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Kevin
5434
Outreach
Apr 20, 2020
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Hey Rambler, Thanks for showing interest in what's going on over at Drop. Here's a very quick summary: 1) Our staff at the SF-based HQ are all working remotely from home now, so things are a little harder to coordinate for photography, samples, etc. Situations that used to take 3 people 2 hours to sort out (sample, photo, discussion, etc) now can take 2-3 days as we have to move samples from house to house. 2) Production Capacity in China is running around 2-4 weeks behind and at about 75% normal capacity. Things that are being produced for group-buys are taking longer, and getting samples from China to various Drop team members to inspect take longer (see point 1 above). Small nuanced disruptions in the supply chain cause huge headaches and chain reactions that we have to sort out. 3) Freight shipping from China is more expensive, and slower. A large portion of air-freight used to travel in the belly of a 787 intercontinental commercial passenger plane. These planes have more or less completely stopped flying, so everything is more complicated now. 4) Our primary warehouse that handles 85% of our outbound shipping volume is located in Edison, NJ. NJ is the #2 hotspot in the USA for COVID19, so there are severe restrictions in place that (rightfully) are slowing down our ability to send outbound shipments. This is what Drop customers/users can feel/see/experience the most. But, as I've just noted, is just one of many issues we currently confront. 5) Our outbound networks (domestic, and international) are regularly experiencing service disruptions that delay or outright cancel our shipments. Sorting through a lost, frozen, or mis-routed package is an absolutely massive time sink. 6) Our USA-based suppliers (i.e. JVC, or Sennheiser, etc) have sporadic capabilities when it comes to restocking our warehouse when we order additional units from them. HD6XX and HD58X are on the verge of being sold out- we're trying to get another 1000+ units over to us ASAP. Everyone over at Drop is working tirelessly to sort through all of the issues above and keep the company running smoothly. Customers are seeing hiccups in our operations and by and large are forgiving of them; given the entire world seems to have hiccups these days. We haven't been more proactive with our communications because quite frankly, we've been heads down working on solutions 24/7. It's also very difficult to put something in writing when you know it's probably going to change the following day. We have a message regarding COVID delays on all of our checkout pages so we aren't dismissive of communicating the issues. I'm trying to 'catch up' a little bit- but I also feel like I know our users very well and see the data coming in. The majority are happy with everything that's going on at Drop and support us in what we're doing. We are grateful to them and look forward to a near-future where things are more normal.
Apr 20, 2020
Rambler
9
Apr 20, 2020
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KevinThank you Kevin, this is really helpful. I completely understand how difficult it is to keep information straight with an evolving situation, but this post goes a long way. Like you say, people are mostly understanding. I feel that knowing you guys are all keeping safe will also help the community keep faith. Best of luck with everything
Apr 20, 2020
806D2701
49
May 13, 2020
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KevinNice post! I'd like to suggest that you email this to every customer.
May 13, 2020
sfritz
1
Aug 22, 2020
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KevinThank you Kevin, for taking a moment. What I hear you saying is that in an emergancy and crisis, Drop, like almost every other warehouse and middleman business, gets hit by compounded shipping delays these days, and since during Covid everyone was working from home, this makes using Drop's systems are less than ideal for coordinating emergancy response to disaster, especially if adding new projects. I also see you mentioned China several times, perhaps they are a core supplier country for Drop; therefore anything and everything involving China in this rapidly changing international shipping landscape is mighty unpredictable and at best behind schedule. This is all really helpful. Thank you for taking the time to respond, and for all the hard, long hours you and your team are putting in. I wish ya'll well!
(Edited)
Aug 22, 2020
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