Orbot production/when? & Orbot parts

[encapman]

Mikey asked about what's going on with Orbot.

Unfortunately, at this point we're not getting any word of a firm date when Orbot's production will go back online. So we don't have a clear picture when/if they'll resume.

Early on, Jeff assured us that he hoped to restart their production quickly. But there have been multiple delays. I hope he can get things together, because the Orbot is a terrific machine, and Jeff Hruby has been a fixture in our industry.

In the meantime, in order to take care of our customers, we've gone ahead and engineered a couple of the most common replacement parts for Orbots.

Pad Driver:
We worked with our machinist to design a new pad driver. This new driver will replace the standard Orbot pad driver / on all Orbot machines. We've had it tested now with a lot of hours of run-time in the field. And the new driver looks to be even better than the original OEM driver.

Bearing Assembly & Counterweight Assembly:
We've also replicated the bearing assembly for the Orbot machines. And we've also successfully replicated the counterweight assembly.

These new Excellent Supply engineered parts should be ready to bring to market within about 4 weeks. So the Orbot-specific parts will be covered. And we can source most of the more general types of parts. Our goal at this point is to support the people who purchased machines.

If and when Orbot reemerges – it will be music to everyone's ears.

 

[hogjowl]

Thanks for being a responsible adult.

 

[Mikey P]

Mikey asked about what's going on with Orbot.

Unfortunately, at this point we're not getting any word of a firm date when Orbot's production will go back online. So we don't have a clear picture when/if they'll resume.

Early on, Jeff assured us that he hoped to restart their production quickly. But there have been multiple delays. I hope he can get things together, because the Orbot is a terrific machine, and Jeff Hruby has been a fixture in our industry.

In the meantime, in order to take care of our customers, we've gone ahead and engineered a couple of the most common replacement parts for Orbots.

Pad Driver:
We worked with our machinist to design a new pad driver. This new driver will replace the standard Orbot pad driver / on all Orbot machines. We've had it tested now with a lot of hours of run-time in the field. And the new driver looks to be even better than the original OEM driver.

Bearing Assembly & Counterweight Assembly:
We've also replicated the bearing assembly for the Orbot machines. And we've also successfully replicated the counterweight assembly.

These new Excellent Supply engineered parts should be ready to bring to market within about 4 weeks. So the Orbot-specific parts will be covered. And we can source most of the more general types of parts. Our goal at this point is to support the people who purchased machines.

If and when Orbot reemerges – it will be music to everyone's ears.

So as far as you know Jeff is still the owner of the company, which I certainly hope so .

 

[encapman]

Presumably. But I can’t confirm that. It may have been sold. I know he had some investment people involved. I do believe that Jeff is still involved with the company. He told me that Orbot will reemerge. It’s wait and see at this point / regarding how it all plays out. Hoping for a good outcome.

 

[Mikey P]

Low sales has to play a part in this, as there's so many of these OP machines already out there, and the entry level cleaners can't or won't pay $5,000 for a machine that they so easily confused with a $1100 175 unit..

 

[hogjowl]

Low sales has to play a part in this, as there's so many of these OP machines already out there, and the entry level cleaners can't or won't pay $5,000 for a machine that they so easily confuse with a $1100 175 unit..

Well duh

 

[Mikey P]

If I owned either company I would come out with a $2,300 machine that was wheels down, with a 2 gallon tank and forward spray system, a budget Chinese motor with the normal 9/16 travel so the frame doesn't have to be over built such as they do with the Trinity machines, along with a 6-month manufacturer's warranty and a 12 and 24 month trade in program to a more aggressive heavier built american-made machine



Well a 175 and a shower feed do as good a job as a wheels down op?

Yes, with the proper technique and probably 25 to 30% more time to complete the task and far more time to train employees on how to run the machine with far more to go wrong with accidental getaways. Chemical usage will be much higher as well.

The real money is getting them hooked to your specific juice but unfortunately as I'm sure Rick will atest to, carpet cleaners are not very perceptive and when one job doesn't go right they go on the search for an even better silverbullet do-it-all encap rather than utilize dwel time and a multi-pad system.

Any cleaner who has a modest amount of common sense and troubleshooting ability will figure out how to make most any carpet look fantastic with an OP machine, unfortunately they/we are not the common denominator so the market is usually somewhat flooded with used machines, which is also hurting the sales of new $5,000 Post Covid units