Dear All,
Reality check time : What has got lost in the mists of time is why we special make ULF film.....we MUST cover our costs to produce it, it is obviously hand finished, and it is very, very, very small by volume and value and under no circumstances would it be viable to hold it in stock, we supply these items as a SERVICE to our customers, whether you believe it or not, and because it matches our strategy to have the widest range of products available for monochrome and our end users, hence this is why we we have to pre sell it to ensure we have sufficient volume to cover the manufacturing costs. The reseller profile also affects what we do, why ? simple, we have about 20 dealers / resellers in the World who are able and willing to handle this product, and they do not want to to have excess stock of this item either, and I do not blame them. As was said above we value all our reseller partners, especially those willing to manage this sales process for us. But this does make it difficult to 'arrange' a suitable, slick and efficient supply chain for our end users.
When people ask about other 'country' distributors around the World, they are made aware of the product but in 99% of cases its not even viable to raise the item on their computer systems, which does have a cost. As to the UK Direct2Dealer list, we only put items in it that are truly stock items, ( ie items that are stock items or that can be manufactured for stock within 2 working days ) we do not hold ULF film in stock, nor can it be made in 2 days, therefore it cannot be in the list. Finally, as to our UK resellers of ULF they are different from the USA, which is why they have not had the supply prices as yet, to make it easier for them we break our own rules and 'over' make the USA orders and make that small stock available to them, and indeed they can, and do ship Europe and World wide.
I note your idea re Focus, seems easy, its not, we do not sell off the stand, and we do not have storage facilities for film.
It has been said in this thread that other ULF products, from other manufacturers are available, that is absolutely true, and it is your prerogative as a consumer to buy from whoever you wish, but it was the end user feedback, especially from APUG that encouraged us to make our products available.
Finally, I do not normally respond to peoples personal opinions, as we all have the right to hold them and express them and that is absolutely right, what I do have a little bit of a problem with is anybody stating that we do not care about our customers, because we really do care, I care and the other 395 people who work at ILFORD Photo really care.
Kind Regards
Simon : ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited
