Woodpeckers square being shipped

[JBag09]

  After some of the threads I've seen the last few months about Woodpeckers being later than expected with their OTT's. To my surprise today, I received a phone call from them saying that the square I ordered was being shipped [big grin] Think I even remember which one it was I ordered too, lol. Anyone else hear from them?

 

[Billedis]

Nothing yet, ordered the Paolini rule, squares, and MFT3 square.  Regards, Bill

 

[dltflt]

I received an email saying mine shipped.  I didn't think we were ever getting this one.

 

[Cheese]

Got my notice also on the precision framing square shipment.

Interestingly enough, the framing squares ordered in January are shipping before the Paolini rules ordered in December.

 

[Greg M]

I'll most likely be in the last batch to be shipped since my order was a last minute order but it's good to know that it will be soon  [big grin]

 

[Cheese]

I'll most likely be in the last batch to be shipped since my order was a last minute order but it's good to know that it will be soon  [big grin]

Ya, I already owned the 26 x 16 square and had used it so much that I immediately wanted the 18 x 12 version because of its size. The 26 x 16 can get to be quite unwieldly at times. So as soon as I got the Woodpecker notice, I pulled the pin. It was either the 1st or 2nd day of the announcement.

 

[JBag09]

Mine was waiting for me when I got home. This will make things so much easier now [big grin]

 

[Drich]

I just got this in my email box now. What a joke this company is. How hard can it be to machine some 6 inch rulers. I have worked in machine shops and this should take minutes to make on a cnc machine. This will be the last dime they get from me.

Thank you for your patience with regards to the delivery of your One Time Tool purchase of the Woodpeckers Stainless Steel Paolini Pocket Rule/s.  You may have already received  your shipment, and if not, you will soon! We expect to have shipments completed by the end of July. We are doing everything we can to ship these tools out as quickly as possible.  Thanks again.

 

[Gary in Texas]

I just got this in my email box now. What a joke this company is. How hard can it be to machine some 6 inch rulers. I have worked in machine shops and this should take minutes to make on a cnc machine. This will be the last dime they get from me.

Duly noted.

 

[barnumb]

I just got this in my email box now. What a joke this company is. How hard can it be to machine some 6 inch rulers. I have worked in machine shops and this should take minutes to make on a cnc machine. This will be the last dime they get from me.

Thank you for your patience with regards to the delivery of your One Time Tool purchase of the Woodpeckers Stainless Steel Paolini Pocket Rule/s.  You may have already received  your shipment, and if not, you will soon! We expect to have shipments completed by the end of July. We are doing everything we can to ship these tools out as quickly as possible.  Thanks again.

Is the lack of the tool keeping you from woodworking? I have yet to see a CNC machine that can machine the part and anodize it in just a few minutes.

Woodpeckers make great tools that aren't really available anywhere else. The one time tools are done outside of normal production. I have the big square and the parallel guides on order but the lack of them have yet to stop me from building things in my shop. My grandfather built some very impressive furniture in the 50's and 60's and all he had was a Shopsmith and some hand tools. We are all tooled up way beyond that around here.........

 

[Greg M]

I just got this in my email box now. What a joke this company is. How hard can it be to machine some 6 inch rulers. I have worked in machine shops and this should take minutes to make on a cnc machine. This will be the last dime they get from me.

Thank you for your patience with regards to the delivery of your One Time Tool purchase of the Woodpeckers Stainless Steel Paolini Pocket Rule/s.  You may have already received  your shipment, and if not, you will soon! We expect to have shipments completed by the end of July. We are doing everything we can to ship these tools out as quickly as possible.  Thanks again.

Is the lack of the tool keeping you from woodworking? I have yet to see a CNC machine that can machine the part and anodize it in just a few minutes.

Woodpeckers make great tools that aren't really available anywhere else. The one time tools are done outside of normal production. I have the big square and the parallel guides on order but the lack of them have yet to stop me from building things in my shop. My grandfather built some very impressive furniture in the 50's and 60's and all he had was a Shopsmith and some hand tools. We are all tooled up way beyond that around here.........

That's hardly the point.  It's got nothing to do with what we can or can't do while waiting for our delivery date to be continually pushed back.  The point is that it is terrible that a company can so consistently not deliver on time.  The point is that if it was professionally managed it would not continually miss deadlines.  Of coarse they now blur their deadlines so that when they overbook their ability to deliver they can say we never promised to deliver by a certain date.

They make a very good product (in some cases the best product).  The owners did a wonderful job building a company devoted to quality but the company has outgrown their abilities to manage it.  It's not a knock on the owners.  No one can do everything.  If they hired professional management to run the business side they could not only deliver on time but they'd deliver more products faster. 

The OTT is going to end up hurting them in the long run if they don't get it straightened out.  Most customers will only put up with so much before they say forget it, it's not worth it.

 

[barnumb]

Don't know if it will hurt them or not I still order........ We don't have complaints vs. product sold data so your comment is just arm chair quarterbacking. Without financial data we cant really see if the management team is feasible either.

If they drop the program then everyone will complain about that.

 

[barnumb]

Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: UNITED STATES (US)
Posts: 23
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From another thread,

I certainly understand everyone's frustration with the delays, we're not happy about them either. Try as I might, my delivery date estimates are usually wrong. The reason why is quite simple. When we offer up a OneTIME Tool, we have no idea whether we're going to have to machine 1 or 10,000. Most of these tools start their 3 month trip through the manufacturing process the day after the sale ends. If nothing goes wrong and I guessed close to right, we're able to at least get it out the month that was originally estimated. More often than not, estimates are off the mark and things go wrong. Five years ago when we started this program we estimated 30 days. Now I routinely estimate 90 which is often still not enough.

Although we're a small business, my wife and I have re-invested heavily over the last 27 years. In just the last few we've nearly doubled our capacity including machining, fabricating, engraving, design and engineering, assembly, customer service and physical facilities.

Not that I expect those facts make it any less frustrating that our delivery projections leave a lot to be desired. I wish I could tell you all that we've discovered a magic formula for forecasting what folks might want but we haven't. Combine that with the fact that we make virtually everything we ship and out source very little, all I can say is we're doing the best we can and constantly work hard to improve while we're growing.

As for payment, if you order from us directly and use a credit or debit card, you aren't charged for anything until we're ready to ship. Keep in mind that although we're spending very early in the process to manufacture these tools, we don't get paid until everything's done. We have every incentive to get done as soon as possible. We don't get any points for upsetting our customers.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the delays and inconvenience.

Richard Hummel / Woodpeckers Inc.

 

[Greg M]

Interesting that barnumb has 3 posts and all in the last 2 hours defending woodpeckers' inability to produce a rather simple product in a timely manner.

Your last post is a copy of one I've seen before.  It only confirms what I'm saying.  It's an amazing mom and pop operation that has grown beyond their ability to properly manage.  That's not a bad thing but they need to hire professional management and logistic personal for the business side so that they can concentrate on the tool and quality side.

I don't need data to see that they can't even come close to meeting their shipping goals.  Richard even admits that he has a difficult time predicting orders and then fulfilling them.  Hire people that can do those things and then he can concentrate on what made his company special, quality tools that people are willing to pay for.

He waits until the orders are all in before he starts the production process which usually begins by ordering the raw materials.  With people in place to run the business side of the company they could actually have materials on hand and begin production before they start taking orders.  Proper analysis of past sales will produce fairly accurate numbers that they can begin to work off of.

 

[barnumb]

Interesting that barnumb has 3 posts and all in the last 2 hours defending woodpeckers' inability to produce a rather simple product in a timely manner.

Your last post is a copy of one I've seen before.  It only confirms what I'm saying.  It's an amazing mom and pop operation that has grown beyond their ability to properly manage.  That's not a bad thing but they need to hire professional management and logistic personal for the business side so that they can concentrate on the tool and quality side.

I don't need data to see that they can't even come close to meeting their shipping goals.  Richard even admits that he has a difficult time predicting orders and then fulfilling them.  Hire people that can do those things and then he can concentrate on what made his company special, quality tools that people are willing to pay for.

He waits until the orders are all in before he starts the production process which usually begins by ordering the raw materials.  With people in place to run the business side of the company they could actually have materials on hand and begin production before they start taking orders.  Proper analysis of past sales will produce fairly accurate numbers that they can begin to work off of.

What does the number of posts have to do with anything?

I copied the post from another thread you posted in. The comments were from Woodpeckers but I didn't see you jump in and tell him directly how he should run his business.

The reason I posted is because it is astonishing to me how a handful of people whine and complain about a company that goes out of their way to produce products that nobody else does. I've seen the same handful of people bounce around in a few threads and complain. Along with that we have people armchair quarterbacking with opinions on how they could run the company much better. Where does the money for this "management team" come from? How do you order materials, set up production and schedule outsourced work for something without a known quantity?  You assume quite a bit to have the opinions you do.

FYI, I have no affiliation with Woodpeckers what so ever. I do own some of their tools and enjoy using them and I'm patiently waiting for the ones I ordered.

Other than the complaining about Woodpeckers I happen to really enjoy the FOG and check in almost every day.

 

[HDClown]

Seems like Woodpeckers should take a few months off on new OTT's and finish out manufacturing and shipping their backlog and give themselves some breathing room.  Stop offering a new tool every month and letting fulfilment of prior OTT's delay the new ones even more.  Seems like they are just continually stacking up more delay every month. 

Might as well just make the OTT's continually available with a 6+ month delivery window if they're going to keep at it this way.  They say OTT's are tools they can't put into full production, likely for capacity reasons, but if they can't even get the OTT orders out on time, then just set your delivery model around it and make them always available.  In the long run, it would probably ease order quantity.  With a OTT model, I bet there are a decent number of orders from people who aren't sure but don't want to potentially miss out, which stacks up demand faster than if something is continually available.

 

[Cheese]

I read somewhere that Woodpeckers had just moved to some larger facilities and they were also installing some additional machine tools & capabilities. All of those items come with their own issues. New equipment/plant facilitization never goes according to plan. Small issues can grow to be game changers.

I think that's reflected in the fact that on the Woodpeckers website, many of their standard stocking items state "Will ship after ??/??/??"

Give em some time...I just received my 18" precision square this morning.

 

[teocaf]

Interesting that barnumb has 3 posts and all in the last 2 hours defending woodpeckers' inability to produce a rather simple product in a timely manner.

Your last post is a copy of one I've seen before.  It only confirms what I'm saying.  It's an amazing mom and pop operation that has grown beyond their ability to properly manage.  That's not a bad thing but they need to hire professional management and logistic personal for the business side so that they can concentrate on the tool and quality side.

I don't need data to see that they can't even come close to meeting their shipping goals.  Richard even admits that he has a difficult time predicting orders and then fulfilling them.  Hire people that can do those things and then he can concentrate on what made his company special, quality tools that people are willing to pay for.

He waits until the orders are all in before he starts the production process which usually begins by ordering the raw materials.  With people in place to run the business side of the company they could actually have materials on hand and begin production before they start taking orders.  Proper analysis of past sales will produce fairly accurate numbers that they can begin to work off of.

It must be exhausting to be a industrial management consultant on top of everything else...

The products from this fine company may look "rather simple", but if you actually take the time to study such things as the manufacturing and quality steps involved, you'll find out that they're anything but simple.

I truly believe that the people running this company are diligently working to continually improve on all fronts and that they're doing it on their schedule, since they're the ones privy to all the variables involved.

In the meantime, since everyone is so freely doling out advice, perhaps i can also make a suggestion that might be helpful until your square arrives: grab your coupon and run on down to HF and get one of their squares to tide you over.  just remember to add 3.5 degrees to your readings to arrive at 90.  simple trig really.  after all, isn't a cheap tool better than--oh i forget how that goes...

this is my first post on this thread and i'll try not too post too many more or too often because apparently there are new limits in effect...

 

[semenza]

  Why does it seem necessary for members to get all wound up and attack each other and each others opinions when discussing Woodpecker's OTT and manufacturing / delivery schedule.  I am thinking that discussion can take place without instigating, attacking, and taking jabs at each other.

    Please.

Seth

FOG Moderator

 

[grbmds]

I buy items from Woodpeckers only if I can't find the same high quality, highly accurate tool from another company (or at least a tool which can be used for similar work). When I buy the Woodpecker's tool I know up front that there will be a delay in getting it and using it. From past experience, I also know that they are unlikely to meet their original shipping date. If I don't want to wait, I won't buy it. Nobody forces me to buy any tool they offer.

I'm just a little confused about all the criticism of Woodpeckers. They offer some unique, very high quality, very accurate tools. Some of the tools they sell are not all that unique, or at least a similar tool can be bought from other companies with the same end result at a much lower price.

I just understand that, if I don't want to wait for delivery, I don't buy it.