2019 has been keeping us busy.
We’re very happy about that – in years past, we would occasionally experience a lull in the winter months. This hasn’t been true for quite a while. Business is booming, and we’re thrilled.
Being busy comes with its own set of complications, however, and I wanted to take a moment to address a customer question that I hear a lot:
“I have one small part. How soon can you get it done?”
I always let the customer know that we’re averaging 1.5-2 weeks per order (which is a pretty decent turnaround time, both by industry standards and Kaser standards).
“But it’s just one small part, and I want it in semi-gloss black! You do a lot of that – can’t you throw it in with another set of parts and get it to me sooner?”
Short answer: nope.
Here’s why.
Setting aside the fact that it’s unfair to leapfrog other customers, the “can’t you throw it in with other parts” question fails to take several important things into account:
- Pretreatment. Yes, we powder coat a lot of parts in semi-gloss black, but not all of our parts are the same substrate. If we’re powder coating a batch of aluminum parts, they’ll be pretreated differently than the customer’s steel part, and vice versa. Pretreatment is a lengthy process, and it’s foundational to the success of the powder coating. We can’t throw a bunch of different substrates together in the same pretreatment batch.
- The part’s purpose. Is it going outdoors? If so, then it needs to be blasted before being pretreated. This adds a step to the process, adds time to the turnaround, and adds a layer of complexity when considering which parts can be done in one swoop.
- Communication. Every part that comes in the doors has paperwork attached to it, so that the guys on the floor know what needs to happen. Is the part being blasted? How is it being pretreated? What powder coating does the customer want? Are there any special instructions? How is it being packaged when it’s done? We live and die by the paperwork – we rely on it to ensure that the part gets completed as ordered. If I try to slip in a part without paperwork, the rest of the Kaser team will come to a standstill. The paperwork takes time up front, but is critical to the smooth operation of the team.
Every once in a while, the stars will align and I will be able to add a small part to a larger batch, and get it done in less than 2 weeks. This is a rare occurrence, but I do it when I can.
No matter what, rest assured that we’re highly motivated to get parts back to customers as quickly as possible. What’s best for you is what’s best for us, and we’re constantly working on improving our turnaround time. But we’re also unwilling to sacrifice quality, so if we tell you that a part will take the full 1.5 to 2 weeks, please trust that we’re adhering to our process for a reason.
