September 2007

Happy Autumn! I love this time of year. The leaves are starting to turn colors. The air is crisp. The evenings are cool. European football and American football are underway. People start to think about the holidays. What a great time!

This has been a very busy month, again. I remember a time when Mrs. Claus and I could really enjoy the off-season. In this increasingly complex world where children's expectations are higher than ever, the North Pole Operations have something going full tilt almost 24x7, 365 days a year. What made this month so busy though was the opening of our first off-shore, outsource manufacturing facility in India. We inked the deal in late August and began partial operations yesterday. Mrs. Claus, Jingle, and I made the trip to oversee the opening. The facility will be at full operational capacity by the end of the month. We will be opening additional facilities, with the same supplier, in China and Eastern Europe next month. A small facility, building "local for local" product, will open in Chile in November. Overall, we are tracking well to the outsourcing plan and are happy with the results... of course, the exception being the IFE Union strike.

Unfortunately, the elves strike continues. I have met with a number of Union representatives and government officials in an attempt to end the strike. Despite my best efforts, the Union leadership seems committed to maintaining the strike. I am beginning to grow concerned that our ability to fulfill all of the Christmas wishes this year will be in jeopardy. For the first time ever, we may have to limit the scope of our deliveries. It is ironic that the outsourcing deal - the issue that sparked the strike -is the only reason we'll be able to make enough toys to at least partially fill most lists.

Well... that's it for this month. I apologize for the brevity of the note but I have to catch a sleigh ride back to Tokyo to meet with a couple of major video game console supplier there to see if they can increase the allotment for us. Until next month....