Last week we received some good news ahead of the start of our manufacturing business when one of the competitors had their product recalled. This news made headlines across the local new outlets.
From what I have learned the recall started happening around 2 weeks ago after a sharp object was found in one of the punching bags. The sharp protruding was a knife which obviously deemed all bags unsafe and they need to be checked making them safe again.
The punching bag industry is not massive and if you are a supplier this is seriously bad news if you have a product recalled. The upside is it will boost our numbers when we start manufacturing later this month. This highlights whoever was filling these bags was left unsupervised and was being done on the cheap by untrained staff. Surely you know what tools you are using and if they are not returned then you have serious problem.
I knew of a previous incident many years ago when another company was importing punching bags from India and during one inspection found rubble or parts of building bricks to be more precise and alarmingly a syringe with it's needle still attached.
The main reason why we landed up with the punch bag manufacturing business was the previous supplier was not being honest. The clothing material he was filling the bag with was always damp/wet and he kept on blaming this on the transport companies.
I mentioned that this was being done on purpose to make the filling in the bag heavier so he would use less material to get the required weight. It turns out I was correct as the wet material was always the bottom 2/3rds and not ear the top. This becomes a health hazard as the wet material then creates mold which as we know can be very harmful.
The wetting of the material would have made the supplier very good money because he could make an extra $10K monthly by short changing the stuffing even if he cut back by 25% to 30% which is what I expect.
Waste material like what we have been sourcing is not easy to come by and people actually want money for this and is in my world what I would call expensive. I do not see significant value in waste cloth material besides being used as a filler and will not be paying over the odds for what I would consider something being worthless. The problem is they will know I need this and why my negotiating skills will be required and I will have to manipulate the situation acting as though I already have another supplier and do not necessarily need what they have.
I have 4500 Kg's coming in monthly from our community venture with another manufacturer taking their waste and need at least 10-12 x that monthly. The next meeting hopefully next week is with the gentleman who handles the disposing of counterfeit clothing for the government and I desperately need what they have. Remember that profit is made when you buy and buying smart is something I am particularly good at. I plan to be specialist in this niche industry within 12 months so I can take the knowledge with me to replicate the business elsewhere.
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