Lie Nielsen tool production and COVID

[Eric Commarato]

Mike,

I replied...

[measurecutcurse]

Just curious, does anyone have an inside line on when Lie Nielsen plans to ramp up production again? I know there is a lot of pent up demand for their products. I've been waiting to pull the trigger on a no48 or 49 but I'm not willing to pay the prices they're commanding on the second hand market. I'm going to shoot them an email and will reply here with anything that I find out.

I've ordered things on back order recently. I think that they shift production based on orders and demand, so ordering an item will positively impact wait time.

Their problem is more related to manpower (like alot of places) compared to material availability.

[camp10]

I've been hoping to buy a LN No3 Bench Plane, but it isn't on their Core or Core 2 lists.  I am signed up for a notification when it is available, but also sent an email query.  

This is what I received in reply.  I understand and look forward to the day they are back to a full catalog.

Thank you for your email! Due to the current circumstances and extraordinary constraints on our production shop, we have just temporarily taken these out of regular production. We have had a much larger than normal order volume during this time -certainly a good problem to have- however, we can only have a fraction of our staff in the shop.

We hope to have these back soon but as demand for our tools has not let up, we're unable to give a lead time for when that will be right now. You are also welcome to use our "Notify Me' button, you will input your email address and as soon as the tool you sign up for is available, you will receive an email about it.

Please check out our Tool Availability page for more information: www.lie-nielsen.com/pages/tool-availability-covid-19

We would recommend keeping an eye on our website as well, because as soon as we're able, we’ll have them available for purchase again.

We apologize for any inconvenience and greatly appreciate your patience and understanding.

If you have any other questions, please let us know!

[Alan S]

If you want something, it makes sense to put yourself on a list, since that lets LN know you are interested.  They know they are back ordered and are working hard to get workers and pipelines going again.  Some likely require specific expertise.

But if one item has more people waiting than another, I know which one I'd put at the top of the list to work on.

[Admiral]

If you want something, it makes sense to put yourself on a list, since that lets LN know you are interested.  They know they are back ordered and are working hard to get workers and pipelines going again.  Some likely require specific expertise.

But if one item has more people waiting than another, I know which one I'd put at the top of the list to work on.

Excellent point.  I'm sure they review backorder data regularly, and say, if their list for #48-49s grows to 25 or 30, they will make choices on what to run next.

[AHill]

If you want something, it makes sense to put yourself on a list, since that lets LN know you are interested.  They know they are back ordered and are working hard to get workers and pipelines going again.  Some likely require specific expertise.

But if one item has more people waiting than another, I know which one I'd put at the top of the list to work on.

Putting yourself on their list also helps them prioritize when they'll make a run of a particular tool.  If they get 200 backorders for a No. 3, but only have 100 backorders for a No. 4-1/2, guess which one gets made first?