Hi all,
Long time no post.
I have been amazed at the output of Broadway Limited Imports.
How do these guys release so many locomotives per year? Do they lease the tooling from Life Like and others or do they do all new tooling themselves?
The capital outlay required to produce that many different locomotives in a year is staggeringly high. How do they do it?
Any insights?
Thanks and regards,
Jason
Jason, I'm not sure if they do this now but at one point BLI was seeking individuals outside of the company to work on a commission or percentage of sales to submit, research and develop model projects and then to manage the production process of the project. They were looking for people who had a model railroad background and some type of project management work experience. Apparently they had a step by step system to follow. Once a project is developed I would think that the tooling could be done in a fairly short time and though expensive maybe not as much as people think. The guys doing the tooling could also be working on a percentage as well as others all down the line keeping the costs low. This arrangement would also be a motivator to get things done so those involved could get to the money and that means a finished and shipping product. In the oil and gas business this a called "Bean Job". You do this when you are broke and the investment guys hate you, or the investors are chasing some other industry like lemmings and you can't get their attention or when you have a project hot enough that you don't need or want them involved anyway. For example: I have some interesting geology and a mineral lease. I find a drilling contractor who will drill the hole for a percentage, a bulldozer guy to prep the site who will also work for a percentage. Maybe even a drilling mud supplier, an engineer or a mud logger who will come in. Maybe another oil and gas company to take a piece to put in a little cash to cover some costs not let out in percentage.Usually if you get a few onboard the other trades will jump in because every one involved becomes a motivated promoter of the deal. If we make a well we offer some of our percentage to a guy who has pipe, a guy who has pump jacks and tanks and so on. It's really not a bad way to work. And the operator retains about the same amount of interest he would have had he raised the money to do it and risked very little of his own. If you make it you can then develop your prospect rapidly. I don't really know how BLI is operating. I'm just suggesting a possibility on how deals can be done with out a big outlay of cash. If they have a manufacturing outfit onboard and motivated regardless of the financial structure and a steady stream of projects to consider I can see how they can do it. Bruce
"Jason Shron" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@spammer.whonotes.com...
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