Going from bad to worse

[Rockers]

This July has been the worst on record for us. There are just no events being held. We are going from one State Of Emergency to the next. I tend to say after the State Of Emergency is before the State Of Emergency.
To make matters worse our gas dryer gave up 2 weeks ago. Flame doesn`t ignite anylonger. European brand , spare parts had to be shipped from the UK. Turns out 2 parts we needed had longer lead times then expected. Well never mind. They still managed to ship within 5 days from us placing the order. Ok so TNT picks everything up and then they miss the connection flight in Qatar. You would think not a big deal until they managed to miss as well the second connection flight to Tokyo. This was shipped via their fastest service. Shouldn`t have taken longer then 3 days. Shipped on the 22nd of July and we finally will receive it on the 3rd of August.
Ok so I can fix the dryer on Monday hopefully. Have to do it myself as the boarders are shut and no foreigners are allowed in. So no techs either even if fully vaccinated and tested negative.
Then on Thursday our Spyder II has a meltdown. Starting to print badly. Going back and forth with the guys at Exile today they finally confirmed the head and inkfeed needs to be replaced- big bummer.
Same situation here, have to do the replacement myself as I cannot get a tech into the country. It`s so screwed up.

[Doug S]

I really hate to hear that Rockers.  Hopefully there will be a turnaround.  Yes the equipment problems are the worst especially when the parts are hard to get.  That being said, I'm used to fixing our own for the most part.  Do you think Exile can walk you through the repairs virtually?

Our business went from a terrible year last year to overwhelming this year.  We've printed for many family reunion but most of them are being held virtually.  I really hate saying this but I feel we are going back to shut downs again here.  I'm from Arkansas and we are one of the highest of new infection rate states.  There are literally no ICU beds available anywhere in the state.

I'm really wondering if we will ever see the what we called normal Pre-Covid times again.  Just like many and not in just this industry are suffering from low supplier/part inventory and lack of employees.