The Super Awesome Pinball Show Ep 31 PROMO

The Super Awesome Pinball Show·podcast_episode·4m 9s·analyzed·May 17, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.019

TL;DR

George Gomez on Stern's supply chain struggles and manufacturing efficiency amid chip shortages.

Summary

George Gomez discusses the severe supply chain and chip shortage challenges facing Stern Pinball's manufacturing operations, including material procurement bottlenecks, storage costs, and competition with megacorp buyers. Despite these pressures, Stern has increased production efficiency and output per day compared to pre-COVID levels, though backlogs remain significant across multiple titles (Deadpool, Jurassic, Godzilla, Rush).

Key Claims

Stern is producing more pinball machines per day than before COVID
high confidence · George Gomez direct statement: 'we are producing more pinball machines per day than we did going into COVID'
Stern has had to rent storage space to guarantee parts availability due to supply chain constraints
high confidence · George Gomez: 'We've literally had to rent space to store stuff that we're not going to use for some amount of time because to guarantee that we're up and running'
Chip competition with Ford, Xbox, PlayStation forces Stern to commit and take parts immediately rather than negotiate delivery schedules
high confidence · George Gomez discusses how mega manufacturers like Ford and gaming companies have priority; 'we buy less than a bazillion' chips
Manufacturing efficiency gains during COVID shutdown are now paying off
high confidence · George Gomez: 'we actually took the time that we were shut down going into COVID to sort of take a step back and look at how we could become more efficient'
Stern faces significant backlogs across Deadpool, Jurassic, Godzilla, and other titles
high confidence · George Gomez mentions 'a bunch of guys that are jumping up and down because they finally getting their Deadpools' and 'a bunch of people waiting on jurassic'

Notable Quotes

“I had a bitch of a day. I had a, like, you have no freaking idea what it takes to make these pinball machines.”
George Gomez @ opening — Sets tone for discussion of manufacturing challenges; emotional weight suggests genuine frustration
“we are producing more pinball machines per day than we did going into COVID”
George Gomez @ mid-segment — Key positive metric demonstrating operational recovery despite supply constraints
“We've literally had to rent space to store stuff that we're not going to use for some amount of time because to guarantee that we're up and running.”
George Gomez @ mid-segment — Concrete example of financial burden imposed by supply chain unpredictability
“I really don't know how the little guys do it because, I mean, it's challenging for us.”
George Gomez @ mid-segment — Implies boutique manufacturers face even greater supply chain pressures; competitive advantage for Stern's scale
“Manufacturing is all about material control. You spend a million dollars on parts, that million dollars not coming back to you until the games are in boxes and going out the door.”
George Gomez @ closing — Explains fundamental cash flow and working capital pressure in manufacturing

Entities

George GomezpersonStern PinballcompanyDeadpoolgameJurassicgameGodzillagame Rushgame The Super Awesome Pinball Showorganization Christopher FranchipersonFord

Signals

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business_signal: Supply chain volatility forcing Stern to commit to expensive parts purchases and rent storage space; working capital pressures mounting
high · George details renting storage space for parts not needed for months, forced pre-commitments to vendors, and describes manufacturing as 'million dollars in parts' tied up until sale
?
business_signal: Stern's manufacturing output has increased post-COVID despite supply chain constraints; efficiency improvements from pandemic shutdown are yielding operational gains
high · George Gomez states 'we are producing more pinball machines per day than we did going into COVID' and attributes this to efficiency measures taken during shutdown
?
competitive_signal: Stern's scale provides advantage in navigating chip shortage (multiple weekly meetings on material issues, access to capital for bulk purchases), but boutique manufacturers face even greater pressures
high · George states 'I really don't know how the little guys do it because, I mean, it's challenging for us' and describes Stern's resource allocation to procurement teams
$
market_signal: Significant backlogs across multiple Stern titles (Deadpool, Jurassic, Godzilla, Rush) indicating strong demand but production constraint
high · George mentions 'bunch of people waiting on jurassic' and customers 'jumping up and down' to finally receive Deadpool shipments; references 'so many back orders'
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product_strategy: Stern is actively managing production sequencing across multiple titles (Deadpool, Jurassic, Godzilla, Rush) with flexible manufacturing lines that can switch games based on parts availability

Topics

Supply chain and chip shortage constraintsprimaryManufacturing efficiency and COVID recoveryprimaryBacklogs and fulfillment timelinesprimaryLicensing challengessecondaryCompetitive disadvantage vs. mega manufacturerssecondaryStern's operational resiliencesecondary

Sentiment

mixed(0.55)— George expresses frustration with supply chain challenges and manufacturing complexity, but balances this with pride in Stern's efficiency gains and current production rates. Tone is candid and somewhat exhausted but resolute.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.012

The Super Awesome Pinball Show. A bonus George Gomez extra track. Hey, listen, I love that you've got a Lagunitas IPA, by the way. That's a great beer, and that's a Pennsylvania beer. Is it? Strong work, yeah. Yeah, it's one of my go-tos. Yes, all right. I've got to tell you, I had a bitch of a day. I had a, like, you have no freaking idea what it takes to make these pinball machines. the licensing thing is such a nightmare i watch all these other companies like bumping their heads to the wall and i just laugh i'm like oh my god george is that the most stressful part of your job is the licensing hurdles no but it's definitely a big one right yeah i mean right now you know clearly right now the world is so fucked up right we have the material shortages and just constant and they affect everything so you know you got a piece of electronics that designed around a certain set of chips and Ford happens to use the same chip and they buy a bazillion you know Yeah Right We buy less than a bazillion So, you know, it's like who gets there first? Xbox and PlayStation are both huge mega companies and they get so many chips and Ford is the same way. How does Stern compete with someone like that? It's hard. It's hard. We we've spent, you know, I'll tell you that we spent a ton of money buying stuff in the old days. you know, you had a conversation with a vendor and you said, you know, I'm good for these parts. I don't, I won't need them for six months, whatever it costs, half a million dollars or something, you know, you know, you'll get it when they, when you deliver. And nowadays it's like, you got to commit to them and you got to take them right now. We've literally had to rent space to store stuff that we're not going to use for some amount of time because to guarantee that we're up and running. So it's hard. It's like, um, but we're very fortunate, right? You know, we have a pretty robust team of people and dedicated people. And so we we meet a couple of times a week just on the material issues You know everybody all the key players right The procurement people manufacturing people engineering people finance people right We got to write this big check, okay? So I really don't know how the little guys do it because, I mean, it's challenging for us. But yeah, it's the world we live in. And that being said, we're producing more pinball machines per day than we did going into COVID. Wow. So it hasn't really impacted manufacturing then? It's impacted manufacturing. But the last time we talked, I think I told you, you know, we didn't know how things were going to shake out. So we actually took the time that we were shut down going into COVID to sort of take a step back and look at how we could become more efficient, right? Because we thought, hey, we don't know what the world's going to look like. And a lot of those efficiencies sort of like paid off. You know, like I said, we are producing more. We wish we could produce even more because we have so many back borders. You know, we're very focused on getting people. I mean, I know there's a bunch of guys this week. If you been on social media there a bunch of guys that are like jumping up and down because they finally getting their Deadpools because Deadpool on the line you know in between rush and godzilla right so we delivering it as fast as we can you know there a bunch of people waiting on jurassic and there a bunch of people working on so you know we doing what we can we we're switching up you know we so we come in and out of a product sometimes we have to come in and out of a product you know we have to come out of a product we can't get the parts so we have we have parts for that one not this one okay let's build that one so the idea is to keep, you know, our business, that factory has to stay employed. We need to keep building games. Manufacturing is all about material control. You spend a million dollars on parts, that million dollars not coming back to you until the games are in boxes and going out the door. So, you know, it's a big deal for us to shut the line down for whatever. So you do what you can to keep it going. Yeah. Hey, everybody, it's George Gomez. Please tune in to part two of my interview with the boys at the Super Awesome Pinball Show. Coming soon to you on the Super Awesome Airwaves. This audio bonus paid for by Super Awesome Pinball Show for Twibby 2022 campaign headquarters. My name is Christopher Franchi and I approve this message.