[Elecraft] K2 100 Tuner question

[W2xj]

You are distorting this way out of proportion. While you may be describing the 20th century method for large scale manufacturing, it has little to do with today’s technology. To begin with, Elecraft is a small low volume operation. I doubt they go through all the processes you describe. In any event the discussion began being about a relatively small case that was low volume in the first place. They could put the existing drawings on line and let the ham community take it from there. 

On a vastly larger scale, the auto industry is moving towards 3D printing parts on site and cutting out all those middle men (along with import and tariff hassles).

Sent from my iPad

> On Dec 23, 2018, at 8:44 AM, Don Wilhelm <donwilh at embarqmail.com> wrote:
> 
> "after initial design", and "one off run" is key here.
> 
> When you are a doing it as a hobby, you may not count the cost of that design element.  For a manufacturer, it means a lot more that getting a part in-hand.  Engineering prototypes are one thing, getting a product out for production sales is entirely a different matter.
> 
> If you are a manufacturer, there is a big difference.  You have to count the cost of Engineering Change Orders, vendor negotiations, re-designs to meet the requirements of the particular vendor you are dealing with, and finally creating a Bill of Materials and stocking and inventorying the product, and creating sales data (even if it is a re-vamped product).
> In other words, all the relevant pieces of your organization have to have the information needed to work in lockstep with each other.
> And most of that effort is in-house and takes up much of the staff resources.
> 
> A one or 2 person shop can do it more quickly and easily, but in a manufacturing evironment, all the "T"s must be crossed and the "i"s dotted if you are going to succeed with a product that is only a small piece of your product line.
> 
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
> 
>> On 12/23/2018 11:19 AM, W2xj wrote:
>> Times have changed. 3D printing permits one off runs with little effort after the initial design.
>> Sent from my iPad
>>> On Dec 23, 2018, at 8:00 AM, Edward R Cole <kl7uw at acsalaska.net> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Have to agree, in principle, with Don.
>>> 
>>> Many of you may never had done a small volume production.  I have.
>>> I cannot afford to purchase CNC tooling, metal brakes, etc. for a project of twelve copies.  Vendors are all out of state with added shipping costs.
>>> 
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