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Logged onto Battlefoam.com to check out the PACK 720, really considering picking one up. I go to hit the "add to cart" button and....

This item is currently Out of Stock. Expected in stock date is 31st May 2011. All items ordered with this product will ship at the same time.

Griever wrote:

Out of stock for seven weeks!? The business major inside me is face palming for them.

How many small businesses/manufacturers have you run?

It happens.

Kid_Kyoto wrote:

Griever wrote:

Out of stock for seven weeks!? The business major inside me is face palming for them.

How many small businesses/manufacturers have you run?

It happens.

None, but losing the sales of your most popular product for seven weeks is really really bad, I bet the investors aren't happy.

Edited the thread title to be more mature and informative.

Yea, with products like that you tend to get backed up, especially when 90% of gammers out there want one.

Cleaned out for Adepticon.

I bet pretty much every other small business wishes they had similar demand and profit margins. Why do you think copycats are springing up?

Dashofpepper wrote:Cleaned out for Adepticon.

I bet pretty much every other small business wishes they had similar demand and profit margins. Why do you think copycats are springing up?

Obviously moving that much product is good, but your supply chain needs to be faster than seven weeks. Is Romeo making these by hand?

Griever wrote:

Dashofpepper wrote:Cleaned out for Adepticon.

I bet pretty much every other small business wishes they had similar demand and profit margins. Why do you think copycats are springing up?

Obviously moving that much product is good, but your supply chain needs to be faster than seven weeks. Is Romeo making these by hand?

No, they have like two manufacturing plants, and didn't they just announce another one opening at Adepticon?

Dashofpepper wrote:

Griever wrote:

Dashofpepper wrote:Cleaned out for Adepticon.

I bet pretty much every other small business wishes they had similar demand and profit margins. Why do you think copycats are springing up?

Obviously moving that much product is good, but your supply chain needs to be faster than seven weeks. Is Romeo making these by hand?

No, they have like two manufacturing plants, and didn't they just announce another one opening at Adepticon?

That last statement was meant to be a pretty obvious hyperbole

Guess I'll see if I can find one second hand, at least the foam is still good to go. If KR-Multicase's Website wasn't the most confusing thing on the planet, they could really reap the benefits of this.

Griever wrote:

Dashofpepper wrote:Cleaned out for Adepticon.

I bet pretty much every other small business wishes they had similar demand and profit margins. Why do you think copycats are springing up?

Obviously moving that much product is good, but your supply chain needs to be faster than seven weeks. Is Romeo making these by hand?

Not trying at all to be snide here, but you do you have any knowledge of the manufacturing process for this item, or for that matter, any other item? 7 weeks is very quick turnaround time on something like this. I'm doubting it's possible to get those bags from a reliable domestic supplier in under 8 weeks. Overseas reliable supplier, I'd add 6-12 weeks.

Manufacturers don't just wait around for orders and turn on the machines. They usually have a full schedule and when you pop on order in, you go into the next available slot. Trying to estimate demand for product is a nightmare for small companies. Estimating demand from Gamers makes x3 more difficult. Throw in that he's also supplying stores, and he has another drain on resources.

I'm just happy I got my latest shipment in before Adepticon. UPS delivered a large pallet of foam and bags last week, including a big chunk of 720's. You can blame me for part of the sell out. That and small fact that Battlefoam bags are selling better each month.

mikhaila wrote:

Griever wrote:

Dashofpepper wrote:Cleaned out for Adepticon.

I bet pretty much every other small business wishes they had similar demand and profit margins. Why do you think copycats are springing up?

Obviously moving that much product is good, but your supply chain needs to be faster than seven weeks. Is Romeo making these by hand?

Not trying at all to be snide here, but you do you have any knowledge of the manufacturing process for this item, or for that matter, any other item? 7 weeks is very quick turnaround time on something like this. I'm doubting it's possible to get those bags from a reliable domestic supplier in under 8 weeks. Overseas reliable supplier, I'd add 6-12 weeks.

Manufacturers don't just wait around for orders and turn on the machines. They usually have a full schedule and when you pop on order in, you go into the next available slot. Trying to estimate demand for product is a nightmare for small companies. Estimating demand from Gamers makes x3 more difficult. Throw in that he's also supplying stores, and he has another drain on resources.

I'm just happy I got my latest shipment in before Adepticon. UPS delivered a large pallet of foam and bags last week, including a big chunk of 720's. You can blame me for part of the sell out. That and small fact that Battlefoam bags are selling better each month.

It's quite clear that I do not

Does your store have a website?

Griever wrote:Logged onto Battlefoam.com to check out the PACK 720, really considering picking one up. I go to hit the "add to cart" button and....

This item is currently Out of Stock. Expected in stock date is 31st May 2011. All items ordered with this product will ship at the same time.

Out of stock for seven weeks!? The business major inside me is face palming for them.

Wouldn't a business major know that a manufacturing slow down or (most likely) a shortage of materials at a factory is to blame for back orders and not the actual merchant? I'm not trying to mock you, just saying that if you ever had to deal with major manufacturers of goods, you'd know that a vendor is genernally at the mercy of their distributors manufacturing speed. Sure, they could look elsewhere for another manufacturer, but that takes time and the new manufacturer may want more money or have inferior materials, etc which in itself is a headache at the best of times.

Its not like they are taking a 7 week vacation and just ignoring customer orders. There is probably a very specific piece for this certain bag that is suffering a shortage at the manufacturer level, well out of control of Battlefoam. Also, "expected release/stock dates" are generally over shot, so that if it does take a little longer then normal to restock/ship, there is less tomfoolery from complaining customers, like threads that aren't news or rumors posted in the "News and Rumors" forums.

Edit: I guess it could be news for someone who was planning on buying one, but the initial thread and its title implied a mini rant, rather than be informative.

Edit 2 : Its worth the wait.

There's a reason MIT offers a masters degree in Logistics and Supply Chains. It's not easy stuff.

NELS1031 wrote:

Griever wrote:Logged onto Battlefoam.com to check out the PACK 720, really considering picking one up. I go to hit the "add to cart" button and....

This item is currently Out of Stock. Expected in stock date is 31st May 2011. All items ordered with this product will ship at the same time.

Out of stock for seven weeks!? The business major inside me is face palming for them.

Wouldn't a business major know that a manufacturing slow down or (most likely) a shortage of materials at a factory is to blame for back orders and not the actual merchant? I'm not trying to mock you, just saying that if you ever had to deal with major manufacturers of goods, you'd know that a vendor is genernally at the mercy of their distributors manufacturing speed. Sure, they could look elsewhere for another manufacturer, but that takes time and the new manufacturer may want more money or have inferior materials, etc which in itself is a headache at the best of times.

Its not like they are taking a 7 week vacation and just ignoring customer orders. There is probably a very specific piece for this certain bag that is suffering a shortage at the manufacturer level, well out of control of Battlefoam. Also, "expected release/stock dates" are generally over shot, so that if it does take a little longer then normal to restock/ship, there is less tomfoolery from complaining customers, like threads that aren't news or rumors posted in the "News and Rumors" forums.

Edit: I guess it could be news for someone who was planning on buying one, but the initial thread and its title implied a mini rant, rather than be informative.

Edit 2 : Its worth the wait.

Agreed, that's why I edited the title. I was just a little upset at first.

Also, it may be that stock will be coming in slowly for the next 4 weeks but they don't wish for the 'some-have-received-theirs-and-others-not-BF-sucks' game. Instead they have used information not at our disposal to decided on a date at which they can assure no 'oops didn't I put that in there' and that everyone will be receiving product from.

While estimating demand can be impossibly difficult this is still not good for BattleFoam. Giving your competition free reign for 2 months is a good way to lose a lot of business.

Given this knowledge a quick competitor could push advertising hard, maybe have some type of sale during this period and pick up a lot of new business.

I'm still using Sabol cases because that is what I bought years ago and they still work so I haven't been interested in spending money I didn't need to on a new case for no reason but I've bought tons of foam over the years for new models and such. My large Sabol case is finally starting to show some wear and tear so I may be replacing it soon but I've bought Sabol foam for something like 7-8 years now.

Some people like to buy the new hotness regardless of whether they truely need it or not but there are a lot more people that are on a budget and would rather spend their disposable income on models, not trying out different cases so once you get a customer using your case, odds are good you've got that customer for the life of your case, which has been a good point for BattleFoam from what I understand as their cases are built very well.

My 2 cents...

*Edited for spelling, it's late and I'm tired...*

Griever wrote:If KR-Multicase's Website wasn't the most confusing thing on the planet, they could really reap the benefits of this.

sure, if you want a clearly inferior product...

This well explain what is happing, hope it helps.

http://www.youtube.com/user/BeastsOfWar#p/u/25/7cV-TFnrFWc

For the lazy...

Battlefoam is switching over to a new 'ballistic nylon' material for the 720 which will be even better and more durable than the already good and durable... current material.

So, the old stock was allowed to sell through, and the new stuff will be in stock on the aforementioned date.

The other bags may or may not also switch over at some as of yet undetermined point in time.

I work in international furniture sales, we represent 13 manufacturers. These are big companies that sell in the 10s of millions a year, they run out of stock all the time.

When demand outstrips supply there's nothing that the company can do about it. Orders take weeks to months to fulfill. At the same time there is a finite amount of stock they can order and store at any one time so that they don't tie up all of their funds at once.

Y'know this is turning into a surprisingly informative discussion of how supply chains work.

That's why I love Dakka.

mikhaila wrote:

I'm just happy I got my latest shipment in before Adepticon. UPS delivered a large pallet of foam and bags last week, including a big chunk of 720's. You can blame me for part of the sell out. That and small fact that Battlefoam bags are selling better each month.

That's really good to hear. I know for awhile you were hesitant about carrying Battlefoam products.

Just to let everyone know... we have a large number of Black 720's now in stock at Wayland