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In my experience, pushing small runs through vendors like foundries, steel mills, etc,. puts you at risk of having deliveries pushed into the future when someone with a bigger order (and sometimes a pushier expediter) forces you to the back of the production line, or at least farther out than you thought you were. I once had to expedite deliveries of Fabricated Steel, and other things, for a large project with limited space for storing same. So we came up with a plan to erect the steel as it was delivered which required a specific delivery sequence and timetable so the crews could be kept busy. The fabricator agreed to all this and on day X we were supposed to see trucks lined up waiting to offload. Except only a couple arrived. I hopped on a plane and am talking to the fabricator the next day. He tells me that my steel is in various stages of prep - welding, painting, loading, etc. So we walk out back and I'm expecting to see all of our structures being prepared (naive me). The VP of the company with me, wasn't surprised or even embarrassed that he had been caught. It was just a case of another buyer with a bigger order and more profit arriving. I am sure it happens all the time.
This is what I assumed you would run into when I 1st read about this project - it would be filled with delays and delayed deliveries to customers is the unfortunate result. Don't know if this is what happened to Catorce or not, but ambitious projects (like this) often run into hiccups.
Also, with the release of almost any new product, there are obstacles along the way. Some of the obstacles solutions often have different timetables and results. The 1st part of a project like this is dealing with all the engineering obstacles and the 2nd part will tackle the Production obstacles. As Catorce may find, the scale up to an efficient, economical production model may be very frustrating. I wish him good luck with these issues --
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