The root of my problem is apparently the Russian vacuum relays used in my
Emtron amps which have failed in three of six amps.
The remainder of this post is general information that I put on the Emtron
discussion group. I know Rudi reads this reflector and the comments are
offered as constructive criticism.
Let's do talk dispassionately about the topic of hams running manufacturing
companies. I am a management consultant who has worked with more than 500
companies over 40 years. I have had three ham-radio businesses myself. I
have tried to rescue at least three well-known ham manufacturers who did not
want to be rescued.
1. Hams who start companies to serve hams are most often passionate but
misguided individuals who have some particular talent for a product or
service but also have no business acumen.
2. Manufacturing businesses require four sets of expertise; leadership,
technical/production, sales/marketing and financial skills. I have NEVER met
a single entrepreneur who was proficient in all four disciplines (including
ME).
3. To overcome their shortcomings, entrepreneurs surround themselves
with like-minded people, friends and family. Instead of the four skill sets,
they wind up with group-think and never make progress with their weaknesses
4. The product or service is only as reliable as its weakest component.
Each and every part must be evaluated for its reliability, availability and
serviceability. Critical components must be plug-replaceable. "This ought to
do the job" simply does not work in products produced for sale across the
world.
5. Manuals must have novice-level instructions and have sufficient
technical data for a skilled service person to fix without calling the
factory. I was looking at the manual for my Johnson 6N2 Thunderbolt amp and
it could literally be built from scratch from the manual.
6. The customer interface is critical to the success or failure of the
business. HAMS EXPECT HAM BUSINESSES TO BE THEIR LIFELONG FRIENDS, NOT THEIR
CUSTOMERS. The most dramatic reason for the decline of a ham business is the
endless stream of phone calls, emails, letters and complains from HAMS. When
I sold chrome-moly mast, I was expected to design antennas, do survival
calculations, engineer getting the mast inside the tower, and listen to
hours of war stories about antennas and towers. Even if the entrepreneur
tries to run their business as a "business" the ham customers won't let them
with their constant need for personal attention to non-related issues.
7. Failure data and customer input is a gold mine of information for
product and process improvement. Unfortunately, most manufacturers take it
as an annoyance. I am currently working as an expert witness on a law suit
where the company is sued for the same failure once a year. They justify the
legal expense as a "cost of business" because the customers are careless and
use their product incorrectly. Amazing!
8. The best you can hope to do as a ham business is "make a living."
Few are financial successes without branching into other markets. When that
happens, the ham customer service goes in the toilet.
Rudi and Emtron are typical of ham businesses. His heart is in the right
place but he does not have all the skills to run a successful business.
1. When we received the first three amps, they all had hidden shipping
damage. I have run manufacturing plants and immediately saw the shortcomings
in the packaging and reported them to Rudi. We spent an entire evening
before 2007 CQ WW CW and a $400 phone call to Australia fixing the shipping
damage and Emtron is still packing a $9,000 amplifier improperly a year
later. The amp we received a couple of months ago had the same type of
packing and shipping damage.
2. Even thought there is an extended warranty on the tubes, the sockets
and the tubes appear to be "pullouts" because they are discolored and the
tubes have radically different date codes. I notice these things along with
mis-drilled holes in the chassis and other indications of pragmatic
processes that are not repeatable and sustainable.
3. I am having a rash of failures of the vacuum relays (three of six
amps so far). Saving a few bucks on the Russian relays over Jennings is
going to cost Rudi a lot of money in retrofit parts and FedEx charges.
4. Not only will the Amp Lady not service the Emtron amps, George at
Advanced Communications will not do warranty work any more for lack of
factory support.
I disagree vehemently with those who say we should not expect flawless
service from a high-end product. I have been leasing Lexus vehicles for 11
years and have never had a warranty failure. Without naming names, expecting
such reliability from ham-manufacturers probably is folly, but I chose the
Emtrons so that I could run them conservatively and avoid having guest
operators blow them up during a 48 hour contest. I don't think that is too
much to ask.
I like Rudi, Tom, Mike, Mike, George and the other myriad of ham
entrepreneurs I have met and done business with. Perhaps they should spend
some time with Mike Stahl's wife (M2 Antennas). She said the success of
their company is partly due to her policy that Mike is not allowed in the
production shop any more. He is relegated to the R&D lab where his strengths
lie.
I have been working with W7CY for the last couple of years on the next
generation of rotators called the CYclone. Instead of letting hams find the
defects, the rotor has undergone months of testing in a lab and has been
completely redesigned half-way through development. We have had design
review meetings, done market feasibility studies and financial analyses. It
will be the most reliable rotator ever brought to market. It may never get
to market, however, since none of us want to deal with selling to hams.
Tom Taormina, K5RC
Virginia City NV
Home of W7RN and K7RC
http://k5rc.cc FOC 1760
"Communication is the problem to the answer" - 10cc
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