Post by Garrett on May 5, 2005 15:04:52 GMT -5
There has clearly been an availability problem this racing season for the Briggs & Stratton Animal engine. On behalf of the World Karting Association, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused to our membership. In speaking with both Dan Wilson and Dave Klaus of Briggs & Stratton Motorsports they have been able to present us with what we all hope to be a firm timetable to get the proper amount of Animal engines back in circulation.
Consistent with past seasons WKA has presented Animal engines as awards at the series banquets at KartFest in Hickory, North Carolina. Based on the following timetable those engines will be shipped to the proper parties during the month of June. Briggs & Stratton Motorsports has been a loyal supporter of both WKA and the sport of karting for many years. Without question WKA has the utmost confidence that they are doing everything in their power to resolve this circulation problem not only for the present but well into the future. Below is a statement outlining a specific timetable for Animal production and shipping sent to us from Briggs & Stratton Motorsports.
"With the limited availability of the Animal engines we wanted to use this opportunity to address this situation. Thanks to the WKA for allowing us to use their resources in order to reach our racers. We began last fall with an inventory level of Animals that was 100 percent more than the same period a year earlier. We feel confident that with the limited class expansion planned for 2005 and field feedback that we had inventory to meet customer's demand. With minimum inventory at our dealer and distributor level as sales took off our safety stock became depleted. As soon as we began seeing usage reports we began work on replenishing field stock. We have struggled due to the long lead-time for components such as the blower housing, crankshaft, carburetor and cam that have affected our ability to manufacture engines. In response to this increased demand we have been air freighting components and placing premiums on vendors to reduce component production lead-times. Currently TRW, who manufactures our valves, has not been able to respond to our needs. In late 2004 they moved their production offshore and have had limited success in getting this manufacturing cell online. On Monday, April 25th we received over 900 sets of valves. This will allow us to manufacture enough engines to meet all of our current backorder needs. This build will take place on April 28th. Emergency engine orders will ship directly from our factory and be in the field, depending on location, by the end of the first week in May.
Award engines will not be shipped from this production as we will not have sufficient stock after fulfilling current customer backorders. We have another major build the third week in May and engines will be shipped from this stock.
We apologize to all of our customers and dealers for the problems that we have faced with engine production this season. We thank you for your continued support and we are working on building next seasons TOTAL production in late Summer to assure that this situation will NEVER happen again.
Yours truly,
David Klaus
Briggs & Stratton Motorsports
Consistent with past seasons WKA has presented Animal engines as awards at the series banquets at KartFest in Hickory, North Carolina. Based on the following timetable those engines will be shipped to the proper parties during the month of June. Briggs & Stratton Motorsports has been a loyal supporter of both WKA and the sport of karting for many years. Without question WKA has the utmost confidence that they are doing everything in their power to resolve this circulation problem not only for the present but well into the future. Below is a statement outlining a specific timetable for Animal production and shipping sent to us from Briggs & Stratton Motorsports.
"With the limited availability of the Animal engines we wanted to use this opportunity to address this situation. Thanks to the WKA for allowing us to use their resources in order to reach our racers. We began last fall with an inventory level of Animals that was 100 percent more than the same period a year earlier. We feel confident that with the limited class expansion planned for 2005 and field feedback that we had inventory to meet customer's demand. With minimum inventory at our dealer and distributor level as sales took off our safety stock became depleted. As soon as we began seeing usage reports we began work on replenishing field stock. We have struggled due to the long lead-time for components such as the blower housing, crankshaft, carburetor and cam that have affected our ability to manufacture engines. In response to this increased demand we have been air freighting components and placing premiums on vendors to reduce component production lead-times. Currently TRW, who manufactures our valves, has not been able to respond to our needs. In late 2004 they moved their production offshore and have had limited success in getting this manufacturing cell online. On Monday, April 25th we received over 900 sets of valves. This will allow us to manufacture enough engines to meet all of our current backorder needs. This build will take place on April 28th. Emergency engine orders will ship directly from our factory and be in the field, depending on location, by the end of the first week in May.
Award engines will not be shipped from this production as we will not have sufficient stock after fulfilling current customer backorders. We have another major build the third week in May and engines will be shipped from this stock.
We apologize to all of our customers and dealers for the problems that we have faced with engine production this season. We thank you for your continued support and we are working on building next seasons TOTAL production in late Summer to assure that this situation will NEVER happen again.
Yours truly,
David Klaus
Briggs & Stratton Motorsports