MOTM

Paul S's success with the MOTM system is nothing short of 
astounding.  Essentially on a shoestring, and in his part-time, he 
has built a business which rivals the legacy of Moog's modular 
business, in volume and in the devotion of his customers.  MOTM has 
undeniably hit the big-time.  

This, in a roundabout way, leads me to a next point.  Are there 
others out there, like me, who don't really have the free time to 
solder up kits?  Or who would really prefer not to?  And who would 
likely purchase more modules if they were available assembled without 
the long lead times?

So I pose these questions:
- How much would it cost (presumably in terms of additional personnel 
at MOTM headquarters) to create the appropriate inventory of 
assembled modules to virtually eliminate the backlogs?  What does 
this translate into, per assembled module?

- Are there enterprising folks out there who would be interested in 
turning a small profit by assembling modules for those of us too busy 
to solder for ourselves anymore?  (In years past, I did build a lot 
of stuff, but am quite sick of it, to tell the truth).  What would 
they have to charge to make it work?

- How many more modules would be sold?

My comments are based on the assumption that the lead times for 
assembled modules is measured in months.

Best regards,
Roger Pellegrini

On Fri, 2002-06-07 at 14:46, rogerpellegrini wrote:

> - Are there enterprising folks out there who would be interested in 
> turning a small profit by assembling modules for those of us too busy 
> to solder for ourselves anymore?  (In years past, I did build a lot 
> of stuff, but am quite sick of it, to tell the truth).  What would 
> they have to charge to make it work?

I might be interested. Though I think anyone that would do it would
have to charge close to what Paul does for assembled kits. I live
fairly close to Paul so I might could work something out to avoid
double shipping charges.

As far as quality, I could probably do snap shots of some modules
I've assembled or even let Paul take a look to see if I pass the
"MOTM-quality-approval" rating. I'm very picky about assembly, I even
make sure all resistors are oriented to read left to right to make
debugging problems easier. I've assembled four rack rows worth of
modules, all worked properly on the first power-up. 

Of course I would only want to do it with Paul's approval. And of 
course every penny I made would just be used to buy more modules :-)

TH

Are people scared away from MOTM because of the lead times?  Gee, 
when Paul posts an update, I usually respond with another order!

Seriously, it is the quality first and the availability in kit form 
second that attracted me.  Paul's work is superb and I wouldn't want 
another modular system, really.

Perhaps Paul could find a sub-contractor he could trust to do kitting 
and/or building.  He could build modules for those who request it and 
pay an upcharge for the "Paul Schreiber Signature Series".  

In the meantime, I have a great modular system in the works and 
when/if it is finished, it will have been quite worth the wait!

Chub-pining by his mailbox...

At 7:46 PM +0000 06/07/02, rogerpellegrini wrote:
>
>Paul S's success with the MOTM system is nothing short of
>astounding.

Ditto.

>- Are there enterprising folks out there who would be interested in
>turning a small profit by assembling modules for those of us too busy
>to solder for ourselves anymore?  (In years past, I did build a lot
>of stuff, but am quite sick of it, to tell the truth).  What would
>they have to charge to make it work?

With Paul's approval, I'd be willing to assemble modules for other
customers.  In order not to undersell ST, I'd have to charge a fee close to
the difference in price between the kits and the assembled modules.

I think I'm a very good builder, although Paul complained that I don't have
to clean my "no clean" solder.  I think it was something about the name :)

Anyway, I just finished knitting a Volvo together, then I have to knit a
VW, which will take a couple of weeks, but after that I'll have time to
knit other people's modules, especially considering most of the modules I'm
planning to buy for myself are not available yet.