Hey Guys;

Let me chime in here and say that Stu and Jim are pretty much spot on. Guessing how many PFs to actually make is a hard nut to crack. Inserts are running as much as a 10 month lead time and I have to order inserts for as many titles as I can at a time to keep the costs reasonable. For example, I once ordered inserts for 100 Centaur PFs and the inserts cost about $10 per PF, but then I was told we "needed" to make a further 15. The inserts for these next 15 cost $75/PF!!! So that means, when I place an insert order I have to group the inserts together on the same order for the next 5 or 6 PFs. So it's not just 10 months to that PF can get made, it's 10 months until the "first" PF of the batch I ordered for can get made. If I ordered inserts for 5-6 titles, then it might be another 10 months or more until the last few titles get made. During that time I have no real ability to adjust upwards the number of PFs I can make.

It's not quite as bad as all that as I often add extra inserts at the time of ordering, just in case. But Stu is right, and they are expensive. A plastic tub can hold many thousands of dollars in inserts. Right now I have 16 tubs full of inserts which are worth a small fortune.

The thing to keep in mind is that unless everyone takes the PFs they asked for and they never do, we usually get all the way through the list. When any list is closed I order enough inserts for each and every guy on the list at that time. Other factors do come into play (spoilage etc) but USUALLY everyone gets a crack at one.

Mike P.