Why can’t a manufacturer be honest with us?

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KMaxwell
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Why can’t a manufacturer be honest with us?

Post by KMaxwell »

I know there are shortages of a lot of things at the moment. But why can’t a manufacturer be honest with us? I want an honest answer to where are the products and when can we expect them to be available. I know that some of the factors affecting the when makes that probably harder to answer.

The manufacturer knows a lot of answers they won’t share with the customers. They know if production of new stock of a product hasn’t even been made yet. And they know why. Or maybe it has been made but it is sitting on their shipping floor because of some other problem in getting it shipped. They also know if they have already shipped product but it is sitting on the floor of the ocean due to a sunken freighter. Or if it is sitting on a container ship anchored off the coast because there is a problem with unloading those ships. They know if it has been unloaded and it is on its way to the distributor. They know a lot that they aren’t telling us.

This is leading to dis-satisfied customers. And customer satisfaction is very important had really hard to regain after they lose it. I have to tell clients that there is no way for us to know when anything may be available. Some distributors are telling us that something will arrive on a certain date and then that date comes and goes and no product.

There are some manufacturers that are air freighting some of their products so their distributors have some of their stuff to sell.

All of this makes me want to find out who actually has product that will fit a need even if the price point is really too high for the client. And if it means scrapping a whole system built around a product because now we can’t find one or more element for that system to expand or be complete and have no idea if it ever will be delivered. But I just called a major online seller and the fellow there said there is a shortage across the board so changing to another manufacturer isn’t the answer. At least for now it isn’t.
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MJKlein
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Re: Why can’t a manufacturer be honest with us?

Post by MJKlein »

@KMaxwell if you really want an answer, I'll give you one, but you won't like it. This is similar to a thread started by @GaryH a while back.

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GaryH
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Re: Why can’t a manufacturer be honest with us?

Post by GaryH »

This is sort of related. A person in the FB Wing user group reported earlier today his Wing screen won’t be fixed from Sweetwater (one of the best IMO) until December now because there are no more screens available! Worst of all they have his mixer already and it was supposedly to take only 3 weeks originally. 6 months! That is truly sad. That is a big stain on the mixer and the maker, regardless of reasons.
KMaxwell
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Re: Why can’t a manufacturer be honest with us?

Post by KMaxwell »

@MJKlein I already saw that. But that doesn’t answer the question I asked. The manufactures know a lot more than they are telling us. I want the answers to the questions from the manufacturer that I asked in my post. I just want them to tell us the truth.

@GaryH I assume that the Facebook poster sent the WING back to Sweetwater. This is inexcusable, they should put a new screen on a plane and get this fixed. If they didn’t send it back, how long ago did they but it? I would ask for my money back. If they still have it the way to work around a bad screen is to disable the screen and use a tablet running one of the apps for control of a WING. As I was writing this I just wondering if anyone has made a custom Mixing Station configuration that would make a tablet mimic the screen.
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MJKlein
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Re: Why can’t a manufacturer be honest with us?

Post by MJKlein »

KMaxwell wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 10:35 pm @MJKlein I already saw that. But that doesn’t answer the question I asked. The manufactures know a lot more than they are telling us. I want the answers to the questions from the manufacturer that I asked in my post. I just want them to tell us the truth.
What "truth" are you expecting to be told?

Behringer has openly stated that there is a world-wide shortage of semiconductors and that the availability of certain products is unpredictable. That's the truth, wouldn't you agree? What else would you have them do? Publish their production schedule?

The truth is they don't owe you an explanation. It may be argued that the manufacturers owe Sweetwater and the other distributors an explanation perhaps, but to expect someone like Behringer to deal with millions of end-users directly is unrealistic. Furthermore, once the shipment leaves the dock, the manufacturer is out of the loop and has no information on the status of shipments to their customers.

Manufacturers ship FOB terms. Once the freight is on board the ship, everything is now the responsibility of the customer, who pays directly for the shipping to the freight-forwarder of their choice. The manufacturer is not informed of any issues with the shipment because they are not the customer of the shipping company. My customers never ask me when their products will arrive. At the time of booking, our company gives them an arrival ETA and after that their shipping company updates them on the status. We, the manufacturer, do not know when the products arrive at the destination, or any details regarding import issues, etc.. Out of our hands.

FWIW, I don't like my answer either. But it is the truth.
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MJKlein
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Re: Why can’t a manufacturer be honest with us?

Post by MJKlein »

KMaxwell wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 10:35 pm This is inexcusable, they should put a new screen on a plane and get this fixed.
Who should put a new screen on a plane?
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Re: Why can’t a manufacturer be honest with us?

Post by MJKlein »

GaryH wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 6:36 pm This is sort of related. A person in the FB Wing user group reported earlier today his Wing screen won’t be fixed from Sweetwater (one of the best IMO) until December now because there are no more screens available! Worst of all they have his mixer already and it was supposedly to take only 3 weeks originally. 6 months! That is truly sad. That is a big stain on the mixer and the maker, regardless of reasons.
Yup. Regardless of reasons, people tend to be vindictive. I'm sure that both Behringer and Sweetwater will lose customers over this because they are convinced that somehow, they personally have been discriminated against in all of this. But, like all things, this too, shall pass, and the WING (and whatever else) will continue to sell and be developed and no one will remember any of this. So, in the end, it pays to be reasonable. I'm not saying we have to like it though. It absolutely sucks.

Btw, there is a new outbreak in Shenzen. That is going to affect a great deal of products. Thank goodness our own outbreak in Taiwan appears to be coming under control. Several of our semiconductor sites in Hsinchu Science Park have been affected (that's about a 15 min drive from my home).
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curtbl
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Re: Why can’t a manufacturer be honest with us?

Post by curtbl »

MJKlein wrote: Wed Jun 09, 2021 3:00 am
GaryH wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 6:36 pm This is sort of related. A person in the FB Wing user group reported earlier today his Wing screen won’t be fixed from Sweetwater (one of the best IMO) until December now because there are no more screens available! Worst of all they have his mixer already and it was supposedly to take only 3 weeks originally. 6 months! That is truly sad. That is a big stain on the mixer and the maker, regardless of reasons.
Yup. Regardless of reasons, people tend to be vindictive. I'm sure that both Behringer and Sweetwater will lose customers over this because they are convinced that somehow, they personally have been discriminated against in all of this. But, like all things, this too, shall pass, and the WING (and whatever else) will continue to sell and be developed and no one will remember any of this. So, in the end, it pays to be reasonable. I'm not saying we have to like it though. It absolutely sucks.

Btw, there is a new outbreak in Shenzen. That is going to affect a great deal of products. Thank goodness our own outbreak in Taiwan appears to be coming under control. Several of our semiconductor sites in Hsinchu Science Park have been affected (that's about a 15 min drive from my home).
Sad but true, not only chips, but possibly and probably lack of assembly due to the virus and staff not in the factories. Then if it was there there is shipping issues, here in the states they are having trouble getting truck drivers for moving freight. Oh yea, now is the time to sell a car used, some are selling for almost new prices thanks to the lack of new cars and trucks, the lots are running empty. BlackMagic Video has same issues, and many other manufactures. I hear if I ordered a wing today, it would be months before I could expect a new one. Sennheiser not much better as same with others. Tough times!
I hear you @KMaxwell having been in both sides of the industry, live production, and manufacturing.... and I"m only guessing but i gotta think the manufactures may not even be able to estimate what and when they can deliver based on supply issues from chips to staff. Touch times to be in. I just hope our food supplies and utilities hold out from cyber threats etc......
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MJKlein
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Re: Why can’t a manufacturer be honest with us?

Post by MJKlein »

Sometimes the issue is just the production schedule. Virtually every scenario that a customer will give assumes they are the only customer. My standard lead time is currently 60 days for machined sand castings. Depending upon the order size, normally the castings can be done in 1 to 3 days, and the following operations within a week. But there is always about 4 to 6 weeks of other customers' stuff in the pipeline ahead of today. It's not the production that takes the time - it's the scheduling. With all the products that are being taken out of China, we are busier than ever here in Taiwan. I see no evidence whatsoever of a global economic decline, living in Taiwan.

Asus, Acer and others are Taiwan companies. We're seeing the beginning of some computer price increases. If one was considering a new computer, now might be the time.
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Re: Why can’t a manufacturer be honest with us?

Post by MJKlein »

curtbl wrote: Wed Jun 09, 2021 6:37 am and I"m only guessing but i gotta think the manufactures may not even be able to estimate what and when they can deliver based on supply issues from chips to staff
To keep customers updated with that kind of information would require a separate department, or even a new company solely devoted to managing that information.
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