  I've done a dozen for a large wedding - my largest order to date.
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Offline VECtor Calls

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Re: First big order(50+ calls) - what to do ?
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2016, 08:51:54 PM »
Be prepared, often times when custom jobs in the outdoor industry are too good to be true, the are.

Get some kind of payment/some amount of payment up front.
Pass on the tradition. A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

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