MOTM

I had hoped that in late January I would be taking orders for panels to be
delivered in March.  However, I just got an e-mail from my painter.  He is
having surgery January 13th and will be unable to paint our metal until
March.  So, right now, the schedule looks like this:

Order metal February 1 (I was going to do that this week)
Metal to painter by March 1.
New designs to Dave Bradley by March 1.
New designs to printer in late March.
Painting complete late March.
One week to quality inspect metal and deliver to screen printer
Screen printing complete in late April.
Quality inspection and packing in late April / early May.
Shipping by mid May. Drilling orders a week or so later.

This is about 6 or 7 weeks later than what I had hoped for.  But, that is
the best we will be able to do.

Now, last time we did panels, I estimated the metal needs and had metal in
hand being painted before anyone placed an order.  The reason was to reduce
the time between order time and delivery time.  That worked out pretty well
except that I ran short of metal at the last minute even though I estimated
within 5 pieces on a 400 panel order. :)

So, I am thinking this time I will go ahead and open up for orders on
January 15 so I can get a feel for how much metal I need to get cut and to
the painter by March 1.  As long as everyone understands that the delivery
is mid May when placing their order.  I just see no reason to delay ordering
until March since the delivery date will not chance.

All feedback welcome.
Larry