Let's pretend I have a Volvo 242
Posted by Jard
Banned Professional Moderator Location: La la land Join Date: 01/25/2006 Age: Fossilized Posts: 3,740 Rally Car: Not a Volvo |
http://www.chevrolet.com/culture/article/chevy-racing-history.html
Seems like you're the irrational one, lashing out everywhere...even at Sean who is one of the nicest guys in the sport. Shame on you. You should (optional) realize as an adult (?) that not everyone sees things the same way as you and there are always more ways to skin a cat as they say. Your views are valid and certainly doable but they aren't cast in a rock tablet by a lightning bolt. You shouldn't (again optional) others because they want to do something a different way. I'd guess both Keith and I have you beat in the business world by most any standard measuring success. Do either of us dismiss you because you do business in a different way? Do you fail to see the parallel there in your treatment of people who want something different than your particular idea of the perfect rally car? Cut to 'oh boo hoo' manufacturing crap. I run a business that requires production, delivering goods and dealing with suppliers. You ain't special pal. You could or at least should consider ways to be at the largest event close to you and visit past and future customers. Too many people make note of your absence to just dismiss it sir. And I'm sure you'd be very welcome. However if you're just that short of time and so far behind ..stay off the fawking keyboard and get to work. 
Just to be clear, I'd just as soon no argue with you or anyone for that matter, we simply have different view points. I can easily accept that and have no problem breathing the same air as you. AND ..every fucking person at the rally this weekend, 90 competitors, maybe close to that for service people, nearly 200 volunteers and organizers have lives, business', families and hundreds if not thousands of reasons to be elsewhere doing something else. If they did there would be no rally. What makes you so special John? Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2014 09:35PM by heymagic. |
Banned Professional Moderator Location: Calgary, AB Join Date: 03/27/2009 Age: Ancient Posts: 1,798 Rally Car: (ex)86 RX-7(built), (ex)2.5RS (bought) |
[ygritte]You now nothing John (Pop culture humour, don't have a stroke about it) I suppose manufacturing 11,000 pieces of something that relies on between twenty-five and thirty five non professional suppliers is nothing in comparison. Oh yah, I also have a delivery deadline with about a two week window and the product has a shelf life... That's what I do for my main client, have been for 15 years. Come to think of it most of what I do is 'deadline' product delivery that requires other people (suppliers) to play along. Beyond that, going to a rally shouldn't be looked at as 'taking a day off,' but as business promotion / customer support. In your case it would be completely legit and anything you spent doing so would be a business expense and pre-tax money... if you pay taxes on your income. (Same as you would if you hired a casual employee to handle the simple, repetitive work) First Rally: 2001 Driver (7), Co-Driver (44) Drivers (16) Clerk (10), Official (7), Volunteer (4) Cars Built (1), Engines Built (0) Cages Built (0) Last Updated, January 4, 2015 
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John Vanlandingham Infallible Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
There is a difference between "l;ashing out" and responding to his "Nice apology' comment.. But of course no words to him, Gene.
I know that very well. For example I have no idea why but seems many people like to buy Subarus and I help them too despite being puzzled by the choice...about 605 of the suspension I make is for Subarus...Been making Subaru suspension today in fact...
Never said they were. You shouldn't (again optional) others because they want to do something a different way. I'd guess both Keith and I have you beat in the business world by most any standard measuring success. Do either of us dismiss you because you do business in a different way? Do you fail to see the parallel there in your treatment of people who want something different than your particular idea of the perfect rally car?
Yeah yeah Gene, fixing cars is the same degree of complexity as making parts for them... There is a whole giant industry with multiple sources just a phone ccall away for getting parts, you know that, I fixed cars for years as well.. Choices abound...It's just a tad different making affordable parts out of raw materials with one mill making this steel in this dimension, one or 2 places doing anodizing and one place doing zinc plating, etc....one supplier supplying the inserts and shocks...
I have to justify my choice to begin moving my family into our house, and working on existing orders that need to get done which are late*----(I can put the orders in and tie up thousands of dollars but if the parts are late in delivery, then I'm late)? You can have your opinion , Gene..and you do. I have mine, I can't make everything for every car so I chose to specialise and choose a couple of cars that work fine and that MORE PEOPLE can afford to buy, build and keep going and i argue the points strongly.. You however have been arguing just for spite, not even honestly--- The OP on this thread says "GIVEN this and then that, what must I do?" and you are all over the place not even addressing the question the guy asked... Do you understand how the whole method of comaprison is supposed to work? Her asks and he wants to limit the dioscussion to what he posited :Given the very nice and extremely expensive E36 M3 ith the zoot 240 hp motor....and given a 240 with a Redblock---what must be done to match/beat the BMW?" That's what he wants to know but you want to scoldf and chastise me so much you write all kinds of crap that the guy ---who we can say you drove away---isn't interested in... And its crap, too... You don't even respond to questions trying to understand what the fuck the crazy shit you're talking has to do with what he asked..100 years of small block chevy winning... You're trolling Gene and I'm disappointed with you because i considered you a friend and pretty grounded. * I order materials, and pre-pay 3 day shipping...Half comes, other half no sign for days. Calls, call back, call "Oh somehow it got sent ground, sorry!---8 working days...kinda puts a hole in scheduling...when it comes--Thursday afternoon---I go down and start the machines and make bushings. I had been planning to go down with Anthony Peto, a nice guy who's a Honda noob from North side--just debuted at Oregon trails ---in a fucking Honda I have been helping him with---but bronze didn't arrive till then so I have to work---and begin moving... My wife and my girls are way more important to me than hanging around schmoozing. Oh notice--a Honda...doing the triage thing about motor, eventually gearbox, control arm and suspension parts strnthening, etc so you don't have a clue what the fuck I work on or build for people so maybe just shut the fuck up about "One way"..... You're the one along with a few others who keep saying it, not me. John Vanlandingham Sleezattle, WA, USA Vive le Prole-le-ralliat www.rallyrace.net/jvab CALL +1 206 431-9696 Remember! Pacific Standard Time is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time. |
Banned Professional Moderator Location: Calgary, AB Join Date: 03/27/2009 Age: Ancient Posts: 1,798 Rally Car: (ex)86 RX-7(built), (ex)2.5RS (bought) |
John, you're not half as persecuted as you make it out to be. In fact, once you apply the 'reap what you sow' correction factor I think everyone would agree you're getting off easy.
Oh, free business tip: If you find yourself paying more for quicker freight on raw materials so you can get your product finished in time, then it is probably time to look at carrying a small inventory of that material you can lean on in production. IE: buy an extra amount of material next time you buy bulk and slow freight and either over produce the 'shared' parts from that material or hold back a bit of raw stock for last minute short-run parts to get orders out. (Yes, short run costs more but if it gets the product out 'on time,' then you build a reputation as a reliable supplier...) Of course there is a cost of carrying inventory of raw materials, but it isn't really the full cost of the materials - assuming you'll use the material eventually - but the cost of lost interest or lost opportunity cost the investment represents. There is also a cost of not carrying the raw materials in stock, which is the possibility of building a reputation of not being able to deliver product reliably on time. Of course I don't have a handle on the cost of materials, the amount of bespoke work vs. common parts, or how much of what you manufacture involves 'off the shelf' bits, so I can only speak in generalizations. It still applies... First Rally: 2001 Driver (7), Co-Driver (44) Drivers (16) Clerk (10), Official (7), Volunteer (4) Cars Built (1), Engines Built (0) Cages Built (0) Last Updated, January 4, 2015
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Matt Watson Elite Moderator Location: Calgary Join Date: 04/17/2013 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 151 Rally Car: Merkur |
One thing that a lot of people miss out on is the degree of kidding in John's posts and over emphasis. He is 1000% easier to get a handle on in person and on the phone, though still, you have to be prepared to take a few lumps (in well meaning jest, but again easier to read when not in print on a website). And I get that some people don't think that the kidding is funny even when they recognize it as such (fair nuf, nothing can be done about that. There are people that I don't like too), cant be friends with everyone. With that out of the way, when I was running my woodworking business, the issue that I ran into is exactly what John was talking about, supplier issues upon supplier issue. I contemplated exactly what you were talking about Keith, but when I did the math it just didn't make sense, it was such a cascade that the costs got out of control: If I carried inventory, then I needed more work to keep up. If I had more work, I needed a bigger shop (4 car garage at the time) to store the materials in and space to store work in progress inventory. If I did that, I had to have more work to cover the overhead that I felt was not a value proposition at the time. If I got more work to cover off all of that (at the time, I could have had the work easily with no problem, I turned down lots of stuff) I would need people to help with it, which entered in what amounted to a completely different business proposal. Instead of using sub contractors for things, I would have to hire full time people as well, and even though they were 'cheap' I'd have to have enough work for them to keep them busy (not just a $ function, if people arn't busy, they get other jobs and/or have time to do things like steal from you) and then enters in all the other HR stuff that no one likes, least of all skilled craftsmen who just want to produce something pretty/awesome/functional. I chose to do what John does, be a one man band with skill and stay the size I was and work extra when I had to. I then worked for various oil and gas companys from tiny to gigantic, and everyone had the exact same issue lol, so I guess its to say, there is no light at the end of the tunnel 
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steve czwalga Ultra Moderator Location: Pittsburgh, PA Join Date: 09/16/2011 Age: Settling Down Posts: 376 Rally Car: 95 awd celica |
Banned Professional Moderator Location: Calgary, AB Join Date: 03/27/2009 Age: Ancient Posts: 1,798 Rally Car: (ex)86 RX-7(built), (ex)2.5RS (bought) |
Yup, we're all aware of that, commonplace problem for written, casual, communication. Unfortunately John doesn't give any leeway for others in this area either, so it spirals out of control, particularly if someone is presenting a differing opinion. Understood, which is why I qualified the suggestion at the end saying I didn't have a handle on the particulars of his business model. But, It remains something to look at. If he's pushing 10 sets of 'relatively universal' items through a CNC machine, pushing 11 sets through to have inventory on hand kinda makes sense, particularly when the raw materials can be troublesome. Absolutely it can spiral out of control and push the business beyond its optimal operational size... It is a balancing act for sure. First Rally: 2001 Driver (7), Co-Driver (44) Drivers (16) Clerk (10), Official (7), Volunteer (4) Cars Built (1), Engines Built (0) Cages Built (0) Last Updated, January 4, 2015
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Matt Watson Elite Moderator Location: Calgary Join Date: 04/17/2013 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 151 Rally Car: Merkur |
John Vanlandingham Infallible Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
John Vanlandingham Infallible Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
Jared Lantzy Infallible Moderator Location: Silver Spring, MD Join Date: 09/15/2008 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 112 Rally Car: Free range navigator |
John Vanlandingham Infallible Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
Jared Lantzy Infallible Moderator Location: Silver Spring, MD Join Date: 09/15/2008 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 112 Rally Car: Free range navigator |
John Vanlandingham Infallible Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
Banned Professional Moderator Location: Calgary, AB Join Date: 03/27/2009 Age: Ancient Posts: 1,798 Rally Car: (ex)86 RX-7(built), (ex)2.5RS (bought) |
Meh. Free world, right to have an opinion and express it, blah, blah... Typical, attack the generalised detail, instead of paying attention to the idea. Perhaps you'd have paid more attention had I said X+10% instead of grabbing numbers out of thin air. The point, which you seemed to miss, was that when you have parts, or raw materials, that cause you delays the fault lies in you not stocking these items, not in your supplier's failure to get them to you when you want/need them. All costs of doing business. First Rally: 2001 Driver (7), Co-Driver (44) Drivers (16) Clerk (10), Official (7), Volunteer (4) Cars Built (1), Engines Built (0) Cages Built (0) Last Updated, January 4, 2015
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