Bad New Letter To A Client

Dear Business Partner,

Widge-Co International has been a distinguished leader and trendsetter in the industry of Widget manufacturing for over thirty years. The trait that has kept us at the top of the industry is the pride taken in every Widget that we manufacture. That quality and care that is put into every Widget is the same quality and care that we show our customers. It is through trust and approval that our clients and business partners have come to rely on us as their source for Widgets. In keeping with that trust, Widge-Co shall disclose a recent occurrence at our manufacturing facility.

The process of creating a Widge-Co Widget is long and utilizes advanced technologies. A Widget begins as widge-ore, mined from deep underneath the Earth's surface. Once this ore arrives at our facility by truck, it is run though quality controls test to check for purity and density. Ore that passes these test will then be placed into the widge-smelter; a large furnace that separates the Widgium from the ore. The molten Widgium is then poured into molds that for ingots of 99.9% pure Widgium, perfect for making the highest quality Widgets and Widget accessories. The ingots take fourteen hours to cool to room temperature. Once they are completely cooled, they are transported to the widge-press by way of a high-speed loading crane. The widge-press is the machinery that forms ingots into Widgets using extremely high pressure, temperature, and precision automated tooling robots. The massive widge-press is the core of the manufacturing facility, being over 4 stories high and weighing over 250 tons. With over two-thousand moving parts it is the most advanced piece of equipment in the Widge-Co facility. The press alone requires five hours of maintenance each day to keep it operating at full capacity and quality.

On September 1, 2007, at 12:33 A.M., the widge-press had a structural failure of a key component, the Wham-o-Widge arm. Without the Wham-o-Widge arm, the widge-press would not be able to work the Widgium ingots into Widgets. Engineers immediately began working on repair of the arm, but the fracture was beyond the capabilities of Widge-Co and its engineers to handle. An order for a new arm was placed immediately with the widge-press's manufacturer.

The arm's manufacturer informed Widge-Co that a replacement was not immediately available. Due to the tremendous size and relative rarity that replacement arms are needed, the foundry produces them to order without keeping a stock on hand. A full week is required by the foundry to forge a new arm for the widge-press.

The foundry at which the new arm would be made is located overseas. As such, Widge-Co requested the arm be delivered by air to keep production down-time to a minimum. However, due to the size and weight of the arm, the only shipping make by open-sea route containership. The new arm will take approximately three full days to cross the ocean and reach the closest port to Widge-Co. Once the arm is loaded off the ship and onto over-land trucks, it should take no more than one day to reach our manufacturing facility. Once it is at the facility Widge-Co engineers will begin assembly and testing. The assembly and testing process is estimated to take no more than three days. Taking all time tables into consideration, Widge-Co estimates a total of fifteen days of operations without an operable widge-press.

Fifteen days is a long time to halt production of Widgets, however several workarounds have been implemented to ensure that the failure of the widge-press has minimal effect on the production of the entire Widge-Co line of products. The manufacturing facility will continue to receive daily shipments of widge-ore. These ore shipments will continue to be smelted by down into ingots of pure Widgium. Ingots produced while the widge-press is down will be stored in manufacturing facility warehouses, awaiting the repair of the Wham-o-Widge arm. Production workers have volunteered to work double shifts once the arm is repaired. These extended shifts will focus their efforts into pressing the stored Widgium ingots into new Widgets. Making up for lost production time in this manner as lead Widge-Co

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