Agreed mathew....she, or ANDI as they are almost certainly paying her marketing expenses at a bare minimum, wouldn't waste the time or money if they weren't going to lead to significant purchase orders.
From a procurement standpoint, I can tell you that when you need something factory new from an aerospace OEM (GE, Pratt-Whitney, Honeywell, Rolls-Royce, etc) you can expect lead times anywhere from next day to 16-18 moths depending on OEM stock levels and/or production capacity.
I interpreted Melanie's messages as "procurement" meaning the process by which ANDI/UTOP purchase the phones/components from its vendors so the timelines above would apply.
Her "logistics" timeline to me meant the time from which ANDI/UTOP received purchase orders from its customers (with "Ship To" instructions) to the time when the distributor/customer actually receives the phone from ANDI/UTOP. This timeline should be rather compressed and could again be next day (standard or priority) or, at most IMO, 3-10 days (freight, saver, economy or ground).
Hopefully, in an effort to keep overhead as low as possible they are drop shipping the phones directly from the manufacturer (this avoids warehouse, shipping supplies, shipping personnel, etc. expenses) so as to beef up their net margin.
One other thing about Melanie's comments stuck out to me.....the fact that she was speaking about "logistics" leads me to believe they are targeting large orders with distributors over retail, which is a very good thing for margins, especially when we are starting out. It stretches out your marketing dollar by selling in bulk and allows you pocket a higher net margin as the less you physically touch the phone the higher your margin will be.
When going the "drop ship, bulk sales" route you need to ensure your quality control is exceptional, as again you aren't physically taking possession of the phones to inspect before shipping to your customer. You can accomplish this by setting strict quality guidelines before hand with your vendor or paying a consultant to do on-site inspections. Many manufacturers have certifications such as ISO 9001 that spell out strict quality standards for any production run they make.
FWIW, I am VERY EXCITED about Melanie's comments recently and we should all be encouraged that someone with her status/relationships is willing and eager to work with us........unlike Starkweather she will be worth every share of equity we gave up to work with her and her team
Hope this helps.
Have a great day guys!!!
From a procurement standpoint, I can tell you that when you need something factory new from an aerospace OEM (GE, Pratt-Whitney, Honeywell, Rolls-Royce, etc) you can expect lead times anywhere from next day to 16-18 moths depending on OEM stock levels and/or production capacity.
I interpreted Melanie's messages as "procurement" meaning the process by which ANDI/UTOP purchase the phones/components from its vendors so the timelines above would apply.
Her "logistics" timeline to me meant the time from which ANDI/UTOP received purchase orders from its customers (with "Ship To" instructions) to the time when the distributor/customer actually receives the phone from ANDI/UTOP. This timeline should be rather compressed and could again be next day (standard or priority) or, at most IMO, 3-10 days (freight, saver, economy or ground).
Hopefully, in an effort to keep overhead as low as possible they are drop shipping the phones directly from the manufacturer (this avoids warehouse, shipping supplies, shipping personnel, etc. expenses) so as to beef up their net margin.
One other thing about Melanie's comments stuck out to me.....the fact that she was speaking about "logistics" leads me to believe they are targeting large orders with distributors over retail, which is a very good thing for margins, especially when we are starting out. It stretches out your marketing dollar by selling in bulk and allows you pocket a higher net margin as the less you physically touch the phone the higher your margin will be.
When going the "drop ship, bulk sales" route you need to ensure your quality control is exceptional, as again you aren't physically taking possession of the phones to inspect before shipping to your customer. You can accomplish this by setting strict quality guidelines before hand with your vendor or paying a consultant to do on-site inspections. Many manufacturers have certifications such as ISO 9001 that spell out strict quality standards for any production run they make.
FWIW, I am VERY EXCITED about Melanie's comments recently and we should all be encouraged that someone with her status/relationships is willing and eager to work with us........unlike Starkweather she will be worth every share of equity we gave up to work with her and her team
Hope this helps.
Have a great day guys!!!
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