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| | FEATHERWEIGHT BICYCLE CLOTHES | |
| |  | | | Jackets | | TipTopRipStop was going to manufacture a sub-3 ounce cycling jacket,has neon pink as its predominate color
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| | | Click HERE for Picture of Vest sewed by Tama Mfg | | | | | Vests | | In addition, the plan was to produce a 1.6 ounce cycling vest as well, but not with a 20 inch neckline.
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In the course of dealing with Tama Mfg, I learned that making clothes in the USA is difficult because of the lack of competent personnel. It is not the cost of manufacture or the cost of textiles that has alone prevented the manufacture of American made clothes. Rather the American cut and sew contractor is at fault. Since late 2004, I attempted to find a cut and sew contractor. The only one who was enthusiastic was Tama Mfg. But competency was lacking from the president Mark Fogelman on down. The personnel never paid enough attention to details written by me in the 100 or so emails. They had their own agenda, and that was not the task for which I hired Tama. At the Miami Beach in April 2006, I handed Mr. Fogelman a very well professionally made, but wornout, bicycling jacket. It was worn out because the fabric used was not durable. But its design was correct--wide back, long arms and a whale tail--so that when the cyclist was bent over his handlebars, the jacket would fit. I also gave him the amateurish prototype my wife made. We spent almost two hours discussing what I wanted done. He made like he understood perfectly.
Looking back on the meeting, I see that I missed 2 warning signs. First of all, he took no notes. Secondly, he related how he had Tama Mfg manufacture jackets for the US Air Force PX, and the jackets did not sell, but that was okay with him since he got paid anyway. The fact that Tama's product development did not yield a saleable product was not his problem.
By the end of our business relationship, Tama Mfg had wasted six months of my time and $1500 of seed money. However, Mr. Fogelman had Tama Mfg bill me for an additional $125 over the $600 it was paid for product development on a project at which Tama Mfg totally failed.
Here's my termination email and Mr. Fogelman's response:
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Fogelman [mailto:mfogelman@tamamfg.com] Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2006 4:25 PM To: 'gary gromet' Cc: dparry@tamamfg.com; Judy Lubenesky
Subject: RE: TipTopRipStop fires Tama Manufacturing
I just received your email and will follow up with my staff to see why some of the points you made happened. I know we just sent out the samples today. Bottom line is you are not satisfied and we will return your materials. I do have to verify the labor and pattern making that we did expend before we can discuss refunding monies. I apologize for the delays, and wish you much success with your line.
Mark Fogelman President
Tama Mfg. Co., Inc.
100 Cascade Drive Allentown, PA
18109
610-231-3100
mfogelman@tamamfg.com
-----Original Message-----
From: gary gromet [mailto:garygromet@earthlink.net]
Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2006 3:54 PM
To: 'Mark Fogelman' Subject: TipTopRipStop fires Tama Manufacturing
Dear Mr: Fogelman I am terminating the business relationship that TipTopRipStop has with Tama Manufacturing.
When we had our business meeting, 24 April 2006, I hired Tama as the complete clothing and apparel manufacturing contractor (apparel pattern making and digitizing, grading, sample making, cutting and sewing) for the innovative jacket and vest that my wife Kirsten and I developed. Whether due to ineptitude or carelessness by you and your company, Tama has not performed its duties as such a contractor in any semblance of satisfactory manner.
I am extremely disappointed at having to sever our relationship, especially in view of your initial enthusiasm and promises occurring when we met that day in Miami Beach, Florida.
What I require of Tama is that it makes a ground shipment to me using my Federal Express Account 2679-3700-1 of the following:
1. The items I gave you when we met: my Assos Clima jacket, the prototype vest and the prototype jacket that Kirsten made. The eyeglass pouches used as carrying cases may also be sent, if found.
2. All remaining blue ripstop nylon yardage and pink ripstop nylon yardage sent to Tama by Westmark pursuant to my order.
3. The Velcro® sent to Tama by Westmark pursuant to my order.
4. The Flexico elastic sent to Tama by Westmark pursuant to my order.
Refund of the $600 I sent Tama should also be made.
My reason for firing Tama is that I no longer trust it because of its inability to perform for me in anything like a satisfactory manner, or immediately respond to my email of October 31, 2006.
Some of the egregious errors in Tama’s performance include the following:
1. The extreme delay in producing any samples;
2. The defective nature of the first samples in that Tama ignored my instructions on the use of elastic and a split seam at the sleeves;
3. The placement of the Velcro® on the carrying pouch in a way that it could not possibly be used to secure the pouch to the handlebar of the bike.
4. Improper placement of the hook and loops of the Velcro® which resulted in the hook catching the stitching;
5. Telling me that I needed to supply elastic in order for the samples to be made, and then using leftover ½ inch elastic rather than the 3/8 inch woven elastic that I purchased and supplied Tama;
6. Installing the elastic at the bottom of the garment improperly, i.e. allowing for hardly any expansion instead of an appropriate 50%;
7. Failing to make the first two sets of samples with the back of the garment longer enough to cover the rear of the cyclist when he bends over;
8. Poor sewing of the seams at the point of where the sleeves start to slip.
9. Taking on our business, while ignoring the business plan I sent April 18th on how we, as a start up, planned to initiate our business with an initial production of “12 dozen” which Tama knew was too small for it to undertake and produce a reasonably priced garment.
If you have any doubts as the above problems, you need only review the dozens of emails I sent over the past six months. If you review the emails, you will probably see other mistakes.
In conclusion, I would like to wrap up our termination as quickly as possible so that I can get on with establishing an alternative means of production.
Sincerely yours, Gary Gromet
http://discounthealthfoods.net/TipTopRipStop.
htm www.TipTopRipStop.com
858 North Krome Avenue
Homestead, FL 33030
TEL: 305-247-8487 FAX: 708-575-6632 |
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Unfortunately, we met up with Mark Fogelman of Tama Mfg, also known as Tama Manufacturing, while he was in Miami Beach, Florida, April 2006. He claimed Tama's Allentown plant was a well-equipped full service cut and sew contractor that could generate clothing and apparel samples from a conceptual idea such as prototypes and duplicates. Its sample makers would work closely with its pattern makers to create the garment samples we required. He bragged that his personnel could sew samples from a conceptual idea or from our rough home made prototype; that they were experienced with the use of ripstop nylon for making garments and Velcro® for closures. In the ensuing 6 months, Tama Mfg repeatedly failed to pay attention to detail or to follow instructions. It was unable to copy the pattern of the medium-size professionally made cycling jacket while replacing the front zipper with Velcro® and using Velcro® to close the sleeves. Aggravating such malfeasance was that what it did sew had seams that readily came undone and had improper placement of the hook part of the Velcro® causing stitching to catch on the Velcro®. Tama Mfg's last gaffe was when it delivered the jacket with a 22 inch collar. Well, by the end of November 2006, we fired Tama Mfg for incompetence |
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