Slate Will Build a $7.8M Vinyl Wrap Kit Manufacturing Fulfillment Facility In Kentucky

[ScooterAsheville]

In my very simple mind, this is a strong indication that the trucks are definitely coming. Who cares what Doug says? Slate is working on wrappers for the candies. 😍

You execute the plan until the money runs out, and Slate has said they did Series C to give them the money to reach production.

I don't think anyone in the industry says that Slate won't ship. They don't think Slate will last. Very different statements.

 

[KevinRS]

I don't see any indication they will handle other accessories than wraps at that location. They may not initially keep in stock every possible color, but there are a whole lot of colors possible, plus at least 3 different finishes, that they have shown so far, plus they need space for multiple pieces of equipment for cutting and packaging kits.

 

[SparkYellow]

You execute the plan until the money runs out, and Slate has said they did Series C to give them the money to reach production.

I don't think anyone in the industry says that Slate won't ship. They don't think Slate will last. Very different statements.

Thank you for pointing that out! I didn't read Doug's statement carefully. I am not looking that far. 😎

 

[cadblu]

Question on the fender flares. On the Slate maker this accessory appears to be molded only in “black.”

Does anyone think it possible that fender flares can also be vinyl wrapped in the same color as the body panels? I plan to wrap them prior to installation. Or perhaps they can be shipped pre-wrapped from Kentucky and ready to install?

Thanks in advance for your inputs!

 

[IanNubbit]

I don't see any indication they will handle other accessories than wraps at that location. They may not initially keep in stock every possible color, but there are a whole lot of colors possible, plus at least 3 different finishes, that they have shown so far, plus they need space for multiple pieces of equipment for cutting and packaging kits.

The good thing about wraps is as long as you have a roll and a vinyl cutter, it can be in stock in seconds. Especially with the Slate sections being relatively small for the pre-cut sections, they really only need like 2-3’ rolls of however much they think they need. I fully expect the “kits” will be 100% cut to order. This would drastically lower complexity and cost an overhead. Plus when people order say a blackout top and whatever color, it would be a nightmare to remove the top pieces or make the customer pay for the color top and not use it. I see this working identically to how tint shops work these days, enter the YMM to their cutter, load the tint the customer selected and it auto cuts it

 

[IanNubbit]

Question on the fender flares. On the Slate maker this accessory appears to be molded only in “black.”

Does anyone think it possible that fender flares can also be vinyl wrapped in the same color as the body panels? I plan to wrap them prior to installation. Or perhaps they can be shipped pre-wrapped from Kentucky and ready to install?

Thanks in advance for your inputs!

The complex shape appears to be the hardest part to wrap on the whole vehicle, so I’d assume they are molded the same as the lower cladding in the vehicle, which they do still have some wrap sections for, but it will definitely be the most struggle as far as wrapping goes

 

[IanNubbit]

You execute the plan until the money runs out, and Slate has said they did Series C to give them the money to reach production.

I don't think anyone in the industry says that Slate won't ship. They don't think Slate will last. Very different statements.

Why exactly does everyone think they have no chance if lasting. And with that if its “the vehicle is too stripped” what does that mean for the industry? Because everyday people beg for simpler vehicles and here it is, literally could be no simpler in todays age, if it fails, every consumer is going to just have to accept between the industry and buyer choice, simple vehicles can no longer be sold and never will again, the consumer is their own enemy at that point

 

[IanNubbit]

Those numbers are potentially skewed.
1. Most forum members are individuals, and the survey only includes forum members who bothered to respond to the poll.
2. Commercial orders may be more likely to wrap their truck and may not be properly represented in the poll, if at all.

This reminds me of some sage advice years ago:
1. Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see, and
2. Liars figure and figures lie.
lol

You could drop the guess to 15% and only 75k units sold a year. That still has the building pay for itself in less then 3 years

 

[Tom Sawyer]

You could drop the guess to 15% and only 75k units sold a year.

So you are saying that selling 11,250 wrap kits at $500/ea will cover all costs? That pencils out to $5,625,000/year.

So you're thinking this will cover all expenses like material inventory, facility rent, utilities, equipment investment, upkeep & repairs, wages, etc?

Wage projections from the article:

Slate Auto is expected to create 51 jobs with an hourly wage target of $39.09 and a minimum wage requirement of $10.88 for the base hourly wage and $12.51 for the total hourly compensation.

That still has the building pay for itself in less then 3 years

Are you suggesting Slate is purchasing the building? I couldn't find any statement that identifies this as a purchase but rather a lease.

 

[cadblu]

Yes, it’s a 10 year lease deal with $1M in tax incentives. The facility is only 6 years old. Stark difference from Slate‘s factory which is over 60 years old.

Now you guys can see where your wraps are coming from!

 

[IanNubbit]

So you are saying that selling 11,250 wrap kits at $500/ea will cover all costs? That pencils out to $5,625,000/year.

So you're thinking this will cover all expenses like material inventory, facility rent, utilities, equipment investment, upkeep & repairs, wages, etc?

Wage projections from the article:



Are you suggesting Slate is purchasing the building? I couldn't find any statement that identifies this as a purchase but rather a lease.

Im not like great with how leases and all work, but in simple match, the price they paid for the 10 year lease is about 8 right? So they will have it “paid up” almost immediately. The short answer, this seems like a good deal in all.
Also if the wrap + install is only $500 I’m 100% doing that. The paint option on my truck was $900 alone😂

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Im not like great with how leases and all work, but in simple match, the price they paid for the 10 year lease is about 8 right? So they will have it “paid up” almost immediately. The short answer, this seems like a good deal in all.
Also if the wrap + install is only $500 I’m 100% doing that. The paint option on my truck was $900 alone😂

Just because it costs less doesn't mean anyone has to buy it!

 

[AKrietzer]

I saw this Car Wrap Calculator website I thought was interesting, for a comparison to Slate's wrap price. You can adjust a lot of settings for an estimate. I got about $800 for material and about $700 for installation. I set everything I thought would be comparable to wrapping a Slate.

https://www.paintcalculators.com/calculators/car-wrap-calculator

 

[cadblu]

Thanks for sharing this. I found this Q&A noteworthy:

Wrap vs paint: which is better?
Wraps are removable, protect original paint, cost less, and take less time. Paint lasts longer (10-15 years), handles damage repair better, and offers unlimited custom colors. Choose wraps for temporary or leased vehicles.