Update
Well what has been happening lately?
Update June 2006
Dear customer, since our last update things have been progressing quickly here in the land of smiles. I am please to announce that we have been joined by a full time general manager, Khun Apinan (Andy), who will deal with all enquiries from any point on the globe other than the U.K.
Andy has joined us after a distinguished career in marketing and management in the U.S.A. and Thailand. Andy studied English for many years in Australia and the United States before making the States his home for over twenty years. Andy returned to live in Thailand in 1988 and is a Thai citizen. He is fluent in Thai and English so please do not hesitate to contact him regarding any aspect of your order.
In addition we have also been joined by Khun Pornpan (Gai) who has joined us as our production manager. Gai is able to speak English to a very high level and has considerable experience in production management. We hope that the combined efforts of Gai and Andy will make order delays a distant memory in future.
The company reorganisation is now complete and I am please to announce normal service is now resumed. We are currently recruiting new painters and expect to have fifteen painters in place by the end of the summer. This will hopefully ease the pressures we have previously been experiencing with order turnover.
I am pleased to announce that John is now running our sister UK company, Big Battalions. All U.K. and European customers should contact John as a first step with regards to any question regarding orders or in relation to ready painted figures for sale. However, if you would like an order update then please feel free to contact Khun Andy. Andy will contact customers in any event with photographs of orders before shipment.
If you are a customer other than a European customer and have any queries we would ask you to contact Andy first as John does have his hands full dealing with our U.K. sister company as well as helping us as always with information and advice.
For those customers recently affected by the recent comic antics of Thai customs, please be assured that the problem has now been resolved and the figures are in transit again complete with new papers.
We are pleased to announce that we are now taking orders for 10mm and 6mm figures and are planning to have a range of ready painted 10mm figures available for sale in the near future. Please watch this page for updates. We will be offering a range of ACW, Napoleonic as well as Ancients in this scale. Prices will be announced in the near future. In addition we will be expanding our 15mm stock considerably in the next few months.
If you would like to order figures in any of these scales prior to the release of our ready painted ranges then please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be pleased to take your order.
It is with regret that we have to announce some limited price rises, these are effective from the 1st June 2006. This is a reflection on rising costs and the need to pay proper salaries to our workers. We are not running a sweat shop here in Chiang Mai. I hope you will not find the rises too onerous and that you will agree with us that the quality of our product and the time it takes to produce high quality work is worth the investment. Please see our prices pages for details.
Finally, we will be attending the following trade shows this autumn: Colours at Reading as well as the excellent shows at Antwerp and Milan (Crema). We would recommend all of these shows as all have a great deal to offer the enthusiast. If we are not in attendance at any particular show then please look for our show agent, Allen Lumley (Lancashire Games), he always carries a selection of our stock as well as being available to take orders or discuss any question you may have.
Happy wargaming and may the Gods of war smile upon your forces. Chock Dee.
Update March 2006
Well whoever said that things are meant to go smoothly? First a large shipment from Front Rank containing orders and stock sits in the Thai Customs house for 30 days. The problem? Front Rank did not include the correct paperwork. And despite us providing everything that the authorities then asked for, they sent the whole lot back to the UK, after charging us for 30 days storage, and for their "expenses". Needless to say orders will be subject to delay.
On top of which for financial and taxation reasons the Thai partner in the company was advised to restructure the organisation, changing from a Ltd Company to a Partnership. To do this he had to close the company down, sack the employees and then re-recruit them. Chaos, understandably, ensued for a couple of weeks while matters are being sorted out, but the painters are now back at the tables and completing orders for early shipment.
Having decided to concentrate on the development of the European operations John Sharples has asked us to notify customers that he is no longer involved in the operation of the Thai company and no further communications should be sent to him regarding outstanding orders or estimated delivery times, these should be addressed to Khun Apinan (Andy) at siampaintingthailand@yahoo.com
The UK company Big Battalions is unaffected by these changes, and continues to trade, and is in fact seeking to expand their area of operation, they will be stocking our products at Sheffield Triples and Salute, while Lancashire Games also holds a selection from our ranges.
Update February 2006
Front Rank Marlborough Command Group £25
Hello One and All, and apologies for the delay in getting this update posted, but we have been really busy dealing with your orders and reorganising production out in Thailand. This, plus a period of illness suffered by me (nothing serious but rather debilitating) has meant that some bits of regular housework have fallen behind and I am now attempting to catch up.
The first bit of news is that Gary Thomas, our friend from Snake Miniatures, is working on a new design for our website. The current one was put together by me, and I am no computer expert, it looks amateurish and needs a revamp. In particular the photographs, that have stood us in good stead in the past, need to be updated to reflect the higher quality workmanship that is now our standard.
Gripping Beast Hiberno-Norse (Customer Order)
Linked to the new look website we will very shortly be able to accept payments online for transactions direct with Thailand, such as painting and trade orders, and for the purchase of painted units by customers outside Europe. This has been very difficult for us to sort out given the crackdown on money laundering scams, and our requirement that purchases made in this way be totally secure. Then the technical problems in getting the service in place have been beyond me, so we had to bring in a technical advisor, Simon Norburn of English Computer Wargames, to sort things out. I received a mail yesterday telling me that we should be online shortly with this service so keep your eyes open.
As part of this new feature we will also be listing all units currently in stock, and to be available shortly. This again is a major effort, not helped by all you inconsiderate people out there who keep buying figures from us so we continually have to update the manual lists as they are being added to the data base!
Our New Packaging
Another new venture for us that first appeared at Warfare in 2005 and is now our standard, is the introduction of new display packaging for our units. These are white card boxes each with a large acetate window, which allows you to view the models close up, and for them to be transported in safety. I have been wanting to do this from the setting up of the company, and have had the deigns for the boxes planned out for well over a year, but the difficulties have been cost, quality, and materials. I think we have now got these problems cracked, and the majority of our units will in future be available boxed, though we will still retain some loose units for display and sale.
10mm Spartans from Magister Militum
On top of all this we have been working with new partners in the trade who have given us access to more figure ranges which will in time be featured in our boxed sets, and new scales, which our painters are now mastering. 10mm armies are proving very popular, and our painters have trained in the techniques required to produce these to a very high standard, and we hope to produce a range of Ancient units and armies in this scale in the not too distant future
10mm Napoleonics from Magister Militum
So things have been busy and exciting, but I have to admit that not everything has been rosey. We encountered a number of problems in production, some beyond our control such as the floods we suffered following torrential rains (Global Warming is hitting now folks!), and long delays in receiving shipments from our suppliers from time to time. For the first time we also suffered the loss of a couple of shipments and the resulting claims procedure caused more delays.
Our factory during the floods (for those curious people who did not believe us)
Would you go to work through this? Our staff did!
We also suffered from management problems, with our supervisors simply getting overwhelmed by the volume of orders we received last Summer and Autumn. These being for whole armies, and very complicated for individuals not versed in military history as our we wargamers!
One of the orders that we received during this period was for the opposing forces in the French Indo China War of the 1950s. This involved, for the French, a variety of uniform types, and camo patterns, as well as AFVs in combat condition. This has proven to be an absolute nightmare to sort out. The subject is one that Graham and I have little knowledge of, and is totally alien to our staff. We have stretched the patience of our customer to the edge as we ask for more and more information, for which I again apologise.
One of our boxed skirmish sets in action
I only mention this because what may seem simple to you, as a fan or expert in a period, may be nightmare of confusion to others, so please, please provide us with as much information and source material as you can with your orders. Our staff are very skilled at copying, but have difficulty in translation English text, especially when that text can be contradictory.
Front Rank Davout 28mm
This led to some errors in basing, and in the make up of orders, which had to be put right and led to delays in delivery. This was frustrating to our customers, and to us. However we tried to keep in contact with our customers and sorted the problems. I am happy to report that the overwhelming majority of customers were so delighted with their figures when they arrived that they forgave our delays and many have placed repeat orders with us.
Modern Italian Forces by Dadi.com
Graham spent most of the last two months in Thailand sorting out the production problems, and putting in place better stock control and IT support. We no have a new manager, Gai, who is very skilled, and has impressed both Graham and myself with the speed at which she has picked up the job, and the fresh ideas she has brought to the company. Our policy of paying good wage rates for high quality work is paying dividends as we are now attracting a steady stream of potential employees, who have a high level of skill. We will need them to keep up with the orders we are now receiving.
Our painting service has been very busy!
Anyway enough from me, enjoy the pictures, and keep checking the website for more news. Graham and I will be at Triples and Salute in the coming months, and Claymore, Colours, Crisis and Dadi.com later in the year. A selection of our stock is carried at UK shows by our friends at Lancashire Games so go along and check out the new boxes, and let us have your feedback.
Cheers
John
October
Well this might be the season of mellow fruitfulness in the UK, but in Thailand it is the season of bloody massive thunderstorms that wash away roads, and bring large poisonous snakes out to play. Not surprisingly this has caused a few production problems. Even so we received a shipment on the 7th of the month that has increased our stock of 15mm Napoleonics considerably after the hammering we took at Newbury, as well as expanding our range of 28mm Seven Years War as you have requested.
I also now have in stock enough Duke of Wellington models in 28mm to fill a shop, so if you were one of the many asking when they would be here and for sale get in touch soon, please and let me have some shelf space back.
On Thursday next we will be sending a large figure shipment to our factory, mainly painting orders, but with a variety of Front rank recent releases, and Dutch Belgians. I am also putting the finishing touches to a very large order of AB and Eureka 15mm Napoleonics. This lot will keep our painters busy until the New Year. Although we always give painting orders priority over stock I am afraid that I cannot accept any more orders for pre-Christmas delivery. Sorry, but I think it is important to be upfront about this and not just tell you what you may want to hear.
We know we have failed at times to meet our estimated delivery times over the last few months. This is partly down to communication problems which arose when our office manager left to go to university and we had no fluent English speaker permanently on site. This led to some difficulties, and errors in processing orders. I am releived to say that we nor have two staff working on the admin of the factory, and both speak good english. Over the next few weeks Yui and Honey will be reviewing the processes in operation and trying to identify where problems occur, and then put them right.
Another member of our Thai management team will be visiting the UK for a few weeks, mainly for a holiday, but also to visit a few wargame shows and find our what the hobby is all about. Though how he will explain it back home I have no idea.
Finally, we are about to introduce a big change in the way we sell our units at shows. Our stock is usually carried at these events by Lancashire Games, but we have found that displaying units effectively and providing the customer the opportunity to pore for ages over trays of painted models is simply not feasible at a busy show where Allan has the full Lancashire games range to look after. Therefore we are introducing new packaging which will allow the units to be displayed and stored in the same box. We will be introducing these as soon as possible for all our stock ranges. We also hope to maintain a pick your own opportunity at those shows we attend directly. These will include, Crisis Antwerp, Dadi.com Crema near Milan, and Vapnartak at York.
September
Busy busy busy! Graham and I travelled down to Newbury for the Colours show held at the racecourse. We had a small stand right next to Ian Dickie, Miniature Wargames, and we had covered all available space with our range of 15mm painted units.
And this proved to be a good choice as we did steady trade throughout the weekend, with members of the host club returning on various occassions to let us help lighten the load on their wallets. We also got the chance to meet in person a goodly number of our regular customers, which was great for us, as we were able to obtain direct feedback on any problems you meet with our service, where you think we are strong, and where you think we need to improve.
The most common cause for complaint was turn around time for painting orders. This we know has been a problem, and we have made a point of contacting each customer with reasons for the delay, and to offer a form of compensation for their irritation with us. Unfortunately problems do arise, and trying to sort them out when you are sat at a computer half a World away, trying to converse with someone who does not speak English at all well (but still better than my Thai), is not easy.
Added to that is the fact that Thailand is in the middle of the Monsoon season which impacts on communication, transport, and staff effectiveness (they cannot get to work when roads turn into rivers), all of which combine to get Graham and myself banging our heads against the wall.
Even so the orders are still rolling out, and the delays are being ironed out. And the best news we had was that there was no problem with the quality of our work, either in the painting service or ready painted units. In fact everyone was extremely complimentary.
So hearted by that response we will plod on and try and get your units to you in the shortest possible time. Remember some of our stock is carried at shows by Lancashire Games, and Graham will be at The Worlds, Derby and Crisis, Antwerp to answer any of your queries.
In the meantime we are working on new packaging for our ready painted units, that we hope will be in place by Salute!
Cheers
John
August
(All pictures are of work in progress for the August shipment, either as customer orders or stock)
If you are an avid watcher of the World News you will have seen that Chiang Mai, our hometown, has suffered the worst Monsoon storms in living memory with almost a metre of torrential rain falling within 48 hours, washing away river banks, roads, and
powerlines.
This has had some effect on our production. Not least because our painters have not been able to get to work. But thanks to their efforts all the stock was moved to the first floor of the factory and damage from flooding was minimal. In the circumstances we are putting back the shipment due during the Bank Holiday week back to allow the staff to complete projects underway.
And we have quite a few of those. Orders have been flowing in from all parts of the World, and I am very happy to say that more and more gamers in the USA and Australia are trying out our services, and are happy with the results.
For the first time we have had to turn orders away, not something that we want to do, but seeing as so many of you seem determined to refight Austerlitz all our painters had their stock shelves full in May to July, and our estimated completion times got longer and longer as we tried to sort out the complexities of our orders.
You must remember that although we may know at once the difference between a chevaux leger and a dragoon, the same does not go for our painters, and as most sources available to them are in a foreign language they are forced to ask for clarification, and this takes time and so delays occur, which are as frustrating to us as they are to you, but we are determined to ensure that the orders that we send out are just as you want them.
Consequently we had to tell some potential customers that we were unable to process their orders at present. Hopefully they will understand and try our services later.
Also, after a great deal of planning and discussion, we decided to reorganise our basing and packing processes. Again this meant a delay in finishing orders, as change always causes problems. But the result was a total clearance of the stock shelves and an invasion of over 5000 15mm Napoleonics into the UK, fantastic units of AB, Fantassin, and Eureka figures, with more to follow. Check out the pictures
by clicking here!
One cloud on the bright horizon though has been a price increase. We really did not want to do this, but a rise in the cost of figures, and more severely in air fuel prices has forced it on us. We have hung on hoping that oil prices would fall and the surcharge on transporting our models would reduce, instead it has gone up again! We really are sorry for this, but remember our discounts still are in operation on larger orders.
We will be at Colours the first weekend in September, held at Newbury Racecourse Berkshire, and a selection of our stock is carried at most shows by our mates at Lancashire Games. You can always e mail us for latest pics and news of fresh shipments, so we hope to hear from you soon.