Organization development consulting is the way I earn enough to pay my mortgage and indulge the 'Finer recliner' experiment.  If you're at all curious, my website, www.stevesussman-otc.com has loads of information about my practice.  

I've been thinking a lot about what I tell my clients regarding change, and what I wrote here in an earlier post...

"Change doesn't happen because you simply find a better way.  Change happens when the present way  becomes intolerable."

Even though I've made some serious changes since we started, till recently I've had a pretty high threshold for what's tolerable.   

Oh there have been some major changes - no more hallucinogenic glue, introducing the CURVE (which has become about 95% of all orders,) using memory foam fill exclusively, making full kits (stem, "L" tube towers and neck rest) for Catrikes with no neck rest hardware, offering some custom kits for Sun trikes,  modifying the mounting brackets to make them simpler and smaller, and offering all sorts of embroidery option.  

But it's clear that the critical next changes would be big ones, not just simple refinements:

• Being able to cut way down on the time it takes to fill orders.  This demands major manufacturing changes, not just me working faster.
• Offer simple hardware that'd allow the neck rests to fit a wider range of recumbent trikes and 2-wheelers.  This would mean having access to parts as a manufacturer or wholesaler rather than continuing to buy them over the counter at my local bike shop.  Note:  I do want to give my local shop a plug however.  Jeff, the owner of Vashon Island Bikes, routinely sells parts and accessories at or below on-line prices.  If you want a wonderful day of rural riding...with hills, a delightful ferry ride with terrific views, great places to eat afterwards, some neat B&B's if you decide to make a weekend of it, make sure to visit Jeff's shop in the village for maps, bike rentals, advice and great deals.

Well following the latest snafu's in filling orders quickly I'd finally had enough.  So here's the news:

• All the CURVE brackets are now being laser cut by a custom fabrication shop.  The first 24 have been ordered and should be here shortly.  This will save me an enormous amount of time.  I'll continue to make the bases, and cut and glue the fill.  But with the new brackets I should be able to fill orders in days rather than weeks.  Sadly (I'm sure) the brackets will no longer look like they were nibbled by elves.
• I now have a manufacturer's account with a bike parts and accessories distributor, so now I'm able to purchase short-throw mtb stems and shims for the full kits.  I have a dozen stems on the way.  This means I can offer quality stems at a very good price without having to scrounge around to buy a stem or two at a time...retail.  UPS just arrived!  Stems are here, shims on the way.
•  We'll be pre-making batches of CURVE covers.  This means if you want one unadorned that will speed delivery as well.  We're still doing custom embroidery but it'll take a bit longer.  I don't want to discourage the personalizing with embroidery...we've been making some really nice covers for folks lately.

And there's more in the works, but I'm hoping this will be a great next step.  We may eventually transition from pvc and abs bases to all-metal, but for now we'll see how these changes go.

What I know about change is that people rarely stop what they’re doing merely because they discover a better way to do something.  They change only when the way they’re doing something at present becomes intolerable.  And “they” in this case is me. 

For the most part making the neck rests has been a wonderful experience.  I’ve met terrific people and made some new friends as I talked with, and shipped neck rests to, people round the world.  Feedback from customers that has felt incredibly good.  I’ve had amazing hallucinations with that first can of contact adhesive I used – I traveled to other planets and realities, most likely at the cost of more than a few brain cells.  I've enjoyed helping turn customers' ideas into finished embroidery. I’ve learned a ton about manufacturing and ten times that about collaboration as Zubin, Cara and I slowly figured out how to make this work while at the same time nurturing what really matters…our friendship.

And then there’s the part that hasn’t been so great:

• I’m embarrassed by continually apologizing for long wait times.  Trying to maintain a consulting practice during the day means long nights in the shop.  There just aren’t enough hours in each day. 
• That first can of adhesive.
• Making and fitting the steel brackets by hand takes hours, and the process is imprecise…especially in the winter when I’m working in an unheated shop.
• I discovered belatedly that the foam supplier couldn’t control the density of one of the fill materials I was using so I ended up paying for a batch that would have made better clouds than neck rests.
• Its been next to impossible to get mtb stems at a reasonable price for the full kits.  And having to buy them retail has made this even worse.
• And then on top of everything else Zubin decided to move back to San Francisco, so now we’re mailing stuff back and forth, which has slowed things even more.

When I couldn’t find the energy to write in this blog for over a month I decided the situation, finally, was intolerable.  It was either fill the current orders and then close up shop, or start doing things very differently.  Since there's plenty more I can learn and more I'd like to try, I'm choosing Option B.

So, here's what "intolerable" has inspired.  I've sent drawings to Puget Sound fabricators for estimates on manufacturing the brackets for the CURVE and ROLL.  

A leading bicycle parts and accessories distributor has approved my opening an account, so now I have reliable wholesale access to the stems needed for the full kits.

Neck rests and kits are waiting for covers.  Customer designs will be embroidered in the next couple of days, sent off to San Francisco to be sewn, put on the neck rests and shipped...finally.

I knew this would happen sooner or later.  Well, the time's come.

Choosing fill material for the neck rests has been a journey beginning with open pore foam which some folks love and others think is too firm, then anti-microbial latex which is cushy but has inconsistent density...so inconsistent that my supplier will no longer cut it, to what I'm hoping will be the best fill by far - Sun-mate medical memory foam. That's the exciting news.

The not-so-exciting news is that there were really no good options between the latex and Sun-mate, and the Sun-mate is three times as expensive.  Couple this with the fact that my margins were so thin to begin with, if I simply absorb the added cost then there's no sense in continuing to make these.  I've tried keeping the price of the neck rests as low as possible and that's still my intention.

So, I hope you'll understand my raising the price on both the ROLL and CURVE models.  In the coming weeks I'm hoping to make a decision about having all the parts fabricated in a production shop.  If I can do it at a reasonable cost it will help me overcome my greatest challenge - providing high quality neck rests in a reasonable time.  I don't yet know what the impact would be on the price, but that'll be a major decider in whether I go ahead.

Thanks to all of you who've purchased my neck rests.  Since I'm really excited about this new fill material I'm hoping those of you who are considering a new neck rest will be enticed to try a CURVE or ROLL, even if it costs a small bit more.  Thanks.

I realize I can't push against the natural forces of the universe...but in this case that bit of information doesn't really help.

Neck rest orders continue to back up.  The PVC I ordered came in...the wrong stuff.  And when they told me they re-ordered what I'd asked for it turns out their computer didn't place the order because it checked inventory, found the wrong stuff, thought it was the right stuff...and so it didn't order.  And its been 4 days since I was told my new foam cutter would be here in 2...still not here.

But...covers have been sewed and embroidered, and brackets cut, finished and painted.  And the great new medical quality foam is sitting here ready to be cut.  Now I just need base material and a foam cutter and I'm back in business.

I did get one neck rest mailed out yesterday and one special order for Jim Artis, soon to depart on his "Ride for the Republic" adventure on his newly designed and built quad, Fargo.  It's quite the amazing hpv - hopefully some pictures will follow as soon as his set-up is complete and he's ready to begin his journey.  I'm hoping our neck rest will comfort at least one small part of him as he rides.

Travis and I took advantage of yesterday's spectacular weather to do our post office and errand run in style.  He ran alongside and helped going up hill into the village, then grabbed a ride in the trailer all the way home, sitting with his head out the sun roof taking in the sights, ears flapping in the breeze and encouraging me to pedal faster.

Since I couldn't make neck rest bases I spent the afternoon hanging about 35' of gutter from the roof of the old stables, and then ran the downspout into a rain barrel I've made from a surplus 50 gallon plastic syrup drum.  I've wanted to catch water for a long time so we can use it to water our vegetable garden.  The barrel's about 30" off the ground and I've installed a spigot near the bottom that's connected to a hose.  The beautiful weather held until last night, then the rain started.  It rained and drizzled all night.  And today when Penni went out to pick some greens for breakfast, she returned saying the rain barrel was full!  I thought for sure she was wrong, but she wasn't.  In just a few short hours off a relatively short run of roof we collected more than 50 gallons of water.  Amazing.

More life on a sine wave.  Zubin broke the news yesterday that she's leaving the island at the end of the month and moving back to San Francisco to be closer to her family.  That means 1/3 of this cottage industry is leaving...the third that makes the neck rest covers.  She has been a great friend, and while I absolutely wish her well, in addition to the beautiful covers she makes I'm sure gonna miss the long conversations at her front door about Buddhism and Sufis, the meaning of life, the gifts of kids and stupidity of adults, and a myriad of other things having nothing to do with sewing.  She's irreplaceable.  And I'm thinking I'd better learn to sew.


Today I picked up my first 3' X 7' slab of 2" memory foam.  It's such a totally different feel from the latex...I think users are gonna love it.  That it costs 3X as much is definitely going to have an effect, but I'm committed to filling the current orders at the current price even using the new foam.  

And there's another change in the shop.  Trying to muscle a sagging, twisting, squishy slab so large I can barely hold it through my band saw has been an adventure...at times a risky one.  I can't cut a straight line, the saw sucks the foam down into its innards, the blade binds and then snaps, the damn foam simply can't be cut because it's too big to fit between the blade and the neck of the bandsaw...it just goes on.  So...today I bit the bullet and bought this.  I'm hoping it's gonna change my life...or at least save me a ton on eliminating a lot of waste when I cut.  I sure hope this works because who's kidding who.  I have absolutely no nostalgic feelings recalling that horrible sucking sound the bandsaw makes when it shags a piece of foam and quickly sucks it down into the lower wheel, binding the blade.  And then there's that "Twoing!!!" when the blade snaps.  I think I'm gonna love this cutter.


The pvc should be at the supplier's tomorrow so I can pick that up on the way home and start cutting CURVEs.  I truly appreciate the gift of having consulting work right now, but at the same time it tests customers' patience as they wait for products.  Next step, a fabricator.

I'm at nearly full "stuck" for filling neck rest orders. 

The PVC I use for the CURVE neck rests has been back-ordered, and the latex fill is no longer available except in mattress-sizes the wholesaler will no longer cut.  In a way the latex really isn't a loss since the manufacturer couldn't control its density and the variations were definitely noticeable. 

So last week I picked out some really nice medical grade memory foam that'll definitely be a great upgrade.  The down side is it's three times as expensive as the latex.  They didn't have samples of a large enough size to be able to choose the right density so I came home for the long weekend without fill material...another delay.  

I'm going back to Tacoma mid-week to check out the different foam densities, choose one and get some foam cut, and then to pick up the PVC material.

Clearly this is venting and a not-so-subtle hope for customer patience while I sort this out.  All materials should be in my shop by mid-week and I'll be back in production.  Then it's off to visit fabricators to see about automating production of the brackets and bases. THAT will change my life.

It's definitely springtime.  The garden, re-making the pond with new plumbing and bentonite, laying down a patio, rewiring and remodeling the laundry room, re-wiring my shop, finishing fabricating two steel gates, building some stone walls and a myriad of other projects all compete for my time.  Plus for the moment I blessedly have an abundant amount of consulting work taking the bulk of my day time.  And then there's trying to squeeze in a weekend trike ride with Pen and filling Finer recliner orders.  There just isn't enough time in the day.

Then in every spare nanosecond Travis is always up to a game of fetch (he's even willing to play in the dark.)  He's always got a ball in his mouth, and no matter what I'm doing he'll push the ball under my feet with his nose and then sit patiently staring at the ball...for hours...until I pick it up and toss it.

So I'm having a tough time making shop time for the neck rests, and I'm finding myself out there in the middle of the night.  Getting bids from fabricators is momentarily stalled...I just need the time to meet with them, and I just found out the latex I've been using for fill is no longer available.  I complained about the lack of consistency in the latex density from batch to batch, and it turns out I wasn't the only one.  Plus the supplier said cutting it was a nightmare.  So I've got to work with them to find a suitable replacement which will probably be a medical grade closed cell and unfortunately more expensive.

Even though all this juggling is making me nuts it's clear that all the competing projects and the fabricating challenges are a learning opportunity.  Learning more about manufacturing is really exciting.

The good news is that neck rests continue to leave the shop.  Here are a couple of the latest...a ROLL and a CURVE for Jim Artis and his new quad, and a very cool tiger CURVE for Tony Geraci.  

 

And people continue to say nice things about their neck rests.  " I wanted to let you know I got your neck rest and just love it.  I have ridden with it today on a 50 mile ride and absolutely love it."  "Neck-rest received, installed and test-ridden today on a 26 mile ride. Your design is like night and day compared with Catrike's stock component - well done."  Now if I can just do them faster.