We have been pretty good at meeting product expectations but terrible at meeting deadlines and dates. The only reason I can point to is the EXTREME complexity of this project. We have discussed EPIC with the largest and most significant players in the electronics industry... they all think we are nuts. We have had to help fabricators solve problems because they have never seen this type of complexity before, especially in the size of the package. We heard "don't do that" 100's of times in the past two years... from very smart guys. But we have finished the project with even more capability than originally promised.
I am more convinced than ever we should build these machined, hand built EPIC bodies. I'll announce a price (probably around $45K just for the brain) and see if anyone wants them. I will probably build some anyway because it is in our customers best interests. We will learn a lot from the process. If no one wants them, I'll keep them for myself...
If someone does want one of these... they will sell by customer number (only fair) and that customer will not lose any other Stage option they might already have.
We would expect to make the machined bodies in December and January before regular production is scheduled to begin. We expect to start real production with small volumes in February and ramp up to high rates by early April... before NAB.
Everything is subject to change depending on 18,000 variables, but this is the current plan. The plan shouldn't stray very far since we are finally done with the primary development. It was a long road but worth the wait.
Jim
Originally Posted by Peter Matthes
