Close Enough?

In making my Quilt Patis for the last 15 years (oh my, it’s been that long?) I have always maintained a quality product.   I am very specific about accuracy.  I tell my die cutter “if the die is accurate, I will pay you for it” and he has been great about complying.  He understands the concept of Good Job = $$$. I have kept him because he does a good job. 

On the other hand, I have had to change the distributors who supply my raw plastic sheets.  I would find one that I try to explain the product, its usage and the importance of the accuracy. I am now working with the 5^th distributor over the years.  It has been my past experience that the women sales reps understand and as long as they handle my account I get the accuracy I want and need.  The men who have stepped in on when there is a staffing change have not. 

On my most recent order, my sales rep (female) was on vacation. The gentleman who took care of me was quite genial and assured me I would get exactly what I have been ordering (specs in the file) for the last couple years.  He got it to me in record time (2 weeks instead of the usual 6-7 weeks).  Yeah!

I have to further cut the 8’ x 4’ sheets down a near notebook paper size before I can take it to my die cutter.  While I was cutting the first third of this plastic I’m thinking, “is the cold really changing how easy this should be to cut with the rotary cutter?”  I noticed that a couple of the sheets were thicker and I set those to the side.  I went out and got a digital micrometer and started measuring.  Ha! It wasn’t my imagination.  Not one sheet was the .030” in my specifications even though it was the right type of plastic.  Oddly enough the sheets I could visually tell was too thick were marked in Sharpie pen .030 but were actually .069” when measured.

I started 3 weeks ago with an e-mail of my complaint to both sales reps.  Well, HE is the one who is in charge of correcting the mistake… As of our conversation this morning there is still no resolve.  He does not seem to understand that close enough is not good enough.

I started out trying to equate it with “If you go in for a knee replacement on your right knee and come out of it with the left knee replaced its close enough?”  He would laugh but still there has been no action.  Not sure what I will say the next time he asks if I can’t uses what I have got till he can get more to me.  Perhaps I will equate the close enough to the difference between a vasectomy and neutering… Right organ and great birth control but is it what he thinks is “close enough”?