dropping the ball

[nicnac]

anybody else under the impression OVL are dropping the ball of late? first the TAL gear stops being imported on a regular basis and now they are running low on some skywatcher kit (maks), what the hell is going on? is OVL ready to fold or are they just being complacent? This is not how I expect a "main distributer" to act

[Capricorn]

If you consider it from a distributer point of view it is probably reasonable. They will have had to place an order for what they estimated would be required. That could possibly and easily have gone in over a year ago.

So when Brian Cox has boosted astronomy up into the public consciousness, there will have been a surge of sales. So the normal annual quota could easily have disappeared in a few months.

To get a new stock in will mean them first deciding on what the next demand is likely to be, as after a couple of months people who do not have a new shiny scope will probably just forget the idea. Then they have to place the order.

This could well have a 3 month lead time. If you have a look at the Chinese and Taiwanese optical manufacturers this is what they quote of their sites. Even in the UK lead times of 90 days are normal.

OVL cannot just walk down the high street and restock. Their restock is likely to be at 6 month periods.

As for TAL, suspect the sale of these is not as lucrative as sales of 127 Maks etc. So the line is put on the back seat.

[nicnac]

some good points there cap, got to say though, when I used to deal with stock I set markers, when I got to a certain level I would re-stock so I never run out. I never found it too difficult to keep the books and with most having computerised records these days, it should be easier to keep on top of things. As for the TAL brand, their kit is still sought after by many, more than enough to justify a re-stock by OVL

[inksmithy]

You tried to call FLO or rother valley recently? It's impossible to get through, they are flat out busy.

Wouldn't matter where you set your stock marker, its too hard to keep up with demand.

Alan

[nicnac]

that could be true to a certain extent but we must remember that OVL are the main suppliers of both TAL and skywatcher brands for the uk, FLO and the likes will have problems if the distributer is failing

[AndyH]

There is an interesting piece by Markus Ludes of APM(Germany), mainly regarding Intes scopes, but perhaps sheds some light on the importation of scopes from Russia.

About 3/4 of the way down the page.

Telescope Reviews: Intes Micro

Cheers,

Andy.

[nicnac]

hi Andy, its been a bit, hope you and yours are well, interesting link you posted and it does say much for Russian economics "yur paperz plez" . still have the question on OVLs stock levels and re-stock methods