It was more than a year between Bertie completing copying the factory patterns and Will returning the set he had in his house. Make of that what you will.
All will be explained in two days time, Big J.
Crazy interesting read. I just can't quite wrap my head around why did all the machinists leave like that, and why were Calders such a problem for everyone all of the sudden.
And that CRIMINAL is now at AL with perhaps stolen Aero patterns.
"The US and Britain, divided by a common language" -attributed in various forms to Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and Churchill et al.
I'm glad things are turning positive for Aero, but what about the customers like me that spent upwards of 10 grand on jackets ordered through Mark M. and the previous MG (Will) that took us for a ride! Wrong measurements 6 and 8 month waiting periods only to have the jackets sent back and wait for the corrected ones for more months. I stopped buying from Aero because things started tasting bad with all the negative in house drama from the customers point of view. I was a vary loyal customer even planned to make a vacation and visit Scotland and stop by Aero. How does Aero get back customers that were affected by all of this?
Todd
While many seem to focus on the pattern and the intellectual properties, there are many other secrets and confidential information involved in a case like this. Take for example,, the time and money spent by Aero in sourcing thru trial and error the right Talon repro from the right supplier. That former employee is bringing with him all information like where to source the right materials and how much Aero is paying for them to the new company without incurring any costs or spending any time. Also are the poaching of staff because the former employee would know exactly who to poach while an outsider would not.
I'm glad things are turning positive for Aero, but what about the customers like me that spent upwards of 10 grand on jackets ordered through Mark M. and the previous MG (Will) that took us for a ride! Wrong measurements 6 and 8 month waiting periods only to have the jackets sent back and wait for the corrected ones for more months. I stopped buying from Aero because things started tasting bad with all the negative in house drama from the customers point of view. I was a vary loyal customer even planned to make a vacation and visit Scotland and stop by Aero. How does Aero get back customers that were affected by all of this?
Todd
Yes, there's a huge amount of business know-how in any specialist trade (this is why 'gardening leave' of several months is so often built into some employment contracts, such as major city law firms). There is some degree of protection available in confidentialty, but not a lot. Of course, it has to be balanced out by an employee's right to take their labour and skill elsewhere, which makes it all the more difficult.
Wasn't the reduction in staff Sloan mentions one way to make the balance sheet look better, in that the company had less costs, thus partially offsetting any diversion of revenue.
Of course, the flip side of less staff is a longer waiting time. 6 months it seems like. That could be spun to sound like a success for the company, until someone looks under the carpet.
Without seeing the actual books for the time period it's hard to know if the six month wait was prosperity or a red herring caused by inadequate staffing. In Sloan's first installment, we read that Ken realized that Will was selling jackets BELOW cost, necessitating an instant price increase. Six months wait to produce an unprofitable jacket is not very good business.
I'm reminded of the line that a CEO I worked for often used when negotiating (he was a very adept negotiator) - when the other company would tell us they would be losing money on every unit at a particular price, he would look very serious, pause a moment, and then tell them they would make it up in volume. These would be fixed cost items that the only thing that would happen with volume is losing more money.
Without seeing the actual books for the time period it's hard to know if the six month wait was prosperity or a red herring caused by inadequate staffing. In Sloan's first installment, we read that Ken realized that Will was selling jackets BELOW cost, necessitating an instant price increase. Six months wait to produce an unprofitable jacket is not very good business.
I'm reminded of the line that a CEO I worked for often used when negotiating (he was a very adept negotiator) - when the other company would tell us they would be losing money on every unit at a particular price, he would look very serious, pause a moment, and then tell them they would make it up in volume. These would be fixed cost items that the only thing that would happen with volume is losing more money.