Frank Pellow,

Thank you!

Peter

+1

I'm up for that.  Email sent.

e-mail sent. Hope all is well, Peter.

Mail sent.

Thanks for all your efforts.

+1

First I would Ike to say thank you to all those who have volunteered and have sent emails.  Your support and understanding means so much to me as this project approaches the crunch time.

Spent part of the day today researching the Harmonized Tariff Schedule and doing paperwork for customs.  Fun reading if you are looking to cure your insomnia.  Who ever thought up all those categories anyway?  Why should the tariffs for a plastic tool box be 76% higher than those for plastic shipping containers and carrying cases (5.3% versus 3%)?    

The shipment from Germany is scheduled to arrive in Baltimore around the 3rd of November.  Pray for good weather.  Then of course we will have to wait for the shipment to clear customs, etc.

I would like to thank Sean Ackerman for looking up and confirming my guess as to the applicable Hts code, and I hope that you all will cherish your plastic "boxes, cases, crates, and similar items" and find creative ways to use them "for the conveyance or packing of goods".

Peter
 

That's definately true for me.  I expect that almost half of my systainers are used to carry stuff rather than tools.

Today was to be the day to print the first batch.  I know, no picts, it didn't happen.
 Look at part of the 2 pallets of stuff here.  Remember, this is about one third of the total.  You are not seeing them all in these picts.






Notice how the latch stands out against the blue.  Yes, I also brought my Festool safety glass case in to also serve as a color match reference.

How did they turn out you ask?  They didn't.  I refused the color match.  They are ordering new ink.

Two hours wasted.

Stay tuned.

Peter

hey, second picture, front row 3rd from the right, it`s one of mine.

Peter-

The colors (latch and 'tainer) are very striking -- good choices. Looking forward even more now.

--Steve.

 

Hahahaa!   Too true (sometimes)!!

Johnny,

I see that you have a bunch of sketchup models. any chance of you rolling them all up into a zip file of if it you already have to you have a link?

First batch is being printed on October 26th.  Yeah!  Drove down to inspect color match.  Yeah!  Can't be there to watch and photograph.  Boo!

Others are in the middle of the Atlantic in a really big box!

Thanks for your patience!

Peter

I wanted to update all of you – especially those who so gratiously offered to receive their Fogtainers early sans the green latches.  You will not be receiving your latches early.

Earlier I had posted here about my receipt of the only remaining blue systainers in the US and what the game plan was.

The situation with this initial order has gone so far off that I feel you should see some correspondence.  This was cut and pasted from my email.  I have in the text made some alterations only to the point that the information had nothing to do with the situation at hand or could, because of the searchability of the internet, cloud this situation.  That information had to do with pricing or names.  Nothing of relevance has been eliminated.

If you see asterisks and notes, those were added by me for clarification.  I am currently investigating other printers within 800 miles of my location as well as all the other aspects – legal and otherwise.

P.S.  The shipment from Germany arrived in Baltimore on the 4th and is awaiting Customs inspection.
________________________________________

Subject:    Re: Custom Blue box
Date:    October 29, 2010 9:44:37 AM EDT
To:    xxxx
Bcc:    plhalle@comcast.net     ****(NOTE:  I always BCC myself to prove that the email system worked)****

XXXX,

I have gone over this situation in my head ever since I left your facility yesterday afternoon and have had discussions with people on my end.

At the risk of being blunt, this situation in its entirety is unacceptable - not just with the small cases.

The project as discussed and priced by your firm was to print 4 different size abs plastic storage cases with the logo supplied at the same location referenced off the bottom of the case.  I paid the fee of $XXXX to have the necessary work performed to have a prototype produced.  I submitted that prototype to my people for approval and based on the quality of that work I received the go ahead for this project.  They were quite impressed with the quality of the work and only suggested that there be additional prints to fill in the voids in the logo caused by the texture of the products.  They placed an order with me for product to be shipped back to Europe to prove that they had a possible vendor to provide these services here in the US.  **** NOTE:  Several people from Festool ordered Fogtainers.  I have no idea what they intend to do with them. Tanos would love to have a tried and true vendor for these services in North America. *****

I supplied to your firm the anticipated numbers as well as the suggestion that additional prints be made to improve the quality of the finished product.  You provided pricing for the printing based on several different scenarios based on quantity and the request for additional prints, and then I provided to my "customers" images of the prototype and took orders.

Following delivery of the product to your facility and during a discussion to make sure that there weren't any misunderstandings, we went over two changes - one of which was suggested by your firm when I picked up and paid for the prototype.  The suggestion made by your firm was to lower the logo about 1/16" to 1/8" so that it was centered between the bottom of the case and the small embossed oval at the top of the area where it was to be printed.  The only other change was the color.

I made two trips to your facility to approve the color at your request.  You brought out one of the smallest sized cases and applied a plastic adhesive overlay of the logo to illustrate that you understood the placing requirements.

On Wednesday afternoon I received a phone call informing me that the printing had been completed but the logo had been moved to be centered on the larger cases due to difficulty in the printing process.  I agreed to come out on Thursday to inspect.  At no time prior to the completion of the printing in this whole process was I made aware of any issues.

Upon inspecting the product on Thursday I noted the following:
1.  The logos are not printed parallel to the top or the bottom of the cases.  
2.  The logos appear uncentered from left to right
3.  The logos are not printed in the agreed to locations in reference to the bottom of the cases as we agreed prior.

Frankly I was shocked.  Initially I was most concerned with the appearance on the smallest sized cases, but after thought and discussion this situation was, and is, totally opposite of what I anticipated from a firm with the type of clients that your firm has served over the past 100 years.  Your firm, thru its actions, has produced a product that in its current form I can not offer to my customers and puts me into an adverse financial situation.

Please advise as to the steps that your firm is going to take to rectify the current situation and either bring the product back to its original condition or reprint as was originally agreed to.

I await your written response.

Peter Halle

____________________________

On Oct 28, 2010, at 4:16 PM, XXXX wrote:
Peter,
 
 Here is the original printed case. (NOT CROOKED) ****NOTE:  An image of the prototype was attached.  That is Fogtainer 1 that Brice owns now.****
 
The issue with the smaller units being slightly crooked is that the lip above the logo interferes with the pad. Apparently, she was actually
Fighting to keep the cases as "in-place" as possible. Which failed.
 
But this case looks fine, so im attributing that to human error.
 
I should have taken my time with these and printed a sample of each and every case since 1/16" inch tolerance left to right is critical.
 
I didn’t want to have to charge you for four pre-production samples, but I should have made them anyways.
 
These are the issues associated with doing too much at once and not focusing.
 
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
I had two cases wiped down as best as possible. Im going to see what they look like when the plastic coating has settled so we can decide whether the logo should be reprinted or left alone.
 
(they might look too rough after being wiped down)
 
Please do not think that we're incapable, it was my fault for not separating all four cases and doing pre-pro's from the start.
 
 
I’ll let you know how the small cases look in the morning after being wiped.
If they are acceptable, I could have the smaller cases reprinted by Wednesday.
 
Thanks
 - XXXX
________________________________________

I suspect that Monday will bring me the news that I dread.  Just more complications opportunities.

Hang in there guys.  I am working on this.

Please trust me on this one.

Peter