Purchase/Prebuild - What's the difference?

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Bill Gold

Andrew brought up the scenario of this company not being able to fill all orders, and thus preventing the components’ usage by teams whose orders were filled. I do not believe that this is a valid argument. If team X needed a 0.7M gear we would have to turn to PIC to obtain it (since they don’t have access to wire edm or a gear cutting machine). PIC usually has a 2-3 week lead time, but I’ve heard cases where teams haven’t gotten their gears until after the build period. Does this mean that Team A’s transmission that features a gear received from PIC is illegal to use because Team X didn’t get their part in time? I don’t think the answer is yes. I think it sucks for Team X that they will have to redesign their robot a little, but Team A shouldn’t be punished because their order was filled. I, personally, feel that any such company should be prepared for about 200 teams ordering their products.

I'm not fully going to disagree with your disagreement to my original argument. But,...

Stock Drive also sells 0.7 module gears. Plus, there are 0.7 module gears in the kit (in the drill motor transmissions). There are also overseas suppliers of 0.7 module gears. Theoretically, there are enough 0.7 module gears available to all teams during the build phase. This is not a sole-source item.

On the other hand, supplying 1000+ teams with two FIRST-custom-built gearboxes may result in a permanent undersupply. Since this is a sole-source item, it can be determined whether, theoretically, all teams can receive their parts within the six week build phase. If they cannot, then, technically, the parts are -not- available to all teams and violate the rule.

I will also note that the rule states that the item must be "generally available ... from suppliers..." which would bar sole source items.