Well, we hit a road-bump at speed yesterday. The rep for the company that we buy the major component for TC-2 Dull top-coat called me and told me that it had been discontinued. This comes a full week AFTER I placed an order for it, and had been charged for it. I’d purchased some just last month, and there was no mention that this discontinuation was in the works, so this was a bit of a blind-side, to say the least. Just to be clear, I am currently out-of-stock on both TC-2 and TC-3.
That said, the company says that it has a potential replacement for it, and they are air-shipping me a sample to test. I should have it by mid-week. I’ll spend the holiday testing it, and if it looks like it will work, then I’ll place an order for it. That means that it would be available within a couple of weeks.
I am hedging my bets by sourcing other potential replacements from other suppliers. I buy from a number of companies that have their own version of this. I will be making sample requests first part of next week, and will have the samples expedited, so that I can test them as well. If this first replacement doesn’t work, it may take longer to get a shippable product in place.
I will update this thread as more information becomes available.
TC-2 discontinued by supplier, sourcing replacement - solved
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Re: TC-2 discontinued by supplier, sourcing replacement - solved
Some good news today. I received the sample for the replacement candidate for TC-2 today from our current supplier. The numbers look good, and the feel is virtually identical, which was a big concern for me. The replacement actually has half the VOCs, and more than twice the elongation rating than the current TC-2. The only down side I can see so far is that the replacement has a silica-based duller additive, which makes for a slightly milkier coating when applied side-by-side in the same amount on a black leather sample. However, if I only do one coat of the new against 2 coats of the old, they are identical, so application methodology and cross-linking may make this difference negligible.
I'm going to make some film samples of each today, and see how they feel after 72 hours (full chemical cure). Given the numbers on the TDSs of the two, I expect the replacement to be an improvement over-all. But, that's why I test, to make sure. I'll post the results when I have them. In the mean time, I'll check pricing and availability with the rep tomorrow, and if the film samples show what I hope they will, then we're back in business.
As I said above, I will still be sampling other vendor products, even if this works out. What this has taught me is that supply-chain can go sideways at any time. I need to build my list of alternatives.
I'm going to make some film samples of each today, and see how they feel after 72 hours (full chemical cure). Given the numbers on the TDSs of the two, I expect the replacement to be an improvement over-all. But, that's why I test, to make sure. I'll post the results when I have them. In the mean time, I'll check pricing and availability with the rep tomorrow, and if the film samples show what I hope they will, then we're back in business.
As I said above, I will still be sampling other vendor products, even if this works out. What this has taught me is that supply-chain can go sideways at any time. I need to build my list of alternatives.
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Re: TC-2 discontinued by supplier, sourcing replacement - solved
Across the board improvement in the film samples. Ordered product yesterday. Should be in stock within two weeks. Happy face emoji. Sunglasses emoji. Successful nerd emoji.
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Re: TC-2 discontinued by supplier, sourcing replacement - solved
Received replacement product today. TC-2 and TC-3 are now available. ![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
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