I
appreciate the comments – and pain. The
pain was felt on many levels due to the abruptness of the termination of the
contract with Tranax and Nautilus Hyosung. Originally the contract was to be terminated in July 2007, but they
decided in November 2006 to quit shipping product, thus creating an early
termination of the contract. It was
unfortunate and an extremely difficult decision. It also created a lot of
problems for us and our customer base.
We are
quite pleased and appreciative with the way that our customer base has embraced
the Mini-Bank 1700 and the Mini-Bank 4000 product line and stuck with us
through these difficult times. In 2002
we experienced a similar situation when they quit shipping the Mini-Bank 1000
and put the Mini-Bank 1500 into the market without a “conversion” time to allow
for new product acceptance. That was a
difficult time for us. The Mini-Bank 1500
was an improvement over the Mini-Bank 1000, and the Mini-Bank 1700 is an
improvement over the Mini-Bank 1500. Technology advances – and when that happens it forces products to
improve or become outdated. Our solid
design capabilities combined with our support structure will continue to guide
us now and in the future.
I have
heard rumors in the market of our near demise. Many of you know that we have recently moved in order to double our U.S. manufacturing and assembly capacity and keep up with growing sales. Earlier this year Tranax created a Board of Directors, each one an experienced executive —all of whom have successfully
built large global, high technology companies.
These are
not the actions of a weakened company, but of a ragingly healthy one, that has
come of age and is ready to strike out on their own.
Comments