Thread: Semroc
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Old 01-02-2018, 06:43 PM
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Doug Sams Doug Sams is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Plano, TX resident since 1998.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A Fish Named Wallyum
I've seen the eRockets operation. Putting a kit together as it's ordered would take about ten minutes. Very compact and well organized.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Royatl
yea, it would seem the average small kit is better off made in batches that you can sell most of in a month or two. "Make as you sell" is only efficient for things that are large, semi-custom, and slower sell rate
It makes sense to me that kits using common parts could be assembled as ordered. Grab the cone, tubes and rings and put them in the bag. Send the instructions to the printer, and slap a sheet of balsa in the laser cutter, and then add them to the bag and put it in the shipping package.

Fast moving kits, if they even exist these days, could be assembled in batches and put into stock (or shipped to resellers).

Exotic and slow moving kits might be done as group orders sold via the web. That is, with today's connectivity via the forums, a vendor could propose a particular kit, give a minimum quantity and time frame, and then ship products a couple weeks later, assuming the minimum is met. That's basically what Gordy did with this kits, right?

The key point is, to avoid costly inventories of parts that don't move, kits using them would be sold in group order batches where the quantities are known up front and the participants are willing to wait the extra lead time for the custom bits to be fabricated and assembled.

If won't be the same as using on-hand parts, but, no doubt, with all the laser, CNC and 3D-printing technology in use nowadays, custom or semi-custom small batches seem very viable, no?

Doug

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