Maverik Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Hey-up, Just noticed that X-Eng website is no more, now been as states sales and distribution taken over by Foundry... Didn't think I'd missed any conversations on here on the subject, what's the crack? Mav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 He'd advertised the distribution/sales part of X-Eng as for sale so he could concentrate on product design as the sales part was taking all his time up leaving no time for product design IIRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Correct. Si still owns X-eng and deals with all product design, prototyping and testing (the stuff he is really good at and enjoys) and all stock-holding, sales and distribution (the time consuming, boring stuff!) has been taken over by Foundry4x4 in Tredeager, South Wales. Steve and his team are now pretty much up to speed and should be able to deal with everything smoothly but can still refer difficult enquiries. Meantime, Si is enjoying being able to do a lot of design work on future X-eng products as well as doing some design work for other companies. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Thats a shame in a way. I havent purchased much from Si, but it always felt nice that the money went straight to the designer rather than a middle man. Anyway, if it works for Si, then i shouldnt complain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Si still gets paid when you buy something, he just avoids spending most of his day as a warehouseman/picker/packer and spends that time doing something more lucrative and enjoyable! The best of all worlds! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill van snorkle Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 So, what is the new contact website address thingy for X Eng, products? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 I'd noticed this too, assumed Si had finally got fed up of cardboard and tape and wanted to play more! Bill, distributor is: http://foundry4x4.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=65 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveturnbull Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Sounds like a good plan so long as the financials make sense. Talking of which, I know Si used to do a small discount for forum members. Does this still exist? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Freak Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Service is good from Foundry as I found out recently... They responded advising when a product came in stock and when I pointed out that there was an error on their site that meant every product was out of stock if you tried to order more than one, they were onto it and told me when they had solved the problem... I hope this develops into what Si wants because we all love any of his products we have bought and More ideas to improve our vehicles or make them safer will always be welcome... Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 I'm sure the retail side of X-Eng is in good hands, Steve at Foundry is a nice bloke and I'm sure he'll continue the friendly, helpful front end of the X-Eng business. Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roverdrive Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 He was certainly very helpful today when I was ordering the pedal lock, despite having a customer in fromnt of him, and me being on a dodgy phone line. He couldn't give me an answer about the forum discount, as he had to check up, but I'll report back when the bill comes through! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill van snorkle Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 I'd noticed this too, assumed Si had finally got fed up of cardboard and tape and wanted to play more! Bill, distributor is: http://foundry4x4.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=65 Thanks Bowie. I just the other day advised a friend about Simons rear trailing arm ball joint kits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 From the horses mouth - so to speak! When X-Eng started, I spent maybe 90% of my time designing & prototyping stuff - which was great. Over the years, as it became busier, I had less & less time for design until the last couple of years when I've done nothing but run a shop! I respect Shop workers but it's not the best use of my skills! Steve Edwards, owner of Foundry, who incidentally was one of the first friends I made in the industry, someone who I both like & trust, offered to take on the shop-keeping bit. Foundry have orders of magnitude more space - so can hold more stock (one of the other problems with running a wholesale business from Sussex). Obviously, during the transition, not everything will be perfect - so please be patient with them. It's not a take-over, or a sell-out as people have suggested to me, they are doing me a favour! Steve has been busy negotiating with subcontractors and is gradually building stocks of everything. The prices of things will not change, the commission paid to me will come out of their saving by buying larger quantities and lower overheads. If prices do rise, as with X-Eng of old, it will only be when source costs go up. A lot of people have contacted me, unhappy that Foundry want to charge £5 for shipping on small items, where I charged £3. When I started, Royal Mail lost about 1 in 5000 parcels. For whatever reason, this has got worse and worse over the last 10 years to the point where I was at about 1 in 200 . I could cover the cost of 1 in 5000 - but not 1 in 200. If you send the same things signed for however, everything gets delivered (so far). From Christmas I was going to change to a signed for service - so the shipping cost would have been the same as Foundry, just delayed a couple of months. I've talked to Steve about the Forum Discount - and it is going ahead. The delay is just in setting it up on their system which was not designed to accomodate it. With the integration of X-Eng, and running their original business, they have a lot on their plate at the moment - so please be patient with them! As I said before, Foundry are doing this to help me! I'll still be at shows - and we have plans for a few new, interesting projects over the next year. So, watch this space! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Splendid ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Sounds really encouraging Si, and well done building a business that got to a size you couldn't cope with by yourself any longer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 sounds good news for you, hope it all works as you & Foundry want it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roverdrive Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Thanks for that Si, Knowing the facts gives confidence to the new set up so to speak. Good luck for your future projects. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelw Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I contacted Foundry about X-eng products and they were really helpful and satisfied my query, they have two orders from me this month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Congrats Si Look forward to the results of your new thinking cap sessions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Look forward to the results of your new thinking cap sessions I second that ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Freak Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Si, Are you doing requests?? How about better washer jets, heated, the fit into the same holes? Good volume of water that just hits the screen without fuss... Maybe a printing opportunity ? Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I'm really hoping for a headlamp relay harness because I'm too lazy to make one Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 we could have an X-Like thread where we can post up our product requests Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I'm really hoping for a headlamp relay harness because I'm too lazy to make one I've tried to make this! The problem has been getting the Male headlamp connector. Sure, you can buy some from a number of sources on line - but they are either unreasonably expensive, or the quality is shocking! (pun intended!). Because it's just a selection of wires & a couple of relays - there is a limit to what I think you can reasonably charge for it. The only connectors I liked cost £20 a pair in batches of 200 wjich made the economics of it just not stack up. They could be made using spade terminals which you plug in to the headlamp harness - but it doesn't look very 'professional'. I like the idea of an X-Like thread! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRecklessEngineer Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Print your own connectors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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