Yep, got the same email. Emp kit estimated delivery window May, 30 - June, 20. It's been ten months. Ordered 8/25/21.
I don't know guys and gals. It feels like I'm chasing a mirage. Every time it gets close to the delivery window it gets pushed out a month. That's happened five times. Maybe it's time to cut my loses, ask for a refund and move on. Sigh...
Builder # 141116
We're truly sorry for the delays. Please know that the root cause of this particular delay was outside of our direct control and that we're working to get your kit completed and to you as soon as we can. I'll explain.
This week we were informed that one of our long-time manufacturing partners is unable to deliver a large order of key parts that they manufacture. Van's was counting on receiving the parts from that partner over the next few months to complete a number of kits. As a result, we had to notify the impacted customers - including you - that the estimated kit lead times would need to be pushed out by a few weeks.
To address this issue, we immediately moved the manufacturing of those parts in-house and we’re currently in the process of adjusting staffing (read: more people working even more hours) and producing the parts in a manner that we can better predict and control, and to get these kits out the door as soon as possible.
RV-10 and RV-14 tail kits were the primarily impacted kits that we communicated about yesterday. We may need to similarly extend lead times on certain other kits by a few weeks. We will determine whether that is necessary over the next few days and will directly inform customers as applicable.
It’s
also possible that the lead times we’re currently pushing out could get pulled back in again as time goes on, if we’re able to manufacture the parts more quickly than we anticipate. We have taken a position of communicating anticipated changes as soon as we have information that we know affects kit delivery timelines. This is a difficult time to fully and accurately predict exactly when parts will be delivered, especially when third-party companies are involved and their operations are unexpectedly disrupted. Every change we are forced to make has a certain amount of associated unknowns that we must estimate and navigate.
We know very well that there are customers who have been waiting for some time for information about certain kits - finishing kits, as well as other airframe kits - where dates have not yet all been assigned and communicated. Our production and purchasing planning team is working with our many suppliers and manufacturing partners, as well as our internal manufacturing crew, to forecast completion timeframes. We will continue to communicate updates and information when it is available.
There is no way around the fact that supply chain logistics are still quite challenging across our industry. We've put many controls and measures in place to minimize impact, and things are certainly improving overall, but the overall operating environment remains challenging. If we don’t communicate schedule changes, people will understandably be upset that they were not provided a heads-up about the changes. And when we do communicate schedule changes like this one, others express to us that they’re (understandably) frustrated with the delays. Please know that we are doing everything we can to get these kits out the door and into your hands, and that we are working to provide as much information as we can, as soon as possible. Things are improving, but we do have to operate in the real world where things are currently less predictable than they have ever been.
I hope that helps. We're not going to make excuses, but we will explain the situation when changes happen, and we will do everything we can to adjust and minimize impact. We know it's frustrating, and as builders, many of us here are just as frustrated and understand from personal experience. The finished product is worth the wait, and when you fly it we know you'll understand what we mean by that.
Feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss your individual order.