Something to keep in mind, from Jason Demello

Naveronski · Jun 3, 2019

Really well written post reminding us that fabricators are people, not welding robots (not yet, anyway).

JDEMELLO said: ↑

I've skimmed through this thread as I sometimes do when we are tagged in something.

While I don't speak for Mobtown, or Joe or anyone from his company, I speak as a friend of Joes. That might sound weird coming from direct competition but I feel like all of us vendors are in the same boat, we are all rowing are own ore and while we are in direct competition with each other. If you pictured a large viking ship with those big long ore's hanging out the side, each ore team is a different company. We all are trying to make this ship of aftermarket Toyota parts go bigger faster better. I feel it's in all our best interest to work together so we don't have more pelfry situations. those don't help the boat and they don't help the customers.

I've spent time with Joe (not in a gay way, well not totally gay ) and I can tell you he's like the rest of us, trying his best to make customers happy and run a business the best he can. Small business and further more this industry is not for the weak or easily hurt. Daily you have to put on a new face, show up to work usually before your employees, stay after them. Customers don't care if you had a fight with your woman the night before or your kid threw up on you to the way to school and he's now riding the couch in your office with a puke bucket. Business doesn't call time out when you are sick, not feeling well. Very few of us can take a mental day. if you ever actually added up the hours we put in and compared to our pay checks none of us are making the national minim wage.

Some days are started with an employee calling in sick, other days you are blind sided by equipment failures, or employee mistakes that cost you money. Some days you have to listen to customers tell you what a horrible job you are doing on their order from the comfort of their union job their dad got them when they were 18 (no offense union workers, we are just jealous). Other days after blowing all your lead times out of the water, you have a customer show up to pick up his parts excited like he's 10 and he's opening up a new voltron toy on Christmas morning. Sometimes you get a nice e-mail from a customer telling you that because of your bumper, him and his family were safe in a really bad accident. (this actually happened to one of our customers) It's an extreme up and down roller coaster of emotions based off good intention-ed good and bad choices. And just when you think you have a problem handled, like it will never happen again, you get blind sided by it all over again.

Little known facts about most of us if not all of us. Most of us didn't major in business, most of us started with very little to our names. ( me 500.00 and a harbor freight tube bender) It's not like we all started off with 100k-200k or even 1 million dollars in the bank. And I can almost guarantee none of us have that now. We all start off the same way, we think we can do better than the other guy, we think we can build it better, faster cheaper. I mean "fabrication, anyone can do it right". We all jump in both feet to the deep end, some stay afloat some look like they are doing good till they sink under and drown. The best and simplest way I can describe running an off road business is

" looking both ways before you cross a busy street then half way through the street aliens come out of the sky and abduct you"

I had a conversation with Jon from All-pro after he sold All-pro to trail gear. Me and him weren't very friendly for the longest time, but as I got older and realized we were all on the same boat, I let the past be the past. We talked about this industry and how hard it is, his quote (well I'm kinda filling in the gaps) was if we charged what these parts should actually cost we could afford to have better customer service and better lead times. The problem is, there's always a guy in his garage that thinks he can do better and the only thing he has to offer to get his name out there is be cheaper. It doesn't help the industry because it keeps prices low and customer service suffers from it. I kinda laughed at this and said, yeah I know that's how I started, he refused to make stuff for Tacoma's when they came out, so I did, out of my garage.

My only point of this long rant is that we are all just like you, our job happens to be making parts for your trucks, we still have the same stresses you do in your daily life with family and responsibilities. The only difference is we have another kid our business that we care about more than we can even describe.I can guarantee Joe or any other shop owner out there in this industry cares and wants nothing but the best for their products and to get them to you as fast as they can. And when we read or hear something negative about our babies online we have to suck it up, take the criticism and respond back as professional as possible. Could you imagine if someone told you that your baby is doing a bad job? Or if your boss wrote you up for every mistake you made then posted in on a forum for the whole world to read. Not asking for pity just understanding that we are human and please give us a second to make it right.

Thanks for reading, I now return you to your normally scheduled Mobtown sitcom
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TheDevilYouLove · Jun 3, 2019

I don't know anything about the backstory here but that was a good read.

TacomaMike37 · Jun 3, 2019

Manufacturing/Fabricating is an extremely difficult way to feed ones family. I feel for both sides, the guys waiting six months for something they ordered and the guys that make a living producing things with their hands.

msfit · Jun 3, 2019

Why's this in second gen subforum?

RobZ9132 · Jun 3, 2019

Great post. We always want it faster, cheaper and better. We want it NOW NOW NOW!! As the old saying goes.. Pick two..cheap, fast, reliable.

TacomaMike37 · Jun 3, 2019

msfit said: ↑

Why's this in second gen subforum?
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Something to keep in mind, from Jason Demello

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Welcome to Tacoma World!

Something to keep in mind, from Jason Demello

#1 Naveronski [OP] Well-Known Member

#2 TheDevilYouLove You can’t polish a turd, but you can polish a TRD

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#4 msfit Well-Known Member

#5 RobZ9132 Well-Known Member

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#1
Naveronski [OP] Well-Known Member

#2
TheDevilYouLove You can’t polish a turd, but you can polish a TRD

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TacomaMike37 Well-Known Member

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msfit Well-Known Member

#5
RobZ9132 Well-Known Member

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TacomaMike37 Well-Known Member

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