Yes, I do buy from the manufacturer direct - big deal, buy many hundred a year and a direct account is easier. Challenge is keeping enough in
stock for the gear coming in. Those that buy the new gear don't always think about the details. You know like lamps, plugs, clamps and
safety cables. Much less the crew chiefs on shows requireing extra gear, don't often think about the details. What I do for my living is no different in many ways than anyone else that tries to keep a place stocked with enough but not too much of gear.
Been a hard last month or so (hardest I can remember since I worked for the place), three or four major tours going out and two or three left in the shop getting ready to go out. Two days ago one of the crew chiefs said he needs 100
safety cables to
safety cable his
truss casters. Ready to start
safety cabling them now of course immediately. That's a first for use but fine. Surprise to me that the last couple tours wiped me out in that I normally
stock at least 100 if not more like 200
safety cables and also in the past month just bought around 800 more. I was completely out of everything but a few Euro type and silver ones and nobody told me when they took the last of them. Soo sorry, not important enough to give me prior notice, and in following up a big month, give me two days in not seeing it reasonable to overnight instead of two day in more
safety cables. Anyone know how much it costs to overnight stuff? Ordered 100
safety cables on a two day, the rest 200 more on a three to five day shipment. Vendor didn't listen to directions. That was lucky for the tour in that upon recieving their
safety cables they asked for 50 more to
safety the not
truss or ratchet straps holding parts of it together, to instead
safety cable the
ratchet strap handles. Gee, ok, lucky the vendor screwed up and we paid $$ to two day in 300x
safety cables or you will have had to wait a few days more for the additional amount. (This plus a email to the account rep. saying they now have 150x
safety cables at xxx price on the show so as to charge for it.)
Stuff like that... still waiting for a re-supply of fast fit lamps to support a tour that left a week ago. Normally I
stock enough but got caught with my pants down given the amount of lamps that went out for shows or in prepping them. Buy most normal moving light lamps by the 500 or 1,000 amounts at this
point, 1.2K fast fit lamps I'm not quite ready to buy bulk on yet until the test is done on the alternate brand for them and I figure out if we will stay with the fixtures using to now really crappy lamps, or brand supplying them. Quality and at times back orders plus price for something that's lucky to get to 500 hours doesn't make me a buy big - gonna need them anyway customer. So I sit and wait for them to come in and hope nobody needs to replace a lamp until than.
On plugs:
What I say to my people when they say this pin's toast is go to the bin of spare pins/sockets. When that gets low or out I say, whell gee, this
plug you were working on just added one to two new ones to that bin and go grab a new or better yet used
connector from the drawer. Got a bin of strain reliefs, drawer of bodies, bin of screws - both normal ones and after market slightly larger ones for stripped hoes
etc. And a bin just of pins and sockets.
That's economical. Just one, don't have a spare, you now have two spares as opposed to throwing it out and not saving the various still good pieces. Can buy a 8-32x1/4" brass philips pan-head screw also in it being another bin full of. Even longer ones for use with panel mounts with bus bars or multiple ring terminals on one
panel mount socket. Silicone bronze external tooth lock washers
etc. Bins of lots of stuff. Walls of bins and spare parts. Not enough walls to hang all the parts I store.
Never
throw Nothing out! Got some 40 year old
switch panels and 50 year old Lekos that darned if they are not still considered for use or upgrade at times. This amongst other stuff. Not enough storage is a problem, not enough efficiency had better not be the reason for that. Any time someone allows a piece of gear without at least all the usable parts coming off it go to a dumpster, you have wasted money.
On some brands of
plug do and some don't have removable pins/contacts, I buy the ones with removable contacts and insert strain reliefs so you can
grip what's going into it properly. No big deal on other brands, another drawer of other brands of
stage pin also I acquire - both of parts for them and plugs. Never
throw nothing out. Good for training people into other styles of
plug and good enough say for an
adaptor. I even still use old style Union plugs for at least adaptors. Good learning thing especially where training in how to make a
friction tape strain relief comes in.
Heck, I even save the used/cut off crimped
stage pin terminals manufacturers do on their gear for use on non-grounded gear. Remove the normal
plug/
connector terminal from what won't be needing it, it goes into the spare
terminal bin, the crimped
terminal that's otherwise useless goes into the
plug. Side note, don't buy gear with plugs already on them. Often it's if
stage pin the
crimp type of pin that once you need to replace the cable on the
fixture with, you now have a
plug also that goes into the trash. Specify gear without plugs in saving the labor costs, and putting normal plugs on the gear so its reusable. Or specify and you can - that they use non-crimp type plugs if they are putting them on. Nothing piss's off my wife faster than finding a crimped
stage pin plug which is now useless if she has to change a
whip and now also the
plug.
Hmm, have not tried to buy the pins/sockets yet. Probably could and can - anyone no doubt can buy them. Never needed them given a rotating inventory.
