Before you turn

[Smitty37]

I have seen a couple of threads recently that make me think that this needs to be said.
When you receive Pen Kits
1) Open the package and make sure you got the right kits immediately upon receipt.
2) Inspect the kits you have received immediately upon receipt - make sure all of the parts are there and that the plating meets your expectations. Believe it or not I have had people contact me 3 years after receiving kits to report a problem that was obvious when they received the kits.
3) Report any problems, no matter how small, to the vendor. My policy, and my experience was, that all customer issues were addressed. Some of them have even resulted in changes made to the kits. Also do this, as soon as you see the problem. Don't wait.

If you do those three things you will eliminate a lot of "surprises" when you are trying to finish that pen for delivery tomorrow.

 

[larryc]

I agree with Smitty's comments on finding kit problems, but what do you do when you buy 100 kits at a time, as I do, usually at the beginning of the year, to get a good price for the pens you're going to sell during the year. It's almost impossible to go through all the kits, at the time of purchase, to determine if there are any problems. I have come across a few problems on these bulk buys and I am hesitant to go back to the vendor in September about a kit I bought in January.

 

[ed4copies]

When we did shows and I was buying for sale to retail customers, I always bought 100 plus kits at a time. Doing this, I received a volume discount--let's call it 20%. Which means I got TWO FREE kits for every ten I bought. I continued to figure my retail price based on the one kit cost, so if I had a bad kit, I chalked it up to one of my "FREE" kits.

 

[larryc]

When we did shows and I was buying for sale to retail customers, I always bought 100 plus kits at a time. Doing this, I received a volume discount--let's call it 20%. Which means I got TWO FREE kits for every ten I bought. I continued to figure my retail price based on the one kit cost, so if I had a bad kit, I chalked it up to one of my "FREE" kits.

That's been my philosophy also.

 

[SteveG]

I agree with Larry, re the challenge presented to inspect EVERYTHING when buying kits in large quantities. It just seems like a waste of time, or at least some other activity will grab my priority just enough so that the thorough inspection may not happen. To deal with that, I have established an alternative approach. It is a combo of spot checking along with a quick inspection of every kit.

This is what I do, and I do it almost immediately upon receipt of the order:
1. Verify I got what was ordered (Check all kits for type and plating). This does not require opening the kit bag.
2. Randomly select about 5% to 10% of the kits, and pull everything out to check for quality. This is tempered by history. If I know to expect problems, I will do a larger sample. If problems show up, inspect more of the same type, since it could be all of them.
3. Get back to the supplier with any problems right away.

I have discovered some "systematic" problems, meaning that there was a general problem with multiple kits of the same type, which potentially would have been a significant loss if left to be discovered until the kit was put into production. This approach has worked out well, and I feel is worth the time and effort. Thanks Smitty, for bringing up the issue and suggestion...good advice.:good:

 

[Smitty37]

I agree with Smitty's comments on finding kit problems, but what do you do when you buy 100 kits at a time, as I do, usually at the beginning of the year, to get a good price for the pens you're going to sell during the year. It's almost impossible to go through all the kits, at the time of purchase, to determine if there are any problems. I have come across a few problems on these bulk buys and I am hesitant to go back to the vendor in September about a kit I bought in January.

Well let offer this - set aside about a day and go through the kits, you'll be glad you did.

 

[Smitty37]

I should say that when I was turning a lot of pens myself, I also bought in large quantities. So I know that looking at them is a pain in the toosh on the one hand. On the other hand I found enough problems - several of which were systematic and affected a lot of kits - to make it worth while. But the advice I gave is more for the turner who orders 1 to about 50 kits.

 

[Bikerdad]

I should say that when I was turning a lot of pens myself, I also bought in large quantities. So I know that looking at them is a pain in the toosh on the one hand. On the other hand I found enough problems - several of which were systematic and affected a lot of kits - to make it worth while. But the advice I gave is more for the turner who orders 1 to about 50 kits.

Thanks for the advice Smitty. I'll extend it to other products where possible. I picked up a toggle clamp last summer for use in a jig, but didn't get around to making the jig until this week. And discovered that the clamp was bad. Fortunately, I still had the original packaging and the vendor had record of purchase, otherwise, I would've been outta luck.

I'll be applying the advice upon arrival of my kits from the just placed group buy.

 

[PenPal]

At 82 yrs I sometimes have to wait awhile at the Chemist who makes up my pills in Webster packs while they do a check before releasing to me. They call it vital,bear in mind the most are in the morning but there are eleven of them.

Transparent pen kits make a quick check possible 37Smitties cant be wrong.

Peter.

 

[Smitty37]

At 82 yrs I sometimes have to wait awhile at the Chemist who makes up my pills in Webster packs while they do a check before releasing to me. They call it vital,bear in mind the most are in the morning but there are eleven of them.

Transparent pen kits make a quick check possible 37Smitties cant be wrong.

Peter.

You make me feel like a kid...I'm only 79.