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TURN AROUND time for Rebuilding / recelling your
batteries VARIES.
Battery
Cell Manufacturers Time Impact
Current Schedule: April 24,
2009: as quickly as our current work schedule and circumstances permit.
ALL LEAD TIMES ARE SUBJECT TO
CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.
- New Lithium Ion
Broadcast batteries -- 65WH - 600WH --Call, have normal back order
as they move really fast, but are moving on schedule.
- Average 4 to 8 week lead
time is the reason for the extreme price reduction on Rathbone
Energy Lithium Ion Broadcast Batteries using premium cells and
design. The price structure in turn is increasing volume and
keeping product on back order. A cat chasing it's tail.
- New Broadcast Lights
-- 4-8 weeks: ( New orders-20 days)
- New Broadcast Camera
Bags -- 4-8 weeks. ( New orders-20 days)
- New Broadcast
Monitors -- ( New orders-30 days+)
- On the above items
the factory I have contracted to manufacturer my Broadcast
Lithium Ion Batteries and Lights starts my 10 working day ship time
the day after they receive my bank wire, overnight to customs,
through customs, and then overnight to me.
- I was forced to go
off shore because I could not get the tool and die done in the US.
BTW, The Board of Regions for the schools in most states removed
electronics from their curriculum a long time ago.
- Buy
American
-
Our Position On Nickel
Cadmium and Nickel Metal Hydride Battery Cells
- Custom Premium Rebuilding of:
- ProPacs - -call
- 82WH 500 Discharge Cycles - Convert to our Lithium Ion
- Hytron100 Series -
- call - 150WH 500 Discharge Cycles - Convert to our Lithium Ion
- ProPac to Ni-MH
conversions - call - 150WH 500 Discharge Cycles - Convert to our
Lithium Ion
- Convert these to
Lithium Ion
- Hytron 50 Series
- call - 67WH 500 Discharge Cycles
- TrimPacs - call
- 45WH 900 Discharge Cycles
- Proformers
- call - 29WH 900 Discharge Cycles
- We receive hundreds
of these per month for a reason. 19 years of experience, we
are the teacher, we cut NO corners, and do NOT use cheap cells in
our premium rebuilds.
- Dionic 90 Series:
-- call - 104WH, However, we have:
- New Lithium Ion for
broadcast: 1 day - 8 weeks average- (Changes constantly), 65WH to 725WH, V Mount and Gold Mount.
-
More Broadcast and Film Info
- New Battery Assembly:
Volume contract work and turnaround is covered in contract.
Ship To
and Contact
Us
Please see note at the bottom of
the page so that your order is not unnecessarily delayed.
Excluding
weekends, major holidays, holiday weekends, holiday weeks, unforeseen vendor issues,
unexpected health issues, illness, or
events outside our control including, ice storms and Acts of God;
We are
committed to a QUICK
turn-around of your batteries after arrival for rebuilding / recelling; This is
Not a guarantee, it is a
commitment.
A commitment we work very hard to meet. 99% of all delays are the
result of the cell manufacturers revised schedule, not ours. In-house
delays include possible health issues, doctors appointments, or hospital
admittance. So if there is an unexpected delay please do not take your
frustrations out on your salesperson. Their income depends on smooth
delivery of incoming battery cells AND OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES OUTSIDE OUR
CONTROL. Our ability to keep the lights on
depends on that same smooth delivery.
EVEN
WITH PLACED BLANKET ORDERS, WE NOR OUR EMPLOYEES HAVE ANY CONTROL OVER THE
US WAREHOUSE STOCK DECISIONS OF ANY OF THESE MANUFACTURERS! Our bills
come due monthly, not every other 16 weeks.
We are
in a "sleeves rolled up" small business environment. Everyone here
catches calls, writes up orders, receives, packs and ships, and helps
the techs as needed. We custom assemble every battery pack to client
specifications and we are very good.
Delays: To prevent cascading delays in delivery, persons working a tech
bench are no longer interrupted with the question, "are my client's
batteries ready?” Each interruption is at least two batteries that will
not ship that day.
If allowed, this interruption cascades quickly so that not just those
who are inconsiderate of our lost assembly time but other paying
customers are also affected by this interruption and then everybody's
batteries are late.
My Good Reputation
with My Customers is on the line and I’m NOT happy.
The newest delay is being caused by a few of your colleagues, (you know,
the ones whose mother assisted them in the bathroom until they graduated
high school or received a GED), filing credit card charge backs after
receipt of product, in essence, bad checks, causing a set of problems
and snowball effect so extreme that is covered in a separate document
and html file. We have been forced to retain an
aggressive attorney firm. The actions of these few bad clients cause
delays plus more paper work for my good clients and an EXTREME expense
to me and I intend to go after every single one of them. (Link at the
bottom of the page,)
In a good or bad economy we are SO Thankful that we receive hundreds of emails per day.
But this economic depression is very different.
We are SO Thankful that we receive +/- 65 incoming sales calls and new
orders per day. Between us we receive > 400 emails per day, and as we
try to do all things, the voice mail will overflow.
If we add more
staff we cannot compete with the Chinese and Still give you the Quality
that has built our Excellent 19 year old company name and quality
reputation.
In addition we receive > 30 calls per day asking status of batteries in
house. Every tech interruption is at least two batteries not built that
day that should have been built that day and it accumulates in a
cascading effect. To stop this cascading effect we have a new policy and
Techs are not disturbed.
We custom assemble hundreds of new battery packs new inserts, and
rebuild hundreds of different type batteries. We always have a lot to
catch up on in returning telephone calls and emails. There is back
office check in and receiving, front office sales entry, invoicing, and
money processing, money management and purchase orders, and everything
involved with battery assembly as well as rebuilding batteries, and then
packing and shipping. There are many steps involved.
Please be patient and we will respond as fast as we possibly can.
As always, thank you for your business.
D & F Cells:
Regarding high end
"D" and "F" nickel cadmium and nickel metal hydride battery cells for use in
specialized markets:
In the past we have born
great heat from clients with no exposure or understanding of this worldwide
problem with high end performance "D" and "F" battery cells, until explained
by us. Then they are very understanding, but that does do remove the
stress on the client, employee, or myself. Just as important, it does
not remove the lost revenue. Panasonic, and Sanyo have the
required D & F cells if on blanket orders. WE NEVER OPT TO FILL ORDERS WITH LOW END CHINESE CELLS!
Each battery assembly is
built to order with the latest production and best cells
available, even if our vendors are late on delivery, we do NOT substitute
cells. Comparative manufacturer cell specification sheets are
available on this web site for value comparison.
Your battery packs are custom built using fresh
premium cells. The only brands we use are Duracell, Enersys-Hawker,
Panasonic, Saft, and Sanyo. Between these five manufacturers we select only the best cell available
for our shelves. We now also take into consideration their ability to
fill their blanket orders.
Battery cells do not have an infinite shelf storage life.
Therefore, we do not build up a bulk of battery packs to be left
sitting on shelves to “hopefully” be rotated. This is one reason
why you can buy a new battery and still receive bad performance. We are aware of rebuilders having cells sitting on their shelves from the last time they
were in business. Or, for when they open again.
Battery Cell
Switch & Bait As well as some VAD's and even AVAD's.
We are also aware that some people buy new battery packs with poor
performance because they were built in Taiwan in bulk and shipped over
to the US "manufacturer", for resale under their brand name.
On occasion we turn new battery pack or rebuild orders faster than our listed
time frame. It depends on how many orders are in-house, the size of the
other
outstanding orders, and the unexpected (battery cell manufacturers delays /
push outs on blanket orders).
We build many batteries for broadcast, cinema, film, DOD – military, and
other markets.
As you read
the FAQ's, 50+ Broadcast Battery Rebuilding
FAQ's you will be informed in detail of the
steps involved in building you the best battery possible. Properly
rebuilding a quality battery is time consuming.
As you read the
FAQ's, 50+ Broadcast Battery Rebuilding FAQ's you will be informed in
detail of the steps involved in building you the best battery possible.
Properly rebuilding a quality battery is time consuming.
Broadcast - film batteries:
We
build many batteries for broadcast, cinema, film, DOD – military, and
other markets.
Broadcast - film batteries:
On a Premium rebuild it takes a certain, undefined amount of time,
outside our control, to run a full diagnostic on Anton Bauer Power
Charger InterActive Quad 2702's with DDM, deal with unexpected repair
discoveries, make those repairs, and doing another set of tests before
packing and shipping. Or with other batteries, Cadex, Christie, or PAG
Analyzers. Absence, weather, Acts of God, Life, cause enough
distractions and delays on finishing in-house orders. We commit to as
fast a turn-around time as quickly as our current work schedules and
circumstances permit.
We are a custom dry cell primary and rechargeable
battery assembler as well as a custom rebuilder and we work very differently than generic
and apathetic “amateur rebuilders” or a retail store franchise with
amateur technicians.
Amateur
Work Examples
We give diligent detail to each clients product.
New Assembly of Battery Inserts or Battery
Packs on Volume / Mass Assembly Orders: These clients are
organized, have planned this large dollar order, are in volume, and on a
schedule. However they are still subject to any potential /
unforeseen delays listed above.
Custom Assemblies: Same as recell without
the required clean up of a recell pack.
Rebuild / Recell Packs: (Click each number to expand)
-
Order Processing Procedure
-
Opening your battery
- What
cell do you recommend?
-
Battery Cell Specifications
- We
assemble your battery pack
- We test
the battery insert before placing it into your battery case
-
Insert Test
- We run
the detailed test on your batteries using Anton Bauer 2702
InterActive chargers with DDM before adding back the cover and
sealing the case. A complete test takes an undetermined amount
of time.
-
Test Insert
- How is
my case sealed?
-
Case Seal
- Do you
test my battery after the case is sealed?
-
Test Insert
- Your
final test is with Anton Bauer 2702 InterActive chargers with DDM.
- Broadcast Batteries:
-
All Broadcast Batteries
Note:
Our clients really do appreciate our position in the following notes.
We have already made and are trying to
meet our commitment. We cannot control the unforeseen or
unexpected and can only force so many minutes into a day.
Special Needs: Sometimes clients will call with a special need in recelling. If their need
is strong enough for them to pay Priority Overnight
8:30AM freight for their product
into
and out of our facility we figure they are in trouble, so we
"try" to work
them in quickly WITHOUT compromising our quality standards or
NEGLECTING
orders already in-house. All clients are equal.
YOUR EMERGENCY IS OUR EMERGENCY BEHIND THE EMERGENCIES
ALREADY IN-HOUSE. First order in is first
order out.
-
Are my batteries ready?
- Turn-around:
-
Battery packs have their own
agenda, then you add in the user, an uncommon denominator, and
anything can happen, so we do everything we are aware to do in
order to bring you the best product and value.
-
We receive hundreds of battery
packs per month for rebuild plus our volume assemblies in other
markets such as our DOD, NASA, and the private sector. We are a
“sleeves up” working facility including the officers of the
company.
-
A primary rule is
that no one ever interrupts a technician while running a battery
cell welder, plastic welder, or assembly of a battery pack.
This leaves a large opportunity for error, reduces job cost
efficiency, and clients products do not get built on time.
-
We have always been
known for great customer service, for humbly being proudly
servant, and individual client s are given as much time and
battery care information as they require.
- We have had
customers call in checking status of an already discussed
battery or batteries, who have realized after hanging up,
that we have LOTS of batteries to build for lots of
clients. They call back and apologize to the sales person
who has been so kind with them, actually making comments
like, “You spent so much time on the telephone with me and
in my head I am thinking I am the only client you have and
then I realize different”. Kindness is a Southern Genetic
Enhancement. Thank you.
-
Fortunately we get
several telephone sales calls per day, along with customer
service calls, and standard business calls.
-
My technicians and I also want to give you great customer
service, battery packs, timely, and are working diligently to
build your battery packs with great quality.
-
Each of these calls that go past sales to interrupt a technician
is a battery not finished that day. A few days later several
batteries that should have already shipped are still on benches
to be built. At this point, more clients are calling wanting to
know the status of their batteries.
-
The salespeople, whose nerves are being destroyed and reputation
is also on the line, come back to assembly, nervous and ranting
about a delayed set of batteries. Now the technicians are
upset, nervous, and mistakes are made that must be reworked. A
technician is on another call, and another battery did not go
out that day.
- Our rule has always
been that NO salesperson is allowed into assembly during
technical work hours.
We cannot do this and build batteries correctly or quickly. The
rule is now on the door to assembly.
-
Interruptions to
technicians are unfair to everyone, (clients waiting on their
products, salespeople, and technicians). They place production
behind for all customers, and again increases the incoming calls
requesting the status on batteries. We are so grateful for your
business, and know that all clients will appreciate that we will
be the one’s to control our assembly area.
-
Everyone’s batteries
will be built quicker without these interruptions to
technicians, and everyone receives better service and
turn-around.
-
Trying to reduce expenses in a bad economy we have removed the
customer service positions. As of October 12, 2007, I now have
in place new protocols with better communications between you
and your salesperson so that salespeople are following as
closely as possible your location and they will advise you on
delivery as information is made available to them. Actually
this was always my way of communication but as we have grown
and sometimes staff leaves and new staff arrives, training is
lost. Sorry. I am working to make all better.
-
Obviously, if you feel you must, You may call on your paid for
battery product status and speak with a sales representative. A
sales person will return your call when not doing other work.
The sales person is not here to be beat up by anyone.
Especially now that we are building lithium ion battery packs,
NO sales representative is allowed in assembly. The sales
people are made nervous, I on a bench myself, am made nervous,
and they make my technicians nervous, and that causes more
delays and opportunity for mistakes. I hope you appreciate that
this is in EVERYONES” BEST interest.
- If you have an urgent
need and are paying early am delivery in and out of the facility
you will receive a priority status if you have discussed you
emergency with a salesperson and they have confirmed that we can
fulfill your emergency expectation.
-
If you are
pre-planning and have a time frame where you MUST have your
batteries back by a certain date, discuss this with your sales
representative, confirm that we feel it is attainable, barring
unanticipated interruptions in battery cell delivery-which
should not happen with our new vendor Sanyo, or all the staff
getting a stomach bug, etc, place a reminder note in the box,
and your salesperson is responsible to walk the floor daily
checking approximate lead times or any unexpected issues that
you need be made aware.
Procrastinators: Sometimes a client will wait until the very last minute to
place their order. We will give every effort to
accommodate. If a client request when their product will be shipped
the dates we give are approximate or anticipated ship dates.
Squeaky wheels:
Whether a client who has waited until the very last minute or a client
whose product, for whatever reason, is taking longer than our normal
time for rebuild or assembly; A client who consistently makes
multiple calls or emails per day or in the same given delivery schedule
over an order attempting to be placed in front of everyone else is
simply distracting and slows us down. Drama clients are
inconsiderate to us, all of our other paying clients, and will be
placed last in line.
Drama clients cause us drama and our drama then becomes the drama of a
client who, like us, never asked for the drama.
Our vendors know their business better than we and
we would never show our ignorance to their work environment by attempting to tell our vendors how to run their business.
They do not explain themselves to us and we no longer explain ourselves
to others. If a client request when their product will be shipped
the dates we give are approximate or anticipated ship dates.
The bottom line is that even with all of our best
intended efforts, like a well prepared meal, your batteries will be
ready when they are ready.
Special Circumstances happen
that are just outside our control such as a cell manufacturer
pushing back all blanket orders 16-36 weeks or more. Apparently all cell
manufacturers are playing this game. It must be our thriving
economy. Look back to the top of the page for Current Schedule.
If you have not figured it
out by now we do not operate in any gray area so you have No surprises
after the fact.
Battery Cell Manufacturers Impact
Credit
Card Charge Backs
                                               
                             
         
   
Copyright Rathbone Energy, Inc.,
1990 - 2xxx, All Rights Reserved.
Last Revised
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 11:11:22 AM
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