Re: [Elecraft] K3 Options Last Time Buy Update and other products status:

[Eric Swartz]

Following up on my last post, I'm running about a week and a half behind
getting input for the update. I will be posting it here before the end of
next week after we all get back from the holiday weekend.

Hope everyone gets some relaxation this holiday weekend!

73, EricWA6HHQ
*elecraft.com *



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Re: [Elecraft] K3 Options Last Time Buy Update and other products status:

[Michael Carter]

Thanks very much, Eric, for the comprehensive
update!

73,
Mike, K8CN
(especially glad to know about the KPA3A
being close to shipping)
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[Elecraft] K3 Options Last Time Buy Update and other products status:

[Eric Swartz]

I've been out of town much of this last month and I apologize for my lack
of regular updates over the past months on the K3 Options. The buck stops
here - I apologize and take full responsibility for the slow updates and
delays in getting these completed and shipped.

The bottom line: We and our vendors were overloaded and had way over
estimated our ability to build and get the options and our regular core
products products out the door at the same time. We've been 'heads down'
focusing on adding capacity to correct this situation.

In my last update I was way over optimistic about our in-house production
ramp up rate and the capacity of our Caif. based PCB assembly houses and
their ability to ramp up production of all of our main products and the
very large number of individual K3 option boards at the same time. The
ongoing semiconductor shortages, while improving, have also continued to
put sand in the gears of production as we took time to hunt down
numerous hard to get parts. We -have- been successful at getting the very
large number of KIO3B and KSYN3A options built and shipped, along with the
K144XV and K144RFLK orders. But that, combined with our post-COVID ramping
up of our K4, Amplifier and Autotuner product lines, severely taxed both
our inside final assembly and our outside PCB assembly sub-contractor's
abilities to handle everything at once. We had to pull back and reset to
add production capacity and first focus on our core Radio, Amp and
Auto-Tuner products, with the K3 last time buy options following that.

We have now qualified and added several additional CA based PCB assembly
houses to work with our parts ordering group, which greatly increases our
production capacity. We are already using them for a wide range of boards
with good results and faster delivery.

This increased capacity has allowed us to catch up with our K4, Amplifier
and KAT500 Autotuner backlogs and these products now typically ship from
stock. (or occasionally 5-10 working days after order, depending on short
term order surges etc.)
**Catching up on these products has opened up additional capacity for our
K3 Options production, where we are now heavily focused.**

We're currently working with our PCB assembly vendors to solve any
remaining parts problems and to firm up the delivery dates for the
remaining K3 options. Fortunately we have sufficient raw unstuffed PC
boards in house for a number of the K3 options, which will speed the
production process. I will report back here in about 2 weeks, during the
week of 8/21, with updated status for each product, showing production
status, open issues etc.

(I may also report earlier on a subset of the K3 Options if we receive any
of the information we've asked for early (next week or the following week.)
One item that may start shipping soon is the KPA3A 100W option. We're
currently confirming if we have all the sheet metal and other parts in
house that go with the built and tested KPA3A RF assemblies.)

One additional note:
We've also been successful ramping the KX2 production rate enough to exceed
the order rate and reduce the backlog. We are working hard to push that
higher so KX2s are shipping from stock soon. We are also shipping against
our KX3 backlog and are working hard to get that production rate up so we
can get it back into a stocking situation.

73,
Eric WA6HHQ
*elecraft.com *
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