Sillitoe Audio Technology (Australia) sells a complete cutting system:
lathe, MMFB feedback cutterhead, cutting amplifier, Space / Time Control
automation with a virtual groove, vacuum and microscope, at a published
USD 125,000 ex tax and shipping. Vendor landscape gets the narrative and
an Agnew-or-Sillitoe comparison; supplier map, total investment basis,
roadmap item 13 and the digital factory's no-telemetry section (STC cue
sheet, Open Groove export, stylus hours) follow.
Currency
- Base currency moves from EUR to USD and THB throughout. Rates at
5 Aug 2026: 1 USD = 33 THB, 1 EUR = 1.155 USD, 1 GBP = 1.35 USD.
EUR/THB lands at ~38, so existing THB research needed no change.
- Vendor quotes keep their original currency with a USD/THB equivalent
alongside, so they stay checkable against the source PDFs.
- Full vision ~4.7-8.9M USD; phased entry ~1.7-2.9M USD.
New documents
- production-timeline.md: order turnaround stage by stage. Launch
8-14 weeks, mature 5-10, repress 2-3. Quantifies the in-house
galvanics turnaround claim the repo had asserted without a number,
and flags artwork as an unmodelled fourth approval gate.
- project-timeline.md: calendar to first paying release, ~Q4 2028.
Critical path is BOI certificate to press order to build to
commissioning. Two findings: Newbilt build time is absent from the
repo yet carries ~40% of the schedule, and the BOI rule may be
over-serialised since duty exemption attaches at importation rather
than at contract signature.
First market data (ResurRec, Bangkok)
- Invoice-derived prices, a factory tour, and a confirmed fleet of one
Newbilt Classic 12" automatic plus one semi-automatic.
- Price ladder recorded at 300/500/1000-3000/3000+ units. Decomposes
to roughly 34-50k THB fixed per title and 535-780 THB variable per
unit, which is 4-7x the price this model assumes.
- The incumbent presses 230-350k records/yr but buys every stamper as
an import. That single constraint plausibly explains their 150-unit
floor, their flat discount ladder and their large-run lead time, and
it is what an in-house galvanics line attacks. Logged as an open
question on whether galvanics should move from phase 5 to phase 1.
- Inferences are marked as inferences; the whole set is one buyer and
one plant, and the model is deliberately left unrebased until a
second data point exists.
Corrections
- Gross margin arithmetic did not follow from its own inputs. Restated
as ~1.95 USD at the midpoint with the 0.75-3.15 spread shown; the
previous "40 to 55%" was not supported.
- Direct cost low total 1.50 to 1.45 USD; contingency THB high 40M
to 38M.
- README indexes the construction RFQ, which was missing.
Steam, compressed air, cooling, water treatment, racking, HVAC, solar EPC
and BESS; baseline total 23.98M-41.63M THB, options priced separately;
all figures budgetary +/- 30%, basis marked per row
- README: vendor sections for Agnew Analog (lathe), Plating Power/Digital
Matrix (galvanics), Sibert (stamper prep), Stamper Discs (bridge stamper
service), Pheenix Alpha (automated presses)
- docs/suppliers/equipment-suppliers.md: full needs list and supplier map
across all nine areas of the production chain
- docs/: Newbilt equipment offer, site requirements, process schematic,
service rates, project cost overview, PVC supplier list, consultancy overview
- .gitignore excluding local tooling config and runtime state
grabowski