Quoted from Chambahz:Very informative, thanks for sharing!
So I guess they ARE just being dicks. : )
Either that or companies this size don’t have paid staff members with the experience required to forecast like you have exampled. Let’s not forget the size and management limitations of Stern and JJP. If they had staff members with training able to predict the effects of Covid, and were able to evolve quickly, they’d probably have to charge even more for games.
Nah - it's just not the part of the company we as hobbyist think about. The face of the company is the 'stars'... Gomez, designers, etc. We think about how many games they will design... because we think from the perspective of the consumer.. what will they have that I will want to buy.. will I buy more, etc.
But in their building they are a factory. Shipping a product is how they make money - not designing a product. Invoicing is the only thing that generates money. So when they think about how much money they will be making... the accountant doesn't say "well how many new games will you design?", he knows how many units can you ship is what constrains you. You can oversell all day long, but you can't recognize the money until you invoice. You can't invoice till you ship. You need development to generate demand... but it's shipping product that actually brings money in the door. Manufacturing can't generate demand on its own, but it can very much limit you.. and the numbers guys know that.
That's why in the old days the line was king.. games bent to it's demands. Everything is about keeping the manufacturing lines churning - because not only is it this big expensive overhead.. it's actually what generates revenue. It's why Gary Stern has said 'we are a manufacturing company that also designs pinballs' (paraphrasing.. I don't have the exact quote handy).
It's the difference between a design studio and a manufacturer. Our community just doesn't have that perspective... because it's not what we as consumers think as.. we think in terms of what we consume. We don't care if Stern ships 100 pieces a day or 50.. as long as when we buy one, we get it. The business leaders that run the business tho... they very much have that different perspective.
Companies like Stern have real buyers, production managers, supply chain managers, etc. These are very much regular roles in established operations of these scales. It's just the side of the business hobbyists don't think about.
Now obviously when it comes to 'how they react' to these situations - it very much is dependent on what the business is willing to do and prioritize. Are they willing to invest in more inventory? Are they willing to front more orders? Are they willing to change how they ship? Will they pay different rates to bring on another supplier, will they increase their labor spend, etc etc etc.
It's just as likely situations where they 'there are ways, but we can't afford to do that...' or are not willing to do so.. as there are scenarios where there are single chokepoints they can't get resolved without long term investment... so they continue to live with that hanging over them. But all throughout that, they are still working their models to ensure they have the stock on hand when its needed, the labor and facilities, and their expected productivity to try to ensure they are hitting a target.
JJP isn't flying blind - we can't say we know what their priorities are and what they are willing to invest in - but it's not because there is nothing that can be done. It's about what they chose to do. And right now, they either just are not, or don't feel confident enough in their ability to share delivery estimates. And that is not a good thing.