Going For A Lamy Factory Tour, What Do You Want To Ask?

[WirsPlm]

Thanks for the report! Very interesting to get a look inside a pen factory, even if only vicariously.

[Senecabud]

There appears to be no hope for bottled Violet.

So sad!!! But thanks for the great report.

[Safari_Camo]

NO photos allowed, eh?

[Bo Bo Olson]

Nope, don't want to help Hero make cheaper clones.

I asked the Sales Manager to send me lots and lots of pictures when they finally get around to answering our questions.

There will not be any 'close-up's' of the machinery....unfortunately. But she promised me distant ones.

Those are real big machines...

 

The fountain pen cartridges are filled laying sideways. I'd expected them to be standing up.

 

One of the surfacing machines sucked the material used for handling, across the item like a huge vacuum cleaner, not blowing at it like a sand blaster...I'm not sure if that was the walnut shell treatment machine or not.

Just asked the wife...who was too bored to listen hard...in that's what she does...as a mechanical draftsman. Machine A...1 ea...Machine A-1-b...1 ea.

 

One of the for me impressive machines ...even though it was real old to my wife was that machine that was oil bath cooled drilling machines, that drilled out the hole in the metal rod, to make a ball point cartridge bottom section.

I could see it was rather old fashioned...in that was pre-laser type....but what impressed me was that they drilled out the part that holds the ball, not wrapped around. I had not expected that....Actually I never gave it any thought before watching that machine. There was a man working in that room...saw him check the width of a solid metal rod....with an old fashioned by hand gage...not an laser...as would be expected.

It looks like they order the rods pre cut for that machine. There would be no need to buy a big expensive machine to do that when some one else has it, who makes small steel rods.

It seemed a lot of work for a ball point cartridge. I'll be more respectful of the "parker" type two piece and stopper BP cartridges from now on out.

 

 

We really didn't see the ink bottling, just the cartridge filling. With more than likely designated 'pipes' for inks, the expense of adding a new pipe for a lesser selling ink might not cover the profit needed.

I'll ask when they get around to it, if they could make a 1,000 bottle run for FPN....but I don't think you guys would be buying that much....and I don't see them fiddling around with much less.

 

Anyone got €50,000 to pony up to make a special run of 1,000 bottles of FPN violet ink?

I did plant a bug in her ear about making a set, violet Safari and a bottle of Violet ink.....There is only so much one can do in a couple of minutes of conversation.

 

In Lamy is the only pen company in the black in Germany, I don't think they will gamble....they make more with selling it by the cartridge.

KISS....

Therefor I don't see them coming out with LE inks either. Their market management...missed the boat a few years ago...now there are so many violet inks around, they would be chasing just to break even.

I don't see that happening....they don't 'gamble' ....especially with small profit margin items like a bottle of ink.

 

It's going to be a gamble next year with the new Persona. They carried it for 10 years(1990-2000), but was then considered a very expensive pen. Today it would not be...though I think it would be quite a bit more expensive than the 2000...it was then.

 

I will ask them to think about a semi-flex nib for the Persona....for their top of the line, it ''''could''''' be possible if some one wanted to pay extra for it. I don't see them letting a roll of 14 C alloy gold lay around, and would have to make special tooling for an altered nib design.

I have an old Mechler(sp) Reform, in a spade nib that shocked me by being 'flexi'.

Similar form could work....but would they need a different faster feed too?

Again more expense with no real profit.

Sigh another Lamy nail.

 

.

Edited September 1, 2013 by Bo Bo Olson

[terminal]

Are Montblanc, Faber Castell and Pelikan not in the black now? I guess that makes sense but it seems kind of shocking to me

[sandy101]

I'd like to know what makes the difference between a £15 pen and a £100 pen. What is the difference in the manufacturing process?

[Bo Bo Olson]

Material of the body, and if a gold hand made nib or not.

The 2000 still has hand work. As I mentioned I saw two women working with belt grinders grinding the 2000 Ball points. That costs lots of money.One pen at at a time.

 

The Safari was 5 pen bodies every 2.7 seconds....ink filled nib checked by sound, with woman adjusting nibs that didn't sound good...if they didn't write well.....could be it don't sound good but still writes well. Many of the pens she checked did write good.She was using a green Safari body to slip over the section....special made I'd guess to slip on to hold the nib properly.

 

Where in the market segment it would be set.

The price of a pan must cover, buying machines, advertisement, the 750 Kg or plastic every day...and make a profit. The cost of floor workers, management & sales..(300 workers, total) ...that is set costs.

How much of an improvement in material and if gold nibbed....what market niche can it fill that already has competition's pens in it. If you try to sell a better pen than the competition at a lower price; it is a mistake. One tries to sell a better pen at the same cost of some sort of Parker.

Selling for less, means you have a 'cheap' product. Once one gets into $50-75-100 pens it has to be a good buy in it's status range.

 

I know more about Pelikan....some one with a 400-600 can look down his/her nose at a cheap 200 because they are in a higher status level. If a 400-600 cost only $20-30 over gold nib cost & labor...more of 'real' cost, they would be considered 'cheap' and not bought...

I can't name the Lamy or Parker pens of those levels...but they are there

 

As I see it, the 2000 is in the Pelikan 400/600 range...the new Persona should be in the 800-1000 range.

 

The other 'middle-class' Lamy pens bang heads with Parkers and the like. And one to bang head with the Pilot retractable.

Edited September 2, 2013 by Bo Bo Olson

[tomgartin]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us, Bo Bo. I know I'll feel a lot more pride when I reach for my L2K from now on.

[proton007]

Hi Bo Bo,

Thanks for the incredible write up. Very detailed.

 

So it seems Lamy is trying to keep things the way they are. They have found a niche segment of the market and wish to stay there....

 

I'm double minded about this. On one hand I think its good the company's strategy is helping them stay out of the red, on the other hand I think it'll always prevent them from becoming a more valued brand.

 

However when I look at brands like Pilot, their offering is huge, in all kinds of different styles. I wonder how they're able to sustain in the market.

Edited September 2, 2013 by proton007

[Kaweco]

Hello Lamy Fans!

That would be the right link:

http://www.rnz.de/sommertour/00_20130902060055_106481011_RNZ_Sommertour_Bei_Lamy_ist_alles_Made_in_Heid.html#ad-image-0

Kind Regards

Thomas

[Kaweco]

Hello

These are some of the nib cutting disks Bo Bo had been talking of. The disks are made od hard rubber and contain of silicon carbide, AKA Carborundum, an extreme hard and abrasive material. The disks were hold in a stable exact inline status by rotating with 4,000 cps but they break immediately by any mechanical stress.

http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/Thomasnr/disk1_zps030164d7.jpg

http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/Thomasnr/disk2_zps77e5a7eb.jpg

(BTW: Is the link in the message above invalid? There are 100 views after the last reply and since beginning of the thread 1,500 views with many enquieries for pics of the tour. The link contains of the official tour pics, but no reply from FPN.)

Kind Regards

Thomas

[hari317]

Hi Thomas, so did you go for the visit too? I saw the report linked by you. Thanks much. By the way is Bo Bo or you visible in the pics.

[Kaweco]

Hello Hari

No, I did not take part in the visiting tour. I did not try to make an account because I wasn`t sure to return on time from my holiday in Switzerland. On the other hand the new fountain pen production does not directly touch upon my collection field and surely none of the Lamy managers would be able to answer one of my detailled questions about the early history of the company. I am not sure where Bo Bo is. Possibly there were several visitor groups because many people want to see the production halls. The photos are from the newapaper RNZ and possibly it was not allowed to make private photos there. Lamy surely does not want to carry out intrinsic details of the production process and the machines.

The pics of the disks are my private photos. Alas, I had to outsource my cutting machine into a shed in the fields nearby, my appartement is too small for such a stuff. I hope the machines had not been stolen during the last year-

Kind Regards

Thomas

[hari317]

Thanks Thomas.

[Anne-Sophie]

Thank you so much for the article Thomas, wonderful pictures!

 

Would you mind translating the article into English when you have the time?

 

I believe many have seen it but couldn't think of anything to say but nice pictures, if they don't read German.

[hari317]

Thank you so much for the article Thomas, wonderful pictures!

 

Would you mind translating the article into English when you have the time?

 

I believe many have seen it but couldn't think of anything to say but nice pictures, if they don't read German.

I used google translate: link