Local Unmentionables: Notes on YOUR corner of the world

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bahamut
Tony, I've been in Jersey for 6 years. Surely you knew?

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Tony Leggett
Wow - getting close to $100K - I think you're on a winner there, JK.

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Cloudscout
Back-End Python.

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johnny k
James, we're going to make it in the US. Of course many ICs are made overseas, but for board assembly, the bucks we'll save overseas is probably not worth the pain of getting it right. I stare at a spreadsheet with real numbers as the volume increases, though, and understand how such decisions are made.

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I can't begin to articulate my bitter rage at the ineptitude of the manufacturers that have lead us to this point that we're over half a year since the first print run sold out and we still don't have a Street Date...

we have a meeting with someone we trust that's been dealing in China for years and he told me that I wasn't doing anything wrong…that when you work with China there are 4 options.

A. You produce so much through a company that if you leave they'll go bankrupt; there's only 2 or 3 companies in our entire industry that fall into that category, but it gives them an influence over their foreign manufacture that makes me green with jealousy.

B. Have 1 to 3 people on the ground in China in your employ; their entire job is to keep the company in check. Most of the companies above also make use of this option.

C. Send over one or more people 2 to 4 times a year to keep tabs on the manufacturer. Both 2 and 3 are important because when dealing with the Asian culture, a face-to-face bond where you've gone out and drank sake and sung drunk is far more important and lasting a relationship than any virtual business (a reality my brain simply has had difficulty wrapping itself around). A few more companies can afford this; note that the cost to send even a single person over for the minimum 10 days to make a trip worth while, can get an entire 200 page, B&W book printed in the US.

D. You're the low man on the totem pole, with no connections and no influence, so despite signed contracts, you get kicked in the teeth continually. By default, Catalyst has been in this position...

Since we'd been kicked in the teeth on the first printing of the box set (you all know the delays on that one), we were in the process of negotiating with a packager here in the US. What this means is the packager has offices here in the US, so we can communicate with them effectively, in our time zones, and so on, but we ultimately pay more for the product as they then sub-contract the work to various foreign manufacturers; i.e. we have to pay for the packager's profit. We felt it well worth the extra cost to ensure no delays...

We've learned that because we don't have anything we can hold over those companies to try and keep them in line, that we'll potentially always be screwed over. What, legal action you say? Really...against a manufacturer in China? Companies massively larger than us have gone down that path to oblivion. Against the packager? No recourse there..."we've done all we can...it was the manufacturer."

So I've spent the last two months negotiating with a half a dozen new manufacturers in the hopes one of them might actually treat us with a modicum of respect; cause we can't possible re-use the current one again. And were in the process of trying to move us from slot D to slot C by getting people on the ground in China several times a year.

And we've learned that tooling costs will synch you with a company, even when you wish you could go else where, still potentially tying your hands into a kicked in the teeth situation every time you go to bat.

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bahamut
Tony, I've been in Jersey for 6 years. Surely you knew?

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johnny k
I should be clear, the card is for people who are giving Twine to others but need a placeholder until Twine gets delivered. It doesn't really make sense in other contexts. (I guess you could have a gifting card sent to yourself...) If you pledged for a shirt, they'll probably be mailed out in January.