It has begun!

As of last night, the merchandise that manufacturing has in stock...or had, I suppose, since its all over in the website's inventory now...went online. This is the beginning of the introduction of 20-30 items that will comprise the ATS gear line.

The reason we decided not to do a Blackhawk or an Eagle is that we realize that some items are just not cost effective for us to produce. We took a hard look at how things happen for other companies, and came to the conclusion that its not the right way for us. Several companies make a huge number of products, for every possible need. They're also hamstrung by that same inventory. They get an order in for a few Reverse Faced Quad Widgets that haven't been cutting edge and in high demand for a couple of years, and they have to go back and make that thing. Since they can't do just the three, they do 25 to make it worth making the run. Then they have 22 of them collecting dust for several months to several years because nobody else wants them. Its not a good plan for us; we're too small to absorb an overstock like that.

Manufacturing is balancing the production of a line of goods with a limited amount of resources. You either have too little materials, too little time in the week, or too few employees or machinery. A balance to achieve the best results must occur, or you fail...and not just at teh Intrenets. This is true of every manufacturer. I can't think of a single one that has everything it needs in the quantity that they need at the time they need it. Some have become very good at it, with the Just In Time method of getting materials, but JIT is hard on vendors, too. Every time you're dependent on an outside vendor, even if its another wing of your organization, bad things can happen. Not that they always do, but it appears that business has a proclivity towards chaos.

At any rate, ATS Brand Equipment is now available, and we're damn proud of it. We've got some unique ideas and products that nobody else has done, so far as I know. Ya like that disclaimer? ;) I think we're going to find a large chunk of the industry because what we have is cool. It'll probably be knocked off soon enough, and versions of it will appear in a couple other company's lines, but then we'll know we've "made it". Then all we have to do is work harder to keep us on top.