IFI Critique

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Originally Posted by Jack Jones

That may work for them, but it doesn't do much for the customer. And, it doesn't excuse running out of RCs before ship date. And, please, do not suggest that upgrading '05 was an acceptable alternative.

It's come to the point where there is no "off season", as evidenced by the volume here on ChiefDelphi. IMO, IRI is way better than any Regional, and this year was much better than the Champs. We would have been better prepared had IFI been there for us. They were one for four at having what we needed, no matter what season.

IFI is a business. As such, carrying inventory (especially obsolete inventory) is a poor business move. The cost of supporting 1 small customer (your team) does not justify having an entire run to build RCs and OIs

Most companies buy their parts on credit. They do this so they do not have to use up their available cash reserves. The assumption is that the finished product will be sold before any interest on that credit is accrued. Thus, carrying excess inventory costs money (in interest).

I did not suggest any alternatives because I was only remarking on IFIs business practice, not a solution to your delemma.

And there is an 'Offseason'. IFI is contractually bound to have ALL parts in stock during the competition season. That season ended at the championship in Atlanta. Because they MUST have spares available at that time (built and ready) they generally will have some afterwards, but they are not contractually bound to maintain any stock, nor are they required to build anymore.

I've said it before and I will say it again. IFI is not in business to supply FIRST with RCs and OIs. They are in business to make money (as all businesses should be). Once we understand IFIs motivations, then their actions are easily predicted.

[Dave Flowerday]

Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur

IFI is contractually bound to have ALL parts in stock during the competition season. That season ended at the championship in Atlanta. Because they MUST have spares available at that time (built and ready) they generally will have some afterwards, but they are not contractually bound to maintain any stock, nor are they required to build anymore.

Where did you see that? We needed another CMUcam during the season (after Midwest, several weeks before the Championship) and IFI was out of stock. We had to borrow one from another team. I know other people have had that problem with other parts too. I think if you read Jack's post more closely you'll find that he had out-of-stock problems during the season as well as afterwards (or at least that's how I interpreted it).

[Andrew Schuetze]

I'm posting very late in this thread. I started a new thread on chit-chat yesterday that may add some reality to this thread about another control system that has FIRST type capabilities. Check it out on this thread.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=48627 The cost is $349 for the controller. It can communicate via wifi...

[Mike Copioli]

Originally Posted by Astronouth7303

I assume you mean video game types, because there's no way the OI will ever support USB joysticks. Just too complex. (At least with the current stuff.).

What would you say if I told you Such a device does exist?