> I don't know much (okay, anything) about manufacturing, but I would > guess that it is costly to start a production run. A manufacturer would > not want constantly to stop and re-start production of a specialty lens. > Is it more economical just to produce a bunch of them at a time, then > store the stock?
That's how they do it. It's called "NOS" for new old stock. > According to Boz's site, the FA* 24 is still in production. Does this > mean that it is actually being produced, or that Pentax would be willing > to re-start production if demand warranted it? It could mean anything from pouring off the assembly line every day to "we still have a few left." All "in production" means is that it's a product currently being provided to dealers. I've heard of specialty products being sold out of NOS for decades. Also, obviously, manufacturers will do new runs of a successful product as needed. Sometimes, they'll produce new ones as long as the tooling lasts, but when new tooling is needed they have to make a decision--reinvest and raise the price, or take the opportunity to discontinue the product despite steady demand? I learned about this when the Mamiya C330 was discontinued. Demand was still relatively steady at the time, but the tooling had worn out. Evidently the numbers were just on the edge between justifying re-tooling and mandating ending the production. First we heard one thing, then the other. Finally Mamiya killed the product rather than re-tool for another run. The way I heard it was that the _first_ run with the new tooling would have been profitable, but that the viability of future runs with the new tooling were less certain, so the company in the end declined to take the risk. On the other hand, Beseler a few years back was faced with the same decision with the 23C enlarger. It decided to re-tool and continue the product. The new version, with a longer girder and three exchangeable heads, is called the 23CIII. We've just witnessed a curious phenomenon typical of this basic phenomenon with the Canon EOS D60. Canon planned the product runs but underestimated demand. They have run out of product early, but since the camera was slated for replacement (with two new cameras) this Spring, and production facilities are needed for the new cameras, Canon discontinued the D60 _despite_ high demand and despite the lack of an immediately available replacement. An odd situation, but one that makes sense in light of the realities of manufacturing in Japan. --Mike
