Dapol announce new appointments

[GrahamB]

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this but Dapol have announced two new appointments.

http://dapol.co.uk/index.php?route=information/news&news_id=57#.Ujx2R9pwbIU refers.

[port perran]

Interesting.
And good news. I think !!

[Caz]

Great news, especially Andy from DCC Supplies being onboard, thanks for posting

[Sea Mills]

Good for Dapol, not so sure it is good for DCC Supplies.

David

[NeMo]

Yes, yes, yes; all very well.

Now Dapol, where are the N-gauge 'Westerns'?

NeMo

[Truffles]

Not so sure this is going to be good news for us as the appointment of Richard Webster suggests a concentration on the larger scales. I guess time will tell but with Dave Jones we had an N gauge enthusiast at the helm now we have an 0 gauge one.

[MikeDunn]

Good for Dapol, not so sure it is good for DCC Supplies.

It's not as if Fiona isn't there !!!

[EtchedPixels]

It's probably a good thing - someone who has had to repair all the crap that has spewed out of their suppliers should be in a good position to help resolve some of that. It's an odd conflict of interest though - make the stuff more reliable and deprive your other business of work 

Alan

[Sprintex]

If they can make them more reliable though DCC Supplies might flog more


Paul

[painbrook]

It's probably me but how adventurous have Dapol been, I'm thinking after the Ivatt tank and the Q1.

Not so sure this is going to be good news for us as the appointment of Richard Webster suggests a concentration on the larger scales. I guess time will tell but with Dave Jones we had an N gauge enthusiast at the helm now we have an 0 gauge one.

Cheers john.

[Pete Mc]

I think that it could have been a whole lot worse.They could've employed someone outside of the hobby which may have taken time for he/she to settle in.At least they are both fully conversant with the hobby and the needs of the customer.

My only question is how or who is going to be the face of Dapol at exhibitions?

Dave Jones had a prescence about him that I'm not sure the new chaps will welcome,but time will tell won't it?

I'm just wondering what new innovations the DCC Supplies bloke can bring and seeing as both will continue to work for their respective businesses as well,how will they split their time and where will their loyalties lie.

I also wonder how long this will last as I'm sure that if they take their eyes off the proverbial ball,what will happen to DCC Supplies,Lionheart or even Dapol.

My personal opinion is that Dapol may've been forced to accept that both have other businesses in order to get a replacement for Dave Jones lined up and this may leave them exposed to trouble ahead.

It may also explain why they have hired two people,as opposed to one Dave.

Still,I'll reserve judgement on this appointment and see how things pan out and hopefully,we'll get to speak with either chap at future exhibitions.

Pete

[Chetcombe]

Interesting. Both appointments have a very clear business development element as much as they are filling internal vacancies. It is significant that both new appointees maintain their business interests in their existing companies.

- I don't know anything about Lionheart, but Richard Webster's appointment clearly brings this company into the Dapol 'fold'. Richard's job title is also interesting, 'Head of product development' is clearly a bigger title than Dave Jones' prior role as 'Product Development Manager'. Certainly not a like for like backfill appointment. It will be interesting to see what evolves from this.

- Equally, Andy Forty's appointment brings DCC supplies much closer into the Dapol family. An increased focus on reliability is appreciated given the tone of recent posts on the forum - there do seem to be a lot of regular NGF posters who have had to return Dapol locos due to faults (including myself).

So good luck to Dapol, they have clearly taken advantage of Dave Jones' departure to look critically at their business issues and then do something different.

It will be interesting to see who (if anyone) becomes the new public face of Dapol. I would not be surprised if they do not replace 'Dapol Dave' in this regard - it could be a better strategy to let their high(er?) quality, innovative new releases speak for themselves rather than have a maverick single point of contact.

[MikeDunn]

I'm just wondering what new innovations the DCC Supplies bloke can bring and seeing as both will continue to work for their respective businesses as well,how will they split their time and where will their loyalties lie.

I also wonder how long this will last as I'm sure that if they take their eyes off the proverbial ball,what will happen to DCC Supplies

Well, Andy's been in trains a long time, and has a lot of skills etc to bring through.  Being the main Dapol repair agent has undoubtedly given him a lot of ammunition to use when it comes to QC !!!  Hopefully, over time we will see his suggestions etc getting incorporated (but bear in mind the length of time it takes to get a loco to market - this ain't gonna happen quickly).

As to what happens with DCCS - that's not a one-man band.  Fiona is a strong presence "front of house", remember.  And they have other "back-room staff" too.  I'm not going to lose any sleep on wondering if they're gonna suffer - as I don't think they will 

Mike

[Tank]

Good luck to them both in their new jobs.

[Dorsetmike]

An increased focus on reliability is appreciated given the tone of recent posts on the forum - there do seem to be a lot of regular NGF posters who have had to return Dapol locos due to faults (including myself).

They do say "bad news travels fastest"!   People are quick to report faults but rarely report on the good ones, have you ever seen  " WOW another perfect loco from XYZ" posts? It's the same with any product, from cars to coffepots.

Admittedly any faults are deplorable and adequate QC could possibly eliminate some.

Items may get well packed to guard against damage but postal/courier services don't seem to  have time to read fragile labels and once things are in mail bags  can't be seen anyway, so are liable to be handled roughly.

We've all probably seen the "It was working OK yesterday, but today it just won't start" situation. Most items are fine whilst static, it's the transition from rest to motion, or for electrical things from off to on when most faults occur so post production test can never be capable of eliminating all faults leaving the shop.

It would be interesting to see an honest statement of the percentage of returned faulty items issued to refute some of the accusations, maybe the lack of publication of such figures is significant?