PM-1127VF-LB - The long wait.....

Rich Z

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Sigh... Yeah, I know these things tend to have a waiting period associated with them, and Matt told me 10 to 12 weeks when I ordered it (09/19/2013), but dang......

Anyone else in the queue for one of these little beasties?

How about those who have gotten one? How long did it take you before delivery?
 
Sigh... Yeah, I know these things tend to have a waiting period associated with them, and Matt told me 10 to 12 weeks when I ordered it (09/19/2013), but dang......

Anyone else in the queue for one of these little beasties?

How about those who have gotten one? How long did it take you before delivery?

I don't have one of these machines but, speaking from true knowledge, these are the hardest orders to fulfill because of the factory they come from. These are not the knock-off units. Let me give Matt a call or you can contact me through my work website shown below.


Ray
 
I don't have one of these machines but, speaking from true knowledge, these are the hardest orders to fulfill because of the factory they come from. These are not the knock-off units. Let me give Matt a call or you can contact me through my work website shown below.


Ray

Thanks. I've contacted Matt a few times via email and he's always been responsive to my queries. I understand his predicament. He's caught between a rock and a hard place. What can you do when the manufacturer says one thing and reality proves another?

And he has offered to upgrade me to a larger unit for free if I want to, but honestly I just don't have room for a larger unit. I'm going to be struggling enough as it is just with a 500 lb machine, much less one at least twice as heavy. Then the larger ones are 220v, which would mean some rewiring needing to be done. So I'm just resigned to waiting for what I want.

I'm just curious as to how many others may be waiting for one as well, and what has been the typical waiting period for those who also have gotten one. I'm not in any real hurry, as this is just a hobbyist toy for me, but there are things I want to do in the garage that have to wait until after I get this thing installed so I can see what room I have around it.

Plus I've never been one much for patience waiting for something. When I was a kid, Christmas took FOREVER to get here. But I actually COULD have used this last summer when I was working on one of my cars. There are some things I wanted to do that my little Emco-Maier Compact 5 just wasn't up to the task to handle.
 
Sadly, there is no typical wait time... Things either work smoothly or they don't.

I got the scoop on your batch of machines. It was supposed to leave China before the Chinese New Year but, it didn't. For those who don't know, many Chinese folks live temporarily in or near the cities to work but, actually live much further away. During the Chinese New Year, most folks take about 2-3 weeks off to go back home and reunite with their families. Anyhow, this is the Chinese New Year time and during this time, it's pretty difficult to conduct normal business in China. Other countries have similar periods and vacation times... US is one of the few places that work it's citizens all year round.

Ray

PS: If it makes you feel any better (and it wont) I had to wait about 5 months for a machine once. First it was delays in China then, a blizzard in the US, followed by consecutive union worker strikes at the loading dock then railroad yard... -Sheesh... -And my feelings are hurt... Matt never offered me an upgrade :).
 
Hmm, well I believe the Chinese New Year for this year was 01-31-2014. So shouldn't that be coming to an end like, um, right now?

Heck, how long does the shipment take to get to the USA once it leaves China anyway?
 
Chinese New Year is coming to an end, but it takes many factories some time to get running at full bore. Some workers never come back from their home villages or end up going to a different city. So you have to hire new people and train them, at least in a rudimentary way.

Tom
 
Chinese New Year is coming to an end, but it takes many factories some time to get running at full bore. Some workers never come back from their home villages or end up going to a different city. So you have to hire new people and train them, at least in a rudimentary way.

Tom

Great..... I'll likely have my lathe being built by some new hire with rudimentary training......... :(
 
Not to worry...

There's about 40 people who work at this particular factory. The majority of them have been there for a long time. The guy who's responsible for the surface grinding has been there for 20 years... Also, they don't leave machines half-built and then leave for 3 weeks. For all we know, your machine was built 3 weeks ago and is just waiting to be crated. It could very well be crated but is waiting to be shipped. We don't have that level of detail on the process...

The way it works is that the factory makes machines in batches for several distributors. Matt is a distributor. They do it this way because each distributor wants different customizations. Once they start a batch, they finish it. The factory that Matt works with actually kicked one vendor out of their service because they wanted the machines made too cheaply... -Pretty bad when a Chinese factory tell you to go jump...

And if it makes you feel any better, my lathe was "Born during the New Year". Once I set it up, it's run fine ever since and I've demonstrated here in various posts that it cuts within about 0.0002" of where I want them. I'd venture to say that every PM1236 ever made is capable of the same...

It will be OK...

Ray



Chinese New Year is coming to an end, but it takes many factories some time to get running at full bore. Some workers never come back from their home villages or end up going to a different city. So you have to hire new people and train them, at least in a rudimentary way.

Tom
 
Hmm, well I believe the Chinese New Year for this year was 01-31-2014. So shouldn't that be coming to an end like, um, right now?

Heck, how long does the shipment take to get to the USA once it leaves China anyway?

5-6 weeks. There is railway time and the boat ride can be up to 4 weeks depending on the season and shipping line. And once it hits a port in the USA, it can be 1-2 weeks before Matt gets it and then, he has to open every one and inspect it.


EDIT: One other thing: These shipping problems could be avoided but, you'd have two choices: 1) Matt could pre-order 5 times as many machines but he'd have to pay rent for a 5x bigger warehouse. He'd also have to pay interest on the money invested in inventory that sits in stock. He'd also buy a lot of machines with "middle-of-the-road" features because, he wouldn't want to risk having the expensive ones sitting around because they don't sell as fast. Anyhow, the additional rent he pays would increase the cost of the machine. 2) The next alternative is to do what the other vendors do. Order in large quantity but ask for grade 5 bearings instead of grade 7 bearings and use grade 2 bolts instead of grade 5 bolts and ask for Rockwell 40 heat treating instead of Rockwell 48-50 .... -and that saves $200 -$300 per machine. They take other short cuts too.

Either way, you lose.


Ray
 
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That's great, actually. Small factories like this can have a much more cohesive work force, with lots of personal relationships. Those, and how long the workers stay, can really improve quality if the factory owners care about it. And it's great to hear that these particular ones do!

I think that "Made in China" is a nuanced story, just like "Made in USA" or "Made in Germany." I have seen great and bad products out of American and German factories (bad German stuff usually doesn't make it to the US market, but you sure see it in Germany). And while we are all familiar with bad Chinese products (and yes, it can be so bad it hurts :) ), we also shouldn't forget that the iPhone is made in China - and its quality is great. It depends on what the buyer specifies, checks for, and pays for. And from all I hear (and can see from the excellent write-up of your visit, Ray), Matt at PM really does seem to care. That's more than you can say about a lot of outfits!

Tom



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