Message from federal,CCI and Speer

[Digger]

Caught this a minute ago from the company ...
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIgvoJKovIg

[Rizzo]

Thanks for the link.
Merry Christmas.

[HP9MM]

Thank you for the video!

[Petrol & Powder]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...rbrink-On-Ammo

[TonyR]

I saw this too and wondered.

With it being a trend for ammo demand to go up during election years, do manufacturers not prepare for this and increase production or are they really at full capacity when it comes to production?

I’m in my late 20s and was in the military for most of Obama’s term, but did this same thing happen when he took office? Or even Clinton?

Makes me glad that I’m getting into reloading and casting.


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[quilbilly]

I saw this too and wondered.

With it being a trend for ammo demand to go up during election years, do manufacturers not prepare for this and increase production or are they really at full capacity when it comes to production?

I’m in my late 20s and was in the military for most of Obama’s term, but did this same thing happen when he took office? Or even Clinton?

Makes me glad that I’m getting into reloading and casting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In a word, yes.

[Wally]

Wouldn't it have been a better and a more honest video, if they admitted they blew it yet again; greatly underestimated the demand for ammuntion and that they should have learned from previous shortages when O'Bama was coronated? And offered an apology to the millions of customers they have failed to serve due to their oversight with a promise to never let it ever happen again......I know, I am dreaming! The top managment should all resign out of shame

[Scrounge]

Wouldn't it have been a better and a more honest video, if they admitted they blew it yet again; greatly underestimated the demand for ammuntion and that they should have learned from previous shortages when O'Bama was coronated? And offered an apology to the millions of customers they have failed to serve due to their oversight with a promise to never let it ever happen again......I know, I am dreaming! The top managment should all resign out of shame

I'm thinking they deserve a pass on this, since about half of our economy shut down completely. I worked for an industrial laundry, got a letter showing I was essential personnel on March 31st, and terminated on April 3rd, along with most of my shift, since there wasn't enough business to keep us going. No restaurants, no machine shops, no mechanics, no oil fields operating. Even though firearms and ammo manufacturers were considered essential businesses, they have to have material and support to keep working. If all the machine shops are closed, and the mechanical contractors, how are they supposed to keep their equipment running? What are they supposed to run though the machines to make ammo, and components with? I know we were having trouble getting hydraulic fluid, and parts, for example. If you don't have what you need, you cannot keep running. It's real simple.

[Petrol & Powder]

Wouldn't it have been a better and a more honest video, if they admitted they blew it yet again; greatly underestimated the demand for ammuntion and that they should have learned from previous shortages when O'Bama was coronated? And offered an apology to the millions of customers they have failed to serve due to their oversight with a promise to never let it ever happen again......I know, I am dreaming! The top managment should all resign out of shame

What did they do wrong?

They didn't CAUSE the shortage, panic buying by fearful consumers created the shortage.

And by the way, corporations don't exist to "serve" their customers. Corporations (or any form of business) exist to..... make money.

It would be grossly irresponsible to the shareholders to fund huge factories that later sit idle. It would be unwise to purchase excess land, buildings, machinery and pay taxes on it while it sits idle. It would be fiscally irresponsible to hire large work forces only to lay them off 6 months or a year later.
You cannot pour millions upon millions of dollars into capital improvements for a short term demand.

Let's say you make a product that has a steady demand. You and your competitors routinely meet that demand and have some excess capacity to make even more than you normally can sell.
Then one day, panic buying drives the normal demand far beyond the average demand, exceeding even your wildest projections.
Do you pour millions upon millions of dollars into additional factories, machinery and people to meet a temporary demand that will dry up in a year? Do you saddle your shareholders with crushing debt that you will never be able to pay when the demand evaporates ?


For decades the manufacturing capacity for toilet paper was far larger than it needed to be. Then suddenly everyone panicked and purchased every roll of toilet paper in the country. We know what the demand for toilet normally is and for decades, we met that demand. It would be foolish to lay out enormous amounts of capital to meet a short term demand.

There will be ammunition and ammunition components available in the future just like there is toilet paper back on the shelves. Everyone just needs to take a deep breath.

[Finster101]

Wally, I agree with you they should have seen this coming with lessons from recent history. I am unhappy with the way he actually seems to be angry about it.

Scrounge, I'm a dealership tech and we never shut down. Neither did our parts stores or uniform company. About the only people Florida considered "non-essential" were barbers, hair and nail salons and of course restaurants and bars.

[reddog81]

It’s kind of ironic how everyone thinks Federal should have seen this coming but at the same time they’re complaining because they can’t find supplies. If it was so obvious why didn’t you stock up ahead of time?

[Gewehr-Guy]

No , this current shortage is not the fault of the manufacturers, it lays all on the fault of the end user. If they were already a shooter, they should have already bought when the market prices were screaming to them to buy the excess inventory. The $8.00 a box 9mm ammo had to be nearing the price point where production would slow down, and eventually stop. Same thing when primers were $20 after the rebates.

That tells me that the dealers have all the supply they can afford, and have room to store, same for the distributors also. The manufacturer's main job is to manufacture, not store a four year supply so they can clean out the warehouse during an election year. I believe the consumer needs to realize that he has some responsibility in keeping the supply chain flowing smoothly, just as much as the manufacturer, distributor and the dealer. Remember also that all these business's can't store unlimited inventory because of cost, insurance,regulations and available space, so some of those issues fall on the end user.

[megasupermagnum]

Wally, I agree with you they should have seen this coming with lessons from recent history. I am unhappy with the way he actually seems to be angry about it.

Scrounge, I'm a dealership tech and we never shut down. Neither did our parts stores or uniform company. About the only people Florida considered "non-essential" were barbers, hair and nail salons and of course restaurants and bars.

How would you like it if you woke up every day to hundreds of messages from people on this forum telling you what a fool you are for having not invested $2000 into reloading? Then realize doing such would have no poor consequence to you if no surge had happened this year. Federal on the other hand could loose dearly if the surge they banked on did not pan out. His job is to direct the company to where they want to be business wise. He has no obligation to shooters to guarantee a perfect supply no matter what. I'm sure he wants Federal to make more ammo and components, to capitalize on the current situation. He is just a person, and he is being bombarded with hate mail, likely even death threats. That is enough to frustrate anybody.

[Scrounge]

Wally, I agree with you they should have seen this coming with lessons from recent history. I am unhappy with the way he actually seems to be angry about it.

Scrounge, I'm a dealership tech and we never shut down. Neither did our parts stores or uniform company. About the only people Florida considered "non-essential" were barbers, hair and nail salons and of course restaurants and bars.

I'm in the middle of the Oil Patch in Oklahoma, and just about everyone shut down here. Last couple of days I worked we washed out before the end of the shift. NO laundry left. We were averaging over 30,000lbs of laundry a day just a few days before that. There's usually 5K pound of laundry left at the end of my shift, just before the next "day" starts. 5-10 loads, usually. The machines hold a nominal 450lbs of laundry, but you're not supposed to mix types of fabric. Cotton shirts don't get washed with cotton-poly shirts, for example, so you'd do two separate loads. One of the energy companies we laundered for terminated every one of their worker, and left us with several hundred sets of uniforms in FR clothing. 7 shirts, & 7 pants per person. They actually let the production folks get some OT to get that lot ready, IIRC. Us maintenance guys didn't get overtime this past year or so, because of me. I got about $10K of OT in early to mid 2019, since we had two of our techs quit within a month of one another, and were having trouble finding replacements. Left me and the supervisor to do all the maintenance, and cover 3 shifts until late summer. Just got the maintenance shop fully manned again, and everyone trained, and BOOM! Wandered by late in May, and there are four techs and a waste water guy, two shifts, and two buildings to cover. One of the techs is doubling for supervisor, too. We'd had five techs, WW, and the supervisor, who spent a lot of his time doing maintenance. Those guys that are left are busy as a 1-legged man in a butt kicking contest. I'm glad I decided to retire, though it would have been nice to plan it before I walked out the door. Competition for jobs is fierce around here, and I could afford to retire. Bunch of my co-workers couldn't.

[FISH4BUGS]

Wouldn't it have been a better and a more honest video, if they admitted they blew it yet again; greatly underestimated the demand for ammuntion and that they should have learned from previous shortages when O'Bama was coronated? And offered an apology to the millions of customers they have failed to serve due to their oversight with a promise to never let it ever happen again......I know, I am dreaming! The top managment should all resign out of shame

Maybe you should try running a manufacturing business some day. Sudden increases in demand for the end product causes demands on raw materials, and the whole thing stresses the entire supply chain.
Maybe you can forecast demand better than they can? Send them your resume'.

[FISH4BUGS]

It’s kind of ironic how everyone thinks Federal should have seen this coming but at the same time they’re complaining because they can’t find supplies. If it was so obvious why didn’t you stock up ahead of time?

Some learned our lesson the LAST time this happened.

[tinsnips]

Fish4Bugs I agree with you it is very hard to estimate demand. I have been doing it on a small bases for years it does not get any easier

[country gent]

Trying to guess the market swings is pretty hard to do. Do you increase production and warehouse storage in case, and end up having more expensive ammo ( overtime, rush orders increased maintenance) left to pay taxes on at the end of the year? Do you actually increase production by adding lines and personnel possibly buildings, to have have excess and lay offs if it dies off? Work with what you have pushing equipment and personnel to the limits risking major break downs and injuries ( when overtime goes up for extended periods so do injuries). I di believe that the ammo companies are doing what they can as best they can. No manufacturer wants to have unfilled sales in the stores and dealerships. Nor in this day can thy have large stocks of products sitting.

Now heres the kicker when theres ammo on the shelves and everyones happy no one thinks abut it or notices, but when its gone its the companies, government, or shops fault.

Increasing production isnt just turning the speed up on a line. Its also the testing of materials before use quality control before during and after production. Increase in shipping, whats good having product on the docks warehouse if you cant move it. Also on the other end is what good is ordering more materials if you cant get it t the plants or in them? There are lead times on everything from the taw materials to when it goes thru the lines and then getting it to the shops.

When they started taxing the materials on hand and in warehouses the companies went to JIT manufacturing ( just in time) which was meant to put items on the shelves as the customer wanted it. This has became JTL ( Just to late) manufacturing. All of this was implemented by the bean counters and share holders.

[am44mag]

This happens every 4 years. That's not a secret. If you aren't prepared when the election rolls around, then it's nobody's fault but your own.

[davidheart]

The shocker is a sitting president not being re-elected. I think that's how this mess was exasperated. It's been decades since a sitting president was not re-elected so in there defense not many of us expected this...

Also, yes this happened when Obama was president quite regularly.