An idea about digitizing the owner file folders.....
In May of 2016 when Radeen and I sailed back to Florida, we rented a car, drove to the Island packet Factory to see the transition from Island Packet to Hake Marine. At the end of the tour I was visiting with Jerry Swartz and Jeff Mack as we were talking about the new company. It was at that point they showed me the filing cabinets of all the IP owner files. I was told that there is a file folder on every boat built. I was very happy to see that the folders were protected and saved during the transition. I said then that we need to digitize all these files and protect them and they agree but there is simply no time to do this right now.
At the 2016 IP Minivous in Rock Hall, MD, we were talking about the Island Packet Factory, I told every one about the owner files again and that they are protected and were kept by Hake Marine in the new office. During our minivous cocktail time, Erick Heck, IP 380 TAINUI, floated the idea that we should charge the owners a fee to receive their PDF file. That idea of charging the owner for their digital PDF could be the solution and a win/win for everyone, the owners and the factory. Great idea Erick.
So I started thinking about this and here are numbers and processes
1. Total files 2,500, one for each yacht built
2. Rent fast large scanners/copiers that can create and email PDFs
3. Scan a folder and all contents into a PDF
4. Email PDF to a secure protected archive web site
5. Return folder to filing cabinet
Estimated Time and Labor
1. Scanning one folder 30 minutes
2. Scanning 8 hours a day
3. One day 16 file folders scanned
4. 2500 files at 16 per day equals 156.25 days!
Solutions
1. Rent two scanners
2. Hire two people to scan this would reduce the time to 78 days
Finances and Costs
1. Scanner rental $$$/month
2. Add a footer on each PDF selling advertising to pay for the scanner rentals
3. When archive is scanned and protected, sell each folder PDF to the owner at $20 or some agreed amount
4. Split this fee with the factory
5. Potential gross is 2500 x $20 = $50,000 if we can locate all 2500 current owners
6. 50/50 split yields $25,000 for the factory and $25,000 for the IP fleet
Labor
1. Two people scanning on two scanners 8 hours a day for 78 days
2. 2 x 8 x 78 = 1,248 hours
This is one of the outcomes of the Island Packet Fleet Minivous in Rock Hall, MD on Aug 27, 28, 2016. Erick Heck gets credit for the NEW idea of charging a fee to the owners to receive the PDF file, and Hayden gets credit for the idea of digitizing the files, both of which would benefit the owners and the factory. Between these two ideas, I think there is a real possibility that this could happen.
We need to look into these numbers a bit more and then propose a plan.
We also need to find out what's in the owners' file and what yacht details we could add to the files, like tank drawings, dimensions, measurements, etc.
Hayden
