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We promised our supplier that we would buy 30,000 ventilators. I don't know what the actual contract said but if I started ramping production in consideration o

We promised our supplier that we would buy 30,000 ventilators. I don't know what the actual contract said but if I started ramping production in consideration of a $650 million order and my client canceled the order I would certainly try to recover some damages from them.

propogandist 6y ago
These were opportunistic money grab operations from for-profit companies. What's been linked is a business article which primarily includes a statement where the CEO of the for-profit company is quoted to simply say >“It’s very unusual to have a contract like this canceled,” noting that Philips reducing their FY profit outlook as a result, to help investors make an decision on their investments. It's also very unusual for the government to give a company $650M dollar contract so quickly. It's obvious they wanted Philips, who was clearly perceived to be a leader in the space, to ramp up supply expecting a massive surge demand, which did not materialize. A business decision was made to cut the contract that was no longer needed. You're welcome to try and go against the client to recover "damages" and risk future contracts from said client.
- jschwartzi 6y ago
  > You're welcome to try and go against the client to recover "damages" and risk future contracts from said client. I love a good threat.
- donor20 6y ago
  The whole point of these fast capacity ramps is that the capital investment may not be recovered over a longer period. So it's critical the order be solid before you ramp capacity. Philips getting screwed - yeah, not going to be doing business with the govt in the future. We wonder why folks are reluctant to respond to govt directives, because the govt is schizophrenic about this stuff.
  - propogandist 6y ago
    At-least they got a proper business contract and decent $ rather than the government using the defense production act to take over operations. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/us/politics/defense-production-act-virus.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/us/politics/defense-produ...
- belltaco 6y ago
  >You're welcome to try and go against the client to recover "damages" and risk future contracts from said client. The govt is welcome to pre-pay next time it needs something urgently.

propogandist 6y ago

These were opportunistic money grab operations from for-profit companies. What's been linked is a business article which primarily includes a statement where the CEO of the for-profit company is quoted to simply say >“It’s very unusual to have a contract like this canceled,” noting that Philips reducing their FY profit outlook as a result, to help investors make an decision on their investments. It's also very unusual for the government to give a company $650M dollar contract so quickly. It's obvious they wanted Philips, who was clearly perceived to be a leader in the space, to ramp up supply expecting a massive surge demand, which did not materialize. A business decision was made to cut the contract that was no longer needed. You're welcome to try and go against the client to recover "damages" and risk future contracts from said client.

jschwartzi 6y ago
> You're welcome to try and go against the client to recover "damages" and risk future contracts from said client. I love a good threat.
donor20 6y ago
The whole point of these fast capacity ramps is that the capital investment may not be recovered over a longer period. So it's critical the order be solid before you ramp capacity. Philips getting screwed - yeah, not going to be doing business with the govt in the future. We wonder why folks are reluctant to respond to govt directives, because the govt is schizophrenic about this stuff.
- propogandist 6y ago
  At-least they got a proper business contract and decent $ rather than the government using the defense production act to take over operations. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/us/politics/defense-production-act-virus.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/us/politics/defense-produ...
belltaco 6y ago
>You're welcome to try and go against the client to recover "damages" and risk future contracts from said client. The govt is welcome to pre-pay next time it needs something urgently.