Penn Bulletin....

     04/14/08 UPDATE
    I look back at the date of the last bulletin and realize another year has gone by. The proverbial “where did the time go?” seems to be my perception of the time past. It was suggested that I was past due to publish an update and that I should probably do so on quarterly basis. I’ll see if I can do that in order to keep customers abreast of the changes in our industry and within our operation.
    First, as to the matter of my health; I wish to thank everyone that kept me in mind and in their prayers through the surgeries and the recoveries. My health has been relatively good recently and I see doctors on a regular basis to monitor my health. The one thing you don’t plan on as you get older is the time you spend seeing various doctors and specialists and it becomes a part of your life but I guess it beats the alternative.
    Business has been very busy and demand is high and I think now to some extent that some of this panic buying is by individuals trying to hedge off future price increases. Some of this is also being fueled by the upcoming presidential election as gun owners aren’t exactly thrilled with our choices and are fearful of the future if either Democrat gets in. Some of us aren’t too thrilled with the history of the Republican nominee either.
    Small bullet casters continue to close and two near my area have closed recently as well which continues to increase the demand for those looking for suppliers. I am currently rejecting any new wholesale accounts from dealers or commercial loaders as I cannot deal with the increase at this time. I have finally conceded that I need some additional help and that the area that needs the most help is the orders, paper work and generally the front office as it were. Office work was fine while I was recovering but I am back to work full steam now and the paperwork is consuming over half of my time. I need to concentrate on procurement of materials and production of bullets.
    I am getting far too many calls and e-mails from people looking for their orders and the order system is not fully computerized and I am spending far too much time backtracking orders through the stacks and groups of orders so I am taking some steps to correct that problem. I am getting an office assistant starting this week who will handle calls, orders and generally organize my office ( no small feat I assure you.) It will take this person some time to get this going but overall the improvement is going to be fairly quick if I don’t have to answer calls and e-mails for order checks. I will still respond to technical calls and e-mails of that type to continue assisting customers so that part will remain the same.
    The issue of price changes keeps coming up especially on some orders that are charged differently from what is posted on the web site. Despite my best attempts at this time to keep prices current I have not been able to keep up with the rapid changes due to rising transportation costs as well as  increased costs of supplies and lead materials. I have executed several price changes over the last several months and those are out of date already. I will continue to charge the best possible price in effect at the time the order is shipped. For orders of 5000 bullets or more on orders called in or e-mailed inquiries I will lock prices with a current quote and that price will not change regardless of when it ships. I may after I get the office help going to be able to keep the prices more current.
    I wanted to address the current lead supplies issue. I have taken some steps to secure some additional suppliers that are further out than our current suppliers. There are some bidding wars going on for the types of material I purchase as these are consistent high quality materials that insure a high quality weight consistent product. Our product is not the highest price nor is it the lowest but the quality and low weight variations will always be first rate. Others are still buying scrap materials and blending it off and the high weight deviations that result destroy any chance at consistent accuracy.
    Finally I have started to write a reloading tips section that will be an ongoing project. (Yes I know if I’m so busy why I am I doing this? I actually find this part to be the relaxing and enjoyable part of the business.) Check out the link and check back as I continue to add to the section. Many questions will be answered there and that should also save me some time on the phone.
    I finally got the last two new bullets posted to the site, a .44 205 grain TCPB and the new .45/70 480 grain Thunderhead. Check them out under the caliber links.
    Until next time I remain at your service.

Robert Palermo/ President. president@pennbullets.com
 

    05/23/07 UPDATE
    I wish to thank all the customers who had me in mind and in their prayers during my most recent surgery at the end of April. Everything turned out well and I am recovering nicely and I am back to work covering the desk and phones for the next few weeks before I get back to a full schedule. Dave is still producing bullets that were cast ahead of the surgery and Dan is still packing the boxes, so orders are still going out on a regular basis.
    There have been some concerns over the order processing times and I wanted to take a moment to address those issues here. Demand is close to the all time high that I have ever seen in over twenty-five years in this business. The last time orders got this backed up was right after the Brady Bill had passed and the resulting panic buying drove wait times to extended levels. Customers are wondering if the same thing is happening this time around and my answer is that no it's not.
    Conditions in the cast bullet business have changed dramatically over the last two years. The resulting skyrocketing metal prices have forced many bullet casters to close, and some have closed for other reasons as well but the net result is the same: There are less of us out there doing the work and now the demand is spread out over fewer manufacturers. There are also some issues with obtaining raw materials and I have had some delays in that area as well. Since I operate my own foundry to produce the finished metal that I use in the making of my products this is a part of our production process that takes time to insure the high quality that we provide.
    Some of the remaining companies have changed their marketing strategies to try to compensate for their demand. One company went direct sales to the public and is discontinuing supplies to nationally based sporting goods stores as it could no longer discount its product to those stores and remain competitive. Another went in the opposite direction supplying only dealers and cutting off direct sales so as not to have to spend time with individual customers and just deal with a few dealers. While another has eliminated some bullets out of its line up so it can cycle through its bullet line up more quickly while others have resorted to lowering quality through the use of lower grade materials.
    I still offer the high quality and a complete line up of bullets and I will still be adding in some new bullets along the way. However, I have resorted to a priority based casting schedule. This means that those bullets that are in the highest demand get cast first and much more frequently than lower demand bullets. Some of the lower demand bullets may only be cast once or twice a year based on the demand. Other bullets will fall between these two extremes. With over seventy-five different bullets in the line up it takes time to go through all the various designs and this was the only way to still offer the full line up that many of our customers have come to expect over the years. Orders that contain a mixture of these bullets may be split up in shipping to expedite the delivery of the available bullets.
    The quality of our products and the personal service that I have provided for over twenty-five years is the bedrock upon which I have built the company. I will not sacrifice that quality or service in the name of expediency.
    Customers who call and need my help will still get all the time and attention they need to resolve their reloading problems.
    During this time with extended periods for deliveries it would be prudent to plan ahead and order accordingly and as always we will continue to give you our best.