Miltner-Adam MA-6 Liquidmetal Hybrid Knife, Preliminary Review
Prologue: Today I received one package by Fedex containing my two Liquidmetal Miltner-Adams MA-6 Hybrid knives. The knives were each individually bubble wrapped and inserted in an oversized 11 x 5" zip loc bag along with a set of operating, dissablembly and maintenance instructions and a separate set of warnings of what not to do's. [As one who expects to use the knife, (and similarly, my son) we could give a hoot about what type of container the knife arrived in. Aficionados may spend beaucoup for a display box or frame, but that's not for us.]
So my immediate concern, as a shareholder of Liquidmetal and having a substantial, knowledgeable, background in manufacturing, my concerns address themselves to the function of the knife, the marketability of the knife and uniformity of appearance from one knife to another, and, of most importance, the interchangeability of parts from one knife to another, which indicates a reliability and repeatability in the injection molding process.
1) Function: I have yet to put the knife to a rigorous testing program, but will design a procedure for myself in good time. I can report that the knife opens, closes, disassembles and assembles exactly as demonstrated on the Miltner-Adam videos.
2) Marketability and Uniformity: I find that the two knives I received are quite uniform in all aspects of overall appearance, rotation from closed to open position, evenness in sharpness, and ease of use.
3) Interchangeability: This is the most important aspect for me as a retired marketing and sales executive for manufacturing companies: both knives which I received successfully were broken down and the corresponding halves of one knife were exchanged with those of the second knife. This tells me that the manufacturing process of injection molding in the Engel machine is as good as the mold. The mold, short of the refinements which MA earlier has alluded to, meets the basic need of creating co-functional parts to the necessary tolerances for knife halves to operate.
So, in the end, I am satisfied with the two knives I have received, short of putting them through some rigorous testing.
That being said, I can say that LQMT management marches to a different drum than the "customer is always right", "customer is king", etc. and this can only come from faulty management from the top to the bottom at Liquidmetal, for neither the top nor the bottom reacted correctly in meeting the needs of a flawless first launch as well as the needs of the customer.
I have taken photos to document what I have said above and will post them at a later date.
For sure, however, I can assure you that the RSM operation, management and machine-wise, is not ready for prime time. I hope, for Paul Hauck's sake, that top management wises up to its shortcomings before it becomes a total embarrassment to all of the people who have invested so much and waited so long for a lack lustre performance as this recent exercise has so aptly demonstrated.
By the way, short of a few administrative pitfalls, I have nothing but praise for Richard Miltner and Juli Adams, who have done their utmost to accommodate almost every one of my requests.
They deserve a handshake from everyone involved with Liquidmetal. They have demonstrated remarkable integrity and accountability through out this entire process.
I have many more details concerning problems created by, delays caused by, and nonchalance of LQMT management, however, I choose not to get into them any more than I already have. I will say, though, that Tomm Steipp should take note.
AI
