Hello all,
Just a quick update for November 8th, 2021 for the Quik Rack Mach2.
The Good Stuff.
Sales continue to ride in.
We’re happy to say, sales keep coming in and people are being very patient with us and the current production queue we are running.
(See FAQ #2 – “Delivery Estimate”)
Delays in Getting Aluminum Could Be Coming to an End for Us
We keep getting more tuned in on production and assembly, ready for the day that our deliveries are more regular. But until then, we’re still facing delays in getting the custom aluminum extrusions that we need. As we all know by now, supply chain issues are not unique to QuikrStuff. Normally, it would take 6 to 8 weeks to get our extrusions, but in the beginning of COVID, that jumped to 24 weeks. It climbed to 36 weeks and currently is at 45 weeks. We still have a lot of aluminum to build the orders we have now. And with JT’s years of experience in oil, gas, and aerospace manufacturing, he’s well-prepared to match sales predictions with the cycle times of aluminum extrusions. Ramping production is never an overnight exercise, and this is an exercise in patience and planning…so say the least. So, as I have said before, recycle your aluminum cans and such, so we can avoid these types of disruptions to communities in the future.
Production and Shipping
The robotic CNC machines are incredible and we keep dialing them in with each batch.
Our 2″ rack is made from a total of 218 pieces that comprise 92 individual parts. Of that, we machine 43 individual parts in-house. So do the math, and you can see how valuable these Haas machines are to us. When our regular drops of extrusions come in the middle January (2 months delayed 🙁 , we should be able to triple production with the right staffing and a second shift. We have been planning this for a while and hope to execute on it soon! The pre-sales allow us to procure the funds we need to order more aluminum, making it possible for us to produce and ship more quickly. Build the plan…work the plan…iterate the plan.
Follow our process and progress here – FAQ #2 – “Delivery Estimate”
Order now and get in the queue!
Please know that the timeline for receiving your rack is based on factors that are (practically) out of our control (i.e., getting aluminum, other vendors), but we have been executing our plan to scale…just very delayed. So, the sooner you order, the sooner you get a rack, no matter what. Over 400 people who participated in our first pre-sales campaign now own a new Quik Rack Mach2. They knew that it would be months before their rack arrived, but the process worked for them. And it will work for you, too!
Remember, if ANY OF THIS is a problem, do not hesitate to contact us and/or ask for a refund.
So again, thanks for your patience, feedback and support, just stay healthy, get out there and ride. It’s truly humbling all the great feedback, criticism and support you all have given us.
Bryan Wachs
CEO QuikrStuff.com
Transcript of video:
Hello all you QuikrStuff fans. I’m driving here to an Outdoor Rec conference in Salida Colorado. It is an absolutely gorgeous drive across route 50, if you’ve never taken it before, I suggest it highly.
I just wanted to give an update about what’s going on with everybody’s racks, and the company in general. Number one, we’re still at a production rate of anywhere from three to five orders …three to seven orders a day we are further confined by our aluminum extrusions and anodizing, which we’re happy to say we’re super happy with the quality and the feedback, but just like everybody they’re having their issues with backlogs, and materials, etc., and employees. You’ve heard the story before from us, from everybody across the planet, supply chain is in a bit of a pickle right now. And from everything that we hear, and I’m sure you’re hearing some of the similar things, it’s going to take a year to a year and a half to get out of this. Not fun, but I could argue we put ourselves here. Maybe this is an opportunity for all of us and all of our countries to start thinking about producing goods at home and paying the prevailing wage that we need at home for people to have sustainable middle class lives.
Made in America is expensive and maybe that’s a good thing. I’m proud of the fact that we have 12 people working on this and they’re making decent money. Obviously JT and I are not, but that was part of the reason why we started QuikrStuff was to produce a high quality product in Western Colorado; to start walking my talk of bringing jobs back to rural America.
So most of you probably see on the website, the number two FAQ on the site is the delivery schedule, our progress… that’s a dynamic spreadsheet that at the end of the day is updated, so that you know where you are in the production queue. So if you’re at number one, you know your rack is being shipped the next day. If you’re at number 100, probably going to be about 20-25 days. Nothing we can do about it. We’re just doing the best we can right now with what we have. Our total modus operandi right now is conserve cash and be super conservative.
The ramps should be out in another two to three weeks; we know we keep saying that but this is definitive. We actually have manufactured the ramps and they’re in the powder coating stage right now.
As far as the locks go, those will be released any day to customers first only. That way customers who have racks can get their locks, before we start selling them to the general public. So we’ll do that in order of people you know buying their racks initially. We do ask that you pay attention to your emails, so that we don’t have to wait too long when we put out these products, to get them to the people in line, so that if they say no they don’t want a ramp, or they don’t want to lock, or whatever that is, you respond to us rapidly with a yes or a no, so that we can just keep moving forward and get to the next person …or next group in line.
So thank you all for the support.
I don’t know when the next update will be, because let’s face it, I’ve been very poor at making estimates on even updates!
So I apologize for that. So stay safe, stay healthy. Remember, we all live on one planet, in different geographies. Talk to each other, and more important, listen to each other. Because we all want the same thing; health, happiness, love, and peace. Goodbye all, thanks.