Info from Fuji re: Acros

In order to squelch rumors persistent on this and other forums I contacted Fujiusa concerning its availability. Following is the answer.

Dear Jim:

Thank you for contacting FUJIFILM North America Corporation. Please
allow us to assist you.

We regret to inform you that the Neopan 100 120 format film is being
discontinued. However, it will be replaced by Neopan 100 120 5 pack.

We sincerely hope that this information has been beneficial to you. If
you should have any further questions or concerns, please do not
hesitate to contact us in the future. It would be our pleasure to
assist you again.

Thank you for your interest in FUJIFILM products and services.

Respectfully,

Kelly, Imaging Support Team
Contact Center
FUJIFILM North American Corporation

So it's being discontinued and replaced by itself? Cool!

Jim Noel said:

We regret to inform you that the Neopan 100 120 format film is being discontinued. However, it will be replaced by Neopan 100 120 5 pack.

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What an intensely odd use of language. Especially given the weight usually attached by the film market to the term "discontinued."

One could imagine that the author of those two sentences might have given just a bit more thought to the selection of appropriate vocabulary?

Ken

No wonder there's so much confusion over their product offerings. Sounds like the author of that letter has no idea exactly what they sell (somehow that doesn't surprise me).

There is only a minor package change as I understand. That means in future Fuji will manufacture 5-roll propack only. For consumer usually it does not matter. As I understand some large mail order stores will sell single roll out of a propack.

You have to keep in mind, Fujifilm is a Japanese company. In Japanese, its notice sounds normal and typical. (yes, I can read them) Typically, in these companies, parent company dictates product policy and how/when to send out notices. Translation may be done in house or farmed out to "translation house." But, they aren't necessary done by someone who is culturally aware or product aware (or neither). Local branches (in US) probably doesn't have an authority to modify any of these notices for its market. I'm not surprised these replies from Fuji Support is even templetized.

I'm aware, there are better ways to do this, but knowing culture of Japanese companies well, very likely it isn't done that way. I worked for Japanese companies in Japan and in US. They are quite authoritarian, possessive and traditional. Sometimes having control of everything takes precedent over anything else.

First they stop your heart, then they start it again. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

I went from saying "Oh shit" to just saying "Oh".

Whew!

Kodak has used the same language. I think it's more corporate speak than anything.

It sounds automated so they just click to fill in the blank with products.

tkamiya said:

You have to keep in mind, Fujifilm is a Japanese company. In Japanese, its notice sounds normal and typical. (yes, I can read them) Typically, in these companies, parent company dictates product policy and how/when to send out notices. Translation may be done in house or farmed out to "translation house." But, they aren't necessary done by someone who is culturally aware or product aware (or neither). Local branches (in US) probably doesn't have an authority to modify any of these notices for its market. I'm not surprised these replies from Fuji Support is even templetized.

I'm aware, there are better ways to do this, but knowing culture of Japanese companies well, very likely it isn't done that way. I worked for Japanese companies in Japan and in US. They are quite authoritarian, possessive and traditional. Sometimes having control of everything takes precedent over anything else.

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Of course this makes sense but somewhere Freestyle has sent out email using this language canceling existing orders and left out the 5-pack part with no recourse or explanation beyond - sorry we can't do the order thing because fuji discontinued the product - end of story.

They are not a japanese company and you would think that given their specialization they could communicate a little better.

RB

B&H breaks up pro-packs of various sorts, so I suspect that they'll sell individual rolls, if you really want them.

It could be worse, when I order film it is usually in 5 pack anyway!

Jeff

tkamiya said:

....I worked for Japanese companies in Japan and in US. They are quite authoritarian, possessive and traditional. Sometimes having control of everything takes precedent over anything else.

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I've worked for Fuiji USA directly. This is an understatement. They are absolutely overbearing about some small details. I did a piece of custom programming for them that was only used in house by half a dozen employees in production planning, not anything ever seen by the public. We eventually removed the Fuji logo from the splash screen because we could never get it satisfactory even using the logos they supplied.

Finding out that this is a translation by someone in Japan is no surprise at all.

Now, all of this fastidiousness does result in superlative products, even if you have to scratch around to figure out what they have.

MB

I see it as a good marketing ploy. Packaging it in bulk saves money for them, at the same time increases their sales five-fold(or so they hope). Any way, I'm happy with their decision, I like the film, and will gladly buy it in five packs.

I think that because of the already low selling price it's cheaper to pack them in a 5 pack carton than pack each film itself.

Willie Jan said:

I think that because of the already low selling price it's cheaper to pack them in a 5 pack carton than pack each film itself.

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I am guessing when it re hits the market it will carry a higher per roll price. It has been very impressive to me that Fuji has kept such a high quality product out there at such a low price. I am forever grateful and have 225 rolls in the freezer.
Dennis

At Freestyle web site today
Fuji Neopan Acros 100 120 5 Pack
Model: 16010291
Price: $14.99

This item is currently out of stock.

Expected delivery date from vendor: Apr 30, 2010.

Located on the second page under NEW ITEMS THIS MONTH AT FREESTYLE.

As expected, the price has gone up a bit @ $2.998 per roll, but it's still good value. The only cheaper films are Arista EDU (which is Foma) @ $2.29 and Foma itself just scrapes in @ $2.99.

An amusing Freudian slip by Freestyle's web site people is that if you click on that item for some detail information they have inserted the detail for Neopan 400.

wotalegend said:

As expected, the price has gone up a bit @ $2.998 per roll, but it's still good value.

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I think that has to do with the dollar...

michaelbsc said:

Now, all of this fastidiousness does result in superlative products, even if you have to scratch around to figure out what they have.

MB

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Interesting observations.....when I did "Business Studies" as part of my Uni studies, (rather a long time ago now ), the success of Japanese industry in transforming their reputation from cheap replicas to high quality products, starting around the 1960's-70's, was attributed to their attention to every detail of potential customers' needs, and above all listening to and acting on feedback. One might have expected that this would still extend to clarity on translations and relatively simple matters as the availability of products.

railwayman3 said:

Interesting observations.....when I did "Business Studies" as part of my Uni studies, (rather a long time ago now ), the success of Japanese industry in transforming their reputation from cheap replicas to high quality products, starting around the 1960's-70's, was attributed to their attention to every detail of potential customers' needs, and above all listening to and acting on feedback. One might have expected that this would still extend to clarity on translations and relatively simple matters as the availability of products.

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Unfortunately listening to customers seems to have died in the 80s - across the board.

clayne said:

Unfortunately listening to customers seems to have died in the 80s - across the board.

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Very much so. And so did producing quality.

Quality was sacrificed at the alter of "features" which, to be saleable, must change frequently. And if they change frequently there is no motivation to make them - or the products that contain them - robust.

I have a closet full of built-for-a-lifetime early CD-ROM drives for my old computers. So quickly were they superceded by next generation drives (2x-to-4x-to-8x...) that the lifetime build quality, while admirable, was wasted. Late model drives (1,000,000x??) were so fragile they barely withstood the rigors of shipping. Merely throwaways. But they were cheaper than hell.

Conversely, when was the last time you saw a company advertise its products by including reference to an ISO9??? certification of any sort? There was a time back in the Dark Ages when that level of quality was considered ad-worthy.

Ken

There is no problem here. The film is available -- most people buy in at least 5 packs anyway, and some places will break up a pack so ppl who insist on buying single rolls still can.

Honestly, if this is what constitutes a "problem" for some people then they must have pretty swank lives, methinks.

No known supply problems with individual Neopan ACROS 100 / 120 here in Australia. In fact there are more films available now than seemed to be last time I was looking — and that's very recently!

railwayman3 said:

Interesting observations..... <clip>the success of Japanese industry in transforming their reputation from cheap replicas to high quality products, starting around the 1960's-70's, was attributed to their attention to every detail of potential customers' needs, and above all listening to and acting on feedback.<clip again>

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I've heard and read about these theories many times. They are often accompanied with with a statement or two on how dedicated employees are to their job and they do the best they can.

I was born, lived, and worked in that culture for many years. Truth is, above statement only covers half of what lead to the success of many companies. The fact is, this dedication and attention to detail is based on fear. Fear that if you make a mistake, you will "lose face", which will cause your boss "lose face" which will affect your promotion or future with the company. If you lose your job, you and your family will "lose face" to the extended families, friends, neighbors, and so on. Some of it has changed since life time employment is a thing of the past in some industries but in old companies, these old habits remain. It's hard to explain what "lose face" mean in Japanese culture unless you lived there, but it is similar to end your life as you know it, short of, of course, actually dieing. People will do anything to try to avoid it, including staying after work for hours for unpaid work, covering up problems, or going with "the flow" knowing it is wrong.

Another thing is (somewhat related to the topic on hand), middle level managers often have no idea of the engineering side or technical side of the product. In fact, it isn't unusual that accounting department manager doesn't have a degree or a formal training in accounting degree. It isn't unusual that IT manager doesn't have a training or experience in that field, etc. I know - I worked for them. It's purposely done this way so things get done in the way "they've always done it." They actually don't want superstar student who will try to invent or try to right things. Because of this, often, managers and leaders are unable to distinguish from what's right to wrong, from what's important to not important, etc. The way they've always done it is the only right way.

It's a rather elaborate explanations but I see this clear message to the market "thing" just another manifestation of this problem. They wrote it up in Japanese, translated it by someone not culturally aware, and sent it out.