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Chris: Hey Bob, I am having a problem with one of my servo motors.

Bob: What is it doing ?

Chris: When I rotate the wheel by hand it is real hard to turn. I removed the belt and found that it is the motor that turns hard, not the machine.

Bob: Have you tried depressing the pedal about a 1/4 - 3/8 of an inch ?

Chris: O M G......... Don't tell me this motor has a brake on it ?

Bob: Yup

Chris: Shit.......... OK, that fixed my problem. Now go find me a long arm machine.

End of conversation and my dummy move of the week.

Chris

Just wondering if this belongs to one of our members here. Located in the Tampa Bay area. Looks like someone is retiring or getting out of the business.

Machinery, tools and materials only. No Real estate.

Here is the listing:  [urlhttp://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/bfs/5021361768.html][/url]

Chris

Ever had to look yourself in the mirror and then admit to yourself you have gotten older and because of this you now have limitations ?

I just went through a month of these feelings. I have had them for a couple years but always ignored them and pushed onward.  But having battled with the wife/boss I finally was honest with myself and realized - I need help. So with that in mind we hired a new girl ( Mindy ) and she started last week. Mindy has been our house cleaner for a couple years and also was our sales rep at our RV parts supplier. I put a bug in her ear recently and got her thinking about the future and she left the parts place and came on board.

Mindy is young, energetic, motivated and has a real sharp mind. Her customer service skills are awesome which has been paramount to our success. Her previous employer is crying a river at the moment because she wore so many hats but in her words " she needed a change " as they were using her up. She stayed on there for two weeks and trained her replacements which speaks of her integrity. In the end their loss is our gain.

My wife had last week off from school ( Easter break ) and assumed the role of trainer. She started her out on learning our different fabric offerings, work shop/order sequence and then went through measuring/cutting procedures. At the end of the week she had her measuring, cutting, sewing and she did a great job never having sat at a sewing machine before. The plan is for her to do all the cutting and keep feeding me prepped fabric to sew.

Business has just been crazy and we are in our third year of double digit growth. I had to face the fact that because of my age and my disease I just cannot carry this company by myself anymore. Paying a salary is a bite at the bottom line but I realize it is necessary. She is going to be working three days a week and I am going to try and expand into other RV product line's to help keep her busy. In the end our goal is to be able to bring her on full time.

Old, tired and worn out sucks but I believe this is going to be very beneficial for us. We did hire a book keeper but we just fired her for not showing up for work............for two fricking weeks. Never mistake my kindness for weakness. Just so happens that Mindy also has alot of accounting experience. :)

We are still back logged and while we have tried to get caught up more orders keep pouring in and they have kept us buried. Hopefully now Mindy can get us to the point where we are on weekly turn around's instead of the 3 week backlogs.

So there you have it the latest from the swamp. :)

Chris   

I was just thinking after making a statement in another post about time spent at the machine.

I spend gobs of time stitching. Measuring, cutting, folding take up time but it seems the vast amount of my time is spent sitting down stitching. It made me think how much time do you spend sewing ?

I have never worked in the furniture or automotive ends of this business so I really do not have a clue as to how much time one spends actually stitching. In regards to you Auto/Furniture guys and gals it would seem that due to the complexities of your layout work and the varying degrees of shapes and sizes that alot of time would be spent measuring, laying out cutting, fitting, etc.

I have always felt that one could train a monkey to do the work I do since everything is rectangular. The only thing that changes is the dimensions or lengths/widths. I have many days I wished I could tear into a project like a chair or car seat or whatever. If nothing else then to break up the monotony. :)

So how many hours out of a project that you work on do you actually sew ? If your doing a chair and it takes 5 hours how much is spent at the machine ?

Chris

Ya'll remember my bobbin winding machine I bought a couple years ago ? Well, I sat down to have a bobbin winding party, the music was going, the Hooters girls showed up and my dang machine bit the dust.

I ended up having to go out to the Chandler and wind them the old fashioned way. I ordered a new one and wound just enough bobbins to get me by till the new one came. I went with a different model this time and after I got it set up I must say I like this one better then the old one.

I wound 50 bobbins tonight which will last me for a short time. I have never wound bobbins the old fashioned way and now it is impossible since we are using twin needles. Do they even make dual bobbin winders ?

Chris

If ya'll didn't think I was nuts before maybe this will convince you.

I was thinking about my machines the other day and was considering selling one of them. Both the twin needles are out of the question as they are our bread and butter and do the vast majority of stitching. The Chandler we use for top stitching, welting and binding. The Juki 563ln we have as a back up for welting and top stitching and the wife makes awning pull straps with it.

I wanted to get rid of a machine to make a little more room in the shop but I just cannot get rid of that Chandler. It has been a rock solid performer and never gives us fits. It was the first real industrial machine I bought and I am attached to that thing. I just cannot get rid of it. The wife already told me the Juki is going no where as she loves that machine. As she stated " That is my machine' don't even think of it ".

So my plan to make room is off the books. I cannot stand the thought of parting ways with the Chandler and I would lose my happy home if I ever sold the Juki. Just wondering has anyone ever got attached to a machine before and couldn't part with it for love or money ?

Chris

I had a phone call from an engineer from a construction company in FL. He said " Your known around the internet as a outdoor fabric expert and the go to guy for awnings and I was wondering if you could help me ".

" I need an awning made that is 35 feet x 45 feet ". I asked what the hell this was going on. He said it was for a sentry station ( Marine Corp's ) at Guantanamo Bay ( Gitmo ).

So what does a great friend like me do ? He passes it off to his buddy. Insert Big Mike. :) I called Mike and even Mike said " How Big ? Dang, I am not sure if I could do one that size ".

Here is the kicker. I helped the engineer spec out the fabric and told him to go with Tuff Stuff or Soluna. Gitmo has some fierce coastal winds, tropical storms and unbearable heat. Acrylic would never last. Tuff Stuff also is flame retardent ( big issue for some military jobs ).

So imagine making a 35 ft x 45 ft awning ( with lacing attachments ) out of 19 oz vinyl ? You would have to use a fork truck to pick it up and put on a truck. I have no idea how you would even move it around your shop. I am still waiting to hear back from Mike to see if he took the job. If he did then I know Mike is crazy. :)

It is amazing the phone calls I get for some of the crazy jobs that are out there but I am grateful I have friends like Mike I can pawn jobs like this off of. :)

Chris

Still cannot believe I just hired an employee. We simply could no longer handle everything between the two of us. My wife has a full plate being a high school math teacher, department chair and chair of some of the committees at school. She comes home exhausted most days and I hate piling work on her.

The busier we get the more time I am taken away from sewing with answering phones, sending out color samples, working with customers on color selections, answering e-mail's etc. So we hired a young lady to start as a bookeeper / office worker, part time working a day or two a week.

The plan is to see if she is dependable, able to pick up quickly on things and to see what her work ethic is like. If it all works out then we will increase her responsibilities and hours. One part of me is happy as hell because we are getting some help finally but the other part is scared crap less. I take employing someone very seriously and I am now responsible for providing a pay check for a single Mom. 

I really have my fingers crossed that she is a winner as I would like to bring her on full time so I can cut back my own hours. Time will tell.

Chris

Hey Sgt. Major. I have this on my MP3 player and thought iof you when this song came on.
Always liked this band.

Enjoy -   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JpeN0Z1PQY

Chris

Just wondering if anyone has used Miami's Soluna vinyl. It is basically a vinyl awning material
and was originally used as tarp fabric for covering loads on open semi trailers.

The stuff is heavy as heck - 19 oz but its rip stop capabilities is amazing. Takes 450 lbs.

The vinyl is exclusive to Miami and you cannot get it from anyone else that I know of.

Just wondering if anyone has had the chance to use it for boat covers, awnings or whatever.

Chris

I woke up this morning, checked my e-mails and was blown away. One of my customers did a " How To " segment on installing topper fabric on slide out's. They featured our company and fabric and gave us a huge plug later in the show, showing our website and phone.

He saved us alot of time, money and aggravation by producing this as it was one video segment we had on our list to produce ourselves.

My wife and I were talking the other day about our customers and both of us agreed we are extremely blessed to have such an awesome customer base. We treat them like gold but in return they really support us with their loyalty ".

Here is the video " How To Install Slide Toppers " segment:  http://www.americanrver.com/

Chris

This is an article from Marketwatch. I found this interesting and thought I would pass it on. I still think I would probably revert to sending Luigi over to collect myself. But then that's just me. :)

Chris

The Moneyologist

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-do-you-ask-clients-for-money-nicely-2015-01-05?siteid=YAHOOB

My wife was shopping at Hobby Lobby yesterday and brought me home a sign. The first person I thought of was Dennis.

" Service May Vary  -  According to my Mood and Your Attitude ".

I am putting it up in my shop but since I rarely get walk in customers few will see it. Still I really liked it. I think you need to head over to Hobby Lobby and pick one up Dennis. :)

Chris

Not really. I just destroyed 10 yards of fabric on an order.

I am very careful while handling fabric not to wrinkle or rough handle it. This stuff was just miserable to work with ( Recacril Moonrock ). I hated the hand and it crazed like no tomorrow. It seemed like every time I moved the fabric It would craze. I think it was a bad run they had on this roll as the hand was ultra soft.

Adding to my misery is I went into the shop sicker then a dog from bronchitis and thought I would knock this order out. I ran two large seams and both puckered horribly. I believe that the crap fabric coupled with the way I was feeding caused the puckering.

The big problem was that I had a drop dead date of Monday for completion. Thankfully my customer was understanding. I do not stock Moonrock so have to wait till Monday for a Miami delivery.

I hated to trash that much fabric but I refuse to send out orders that are not perfect. I built my reputation and this company on shipping perfect products and I am not going to compromise my quality over $ 120 bucks in fabric. My OCD got the best of me on this one and I was so pissed I could have kicked my own rear end and that of Recacril.

It seems like everytime I use Recacril's Moonrock I have problems but Sattler has nothing close to this color and since it is a Monaco OEM color I have to use it. I have sewed 1,000's of yards of other Recacril fabric and have not had problems like this. I love a hard hand fabric. Thankfully I am not a furniture guy. :)

The bright side is that I am buried in orders and most are huge and will take time to get out the door. I am hoping 2015 is going to be another big year for us. If not, screw it I can use the time off to get things done around here......lol....:)

I hope all of you start off 2015 with a big bang and rock it out all year long.

Chris

I was contacted by Mike early this morning and he said his brother John had a stroke
and is in the hospital. I will let Mike give an update as to his condition as he was on his way
to the hospital.

John works with Mike alot and the two of them are inseparable. They have a very close
relationship. Please keep John in your thoughts and prayers as well as Mike. I hate to see this happen to anyone but especially John as he is a great guy.

Get well John.

Chris

I am doing something different this year. I am closing down the shop Dec 23rd and staying closed till Jan 2nd. I have never done this before but our entire family will be here, kids, grandkids, etc. and because we are scattered all over the USA it is the first time we have gotten together for Xmas in 7 years.

Time to set the business aside and enjoy what is the most important thing in our lives.....Family.

Last year I sewed on Christmas Eve, New Years Eve and New Years day. I actually got an order on Christmas day last year. This year I am just going to enjoy my kids and grandkids and be what my granddaughter calls her Bompa ( Grandpa ).

Anyone have any plans ?

Chris

If you had to assign a percentage to your business of how much is referral based what would it be ?

One of Virginia's posts got me thinking about this. I know with our business it is based very heavy on referrals, mainly from forum groups or customers mentioning us to their friends. I would take a stab at it and say our business is made up of 60 % by referral's, 20 % from our website and another 20 % based on rally attendance. We do not advertise so that doesn't come into play.

I could be off b y 10 % in any one category but I know we are very dependent on referrals. What do you think your business make up is ?

Chris

This has been one goofy fall for me. Orders have been full tilt boogie and then its dead. Then it is back on and balls to the wall. Has anyone else seen this or is everyone else's business stable ?

I did get some preliminary numbers today and our growth continues but it seems our revenue is starting to moderate a little. 2012 we were up 60 %, last year I believe it was 30 % and this year we again grew our numbers but we are only up 20 %.

The wife and I are at loggerheads over the future. I am an A Type personality and have always been full on in business. So I want to grow it more next year by adding a few more rally dates and do some select advertising. She is comfortable with where things are currently at and does not want to grow anymore.

I just feel if I do not keep growing things will stagnate and our numbers will start dropping. It is something her and I need to really work through.

Has anyone else had a goofy Oct-Nov-Dec ?

Chris

I am hoping one of you have had experiences with fabric pullers. If memory serves me correctly I believe Bobbin might have in the past and maybe June.

This is the situation. My work involves long pieces of canvas. I sit at the machine a great deal and when I sew I am sewing 8 ft, 10 ft, 16 ft panels. I have an order right now for a 30 ft topper.
The constant moving of the fabric with my left arm has about ruined the tendons in my left hand and now I can barely move my arm because of the tennis elbow.

The repetitious motions has really caused some serious problems and pain to the point that I am struggling like hell to sew right now. If this gets worse I may have to bring in a stitcher. To make matters worse I am slammed big time and the orders are pouring in daily.

Has anyone used a fabric puller and does it help in moving the fabric across the table ? Would a puller eliminate alot of arm motion ?

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone.

Chris

Thought of you right away when I heard Dallas had a 3.3 earthquake.

Hope your OK. Report in when you can.

Chris