cnx_vinyl/README.md

# CNX Vinyl / Poy Records

<img src="docs/brand/poyrecord-logo-1536x1536.png" alt="Poy Records logo" width="160">

A vinyl record factory in planning for the Chiang Mai area of northern
Thailand (site candidates include Lamphun and Lampang provinces and, since
October 2026, Payap University land in Chiang Mai). This repository is
the source of truth for the project: planning documents and cost data
today. As the factory takes shape it will also hold the data and software
used to run it.

## Team

- **Simona Meesaiyati**, Project Lead: management and the audio side
- **Alexander Grabowski**, Technical Consultant: the technical side

[buildfor.life](https://buildfor.life) supports the project in a consulting
capacity.

## Vision: Full-Service Production

The goal is the complete vinyl production chain under one roof, from audio
file to delivered record:

1. **Mastering**: audio mastering for vinyl
2. **Lathe cutting**: cutting the master disc
3. **Silvering**: metallizing the cut master
4. **Stamper production**: electroforming nickel stampers in-house
5. **Pressing**: extrusion and pressing of the records, with the labels
   pressed in
6. **Finishing**: trimming, sleeving, shrink wrapping
7. **Packaging**: folded paper cartons (jackets and sleeves), produced in
   collaboration with local packaging manufacturers
8. **Fulfillment**: dropshipping directly to end customers on behalf of
   labels and artists, alongside conventional bulk delivery

In-house galvanics (steps 3 and 4) removes the dependency on overseas stamper
suppliers, a common bottleneck for pressing plants, and shortens turnaround
for clients. Partnering with local carton manufacturers keeps packaging
sourcing close to the plant, in line with the local-sourcing preference for
materials. The pressing line is documented in detail, galvanics and stamper
prep from vendor datasheets; equipment, partners, and budgets for the other
steps are open planning items.

## Project Status

**Planning stage** (as of October 2026).

- Industry outreach has been ongoing for several years: equipment vendors,
  material suppliers, and independent consultants.
- Alexander and Simona attended
  [Making Vinyl Europe 2026](https://makingvinyl.com/) in Haarlem (30
  September to 2 October). Most people they talked to were strongly
  interested in the full-traceability approach, and for Sibert it was a
  reason to engage at all (notes in the
  [exhibitor briefing](docs/suppliers/making-vinyl-europe-2026-exhibitors.md#after-the-show)).
- Payap University (Chiang Mai) has offered land on lease and wants to
  build joint student programmes with the plant. The point it gave for the
  land is zoned very high density residential in the Chiang Mai city plan,
  where record pressing is not permitted (checked October 2026); other
  Payap land would need checking
  ([site candidates](docs/site-candidates.md),
  [Payap partnership](docs/payap-partnership.md)).
- A collaboration with [ResurRec](https://www.resurrec.com/) is under
  discussion.
- Back from Haarlem, the team is preparing a meeting with the project's
  investor (October 2026). Post-show follow-ups with Pheenix, Sibert, OMS
  and SST are in the
  [exhibitor briefing](docs/suppliers/making-vinyl-europe-2026-exhibitors.md#after-the-show).
- The plant now launches with everything in one capital round (October
  2026): one Newbilt Duplex system and one Classic, a Pheenix galvanics
  line, the Sibert stamper-prep line, a Sillitoe cutting room and the
  modular boiler and chiller plant: ~168M to 296M THB with contingency
  (midpoint ~232M; biomass steam, PV on the factory roof), the Pheenix line priced at OMS's reference plus 20 %
  ([total investment](docs/finance/total-investment.md#launch-plant-october-2026)).
  For the investor the business plan comes in two versions, priced
  without contingency and with the ramp-up reserve
  ([two plans](docs/finance/total-investment.md#two-plans-a-at-180m-thb-and-b-at-215m-thb-october-2026)):
  **Plan A, ~182M THB** (~2M above 180M since steam went biomass), the
  launch plant with six cost levers, and **Plan B, ~217M THB**, the same
  launch plant with everything in.
  Chinese boilers, compressor and hydraulics save about 2M THB of that
  ([Chinese suppliers](docs/suppliers/china-utilities.md)).
  The business plan is re-based on it (draft 0.2).

## Planning Documents

The detail lives in dedicated documents:

- [Roadmap](docs/roadmap.md): next steps in dependency order, from the
  three current gates (market validation, BOI, land title check) through
  quotes, commitment, build, launch, and expansion
- [Pressing line equipment plan](docs/equipment/pressing-line.md): the
  current all-Newbilt fleet (two Duplex systems, each with an EX 50 main
  and an EX 35 colour extruder, plus one Classic automatic press), the 2024
  Newbilt quote (~USD 232k,
  expired), the 2026 product flyers, and site requirements
- [Galvanics and stamper prep equipment plan](docs/equipment/galvanics.md):
  the metal path from lacquer to press-ready stamper, from vendor
  datasheets: Pheenix Alpha's electroforming range as a second turnkey
  vendor next to Digital Matrix, OMS as a third named by Sibert (reference
  prices for a 4-cell wet room, EUR 224k to 311k), Sibert's
  VSP/VSF/VSC stamper prep line (USD 250k budget for the three confirmed),
  the utilities they need, a first cell-count estimate, and Sibert's
  optical-disc reference material
- [Vendor landscape](docs/suppliers/vendor-landscape.md): researched
  candidates for mastering and cutting (Agnew Analog, and the Sillitoe
  SDMS with integrated cutting automation at a published USD 125k),
  galvanics equipment
  (Plating Power / Digital Matrix, Pheenix Alpha, Optical Media Services),
  used lathes and cutting-room contacts (via OMS),
  stamper preparation
  (Sibert), bridge stamper service (Stamper Discs), and automated presses
  (Pheenix Alpha, the comparison for the Classic)
- [Equipment needs and supplier map](docs/suppliers/equipment-suppliers.md):
  the full needs list per production step with supplier tables and contacts
- [Chinese suppliers](docs/suppliers/china-utilities.md): boilers,
  compressed air and hydraulics from China (makers, published prices,
  Thai offices, Thai boiler rules for imports); saves about 2M THB, ~1 %
  of the budget
- [Sustainability](docs/sustainability.md): the solar installation (Deye
  inverters, 271 kWh Gobel Power battery stack), the PEA grid tariff and
  what it decides (biomass steam at a quarter to a tenth of the cost of
  electric, PV rather than solar thermal), the zero contaminated water commitment,
  and the materials strategy
- [Worker safety](docs/worker-safety.md): safety training, galvanics clean
  rooms and decontamination, PPE
- [Biomass fuel strategy](docs/biomass.md): the 60 rai own-grown coppice
  idea (with the forestry-classification check that comes first), northern
  agricultural waste as the main supply, reported northern fuel prices
  (October 2026) and who sets them, and the staged electric-to-biomass path
- [BOI investment promotion](docs/boi.md): the promotion strategy (Group B
  base activity plus solar, automation, and R&D measures for the tax value),
  requirements, Northern-region angle, and why BOI approval precedes
  machinery orders
- [Facility security and site systems](docs/facility-security.md): access
  control, CCTV, whole-factory HVAC (temperature, humidity, PM), archive and
  audio protection, fire and life safety, plant monitoring, Thai compliance
  anchors
- [Overhead crane, workshop and visitor corridor](docs/crane-workshop-tours.md):
  a 5 t crane over the whole production floor to move machines in and
  out, a crane-served maintenance workshop and machine bay at the ramp
  end, and a glazed ground-level corridor for guided tours without noise,
  dust or plating chemistry; what each changes in the building and what
  it costs
- [Production hall layout sketch](docs/production-hall-layout-sketch.png):
  a rough BIM sketch in FreeCAD (`docs/production-hall-layout-sketch.FCStd`)
  of the 60 x 25 m phase 1 hall at Mueang Chi, with the fleet before
  October 2026: zones in process order along the visitor corridor, the
  crane zone, room-in-room boxes and the main equipment; every position is
  an estimate
- [Payap scenario model](docs/cnx_vinyl_parametric_payap.png): a parametric
  BIM model in FreeCAD 26.3 (`docs/cnx_vinyl_parametric_payap.FCStd`,
  [isometric](docs/cnx_vinyl_parametric_payap-iso.png)) of the whole plant
  on a square placeholder plot of Payap land: a 128 x 25 m production-only
  factory with the five-press fleet, room for ten more Classics (drawn
  before the October 2026 decision to lay the hall out for Duplex
  systems: five Duplex bays and four Classic positions), one
  shared hydraulic and air plant, a colour store with outdoor silos and a
  two-storey finishing and print block
  ([plans](docs/cnx_vinyl_parametric_payap-block.png)), a separate
  two-storey office building
  ([floor plans](docs/cnx_vinyl_parametric_payap-office.png): canteen,
  changing rooms and showers, mastering and listening below; ~150 m² of
  offices, training room and IT above), a separate water treatment
  building next to galvanics, the utility yard and site access, all
  driven by one parameter sheet
- [Process logging and traceability](docs/traceability.md): end-to-end
  per-order traceability for customers, batch genealogy from audio file to
  shipment, and the requirements this sets for the factory software
- [Digital factory systems plan](docs/digital-factory.md): every system
  that has to exist for environment, machine, QC and genealogy data to land
  in one place keyed to one record identity, with ERPNext as the plant's
  only system of record (every tool we build reads and writes it; only
  machine data stays outside), everything open source with our own code
  published and, later, the stack and automation services offered to
  other pressing plants: the plant as one more site in B4L's
  existing NixOS fleet (the cnx-network clan: mesh, DNS, fleet
  monitoring, site gateway module, public proxy), what changes in that
  repo, VLAN zoning, Telegraf/MQTT acquisition source by source, QC
  instrument integration, the factory application, alerting, backup,
  security, the data clauses for every RFQ, build order and rough cost
- [Quality automation](docs/quality-automation.md): stamper metrology
  (Keyence-class confocal, profiler, XRF), layered pressed-record QC (100%
  optical inspection, per-cycle press telemetry, sampled automated audio
  comparison), and how it feeds traceability
- [Process flow](docs/process-flow.md): the whole chain from audio file to
  delivered record as a chart and stage table, with every check and the
  three artist approval gates (printable diagram alongside)
- [Artist platform](docs/artist-platform.md): upload a master and
  artwork, get a transparent itemised offer from the price calculator
  (for artists, labels and any other customer), and optionally launch a
  fan-funded campaign that the plant presses and ships to each fan once
  enough have pre-ordered, with refunds if not
- [Artist ordering demo](docs/artist-order.html): the artist platform as a
  clickable single page: configure a record (jacket with a 3 or 5 mm
  spine), type the track list or drop the master files and artwork
  (checked in the browser, never uploaded: format, sample rate, bit
  depth, clipping, side length against the format; artwork as PDF, AI or
  image against the downloadable jacket and label templates: size and
  spine, bleed, resolution, colour, fonts), approve gate 1, get the itemised offer with
  its price curve and lead time, then order directly or run a fan-funded
  campaign to a funded or missed end (refund, or go ahead at the
  minimum) and follow the production through the three artist gates
- [Make a record](docs/make-a-record.html): the investor demo of the same
  platform as a customer sees it, in one polished flow: design the record
  against a to-scale mock-up, check the music and artwork, see the price,
  let fans fund it, follow the production and open the record passport
  (the traceability record of one copy); investor notes on every step, a
  one-minute guided tour (`#tour`), prices in THB, USD or EUR and the whole
  page in English or Thai (draft translation, `#cur=EUR&lang=th`)
- [Factory console and order status](docs/factory-console.html): the
  factory application of the [digital factory](docs/digital-factory.md)
  plan as a demo on a simulated plant day: the press floor with live
  counters, work orders per station (kiosk steps: badge in, scan,
  confirm), the inspection stream, audio samples, the material lab gate,
  stamper metrology, the hash-chained event log, and the customer portal
  for the same orders (steps, copies pressed so far, lab and inspection
  results, approving a test pressing)
- [Steam and cooling](docs/steam-cooling.html): the utility plant for the
  launch plant (one Duplex system and one Classic; rooms built for four
  modules, the five-press growth case one click away) as a clickable
  process diagram: water treatment, feed tank and heat recovery, a bank of
  two 500 kg/h boilers, the steam header and condensate return, and
  process cooling with two 250 kW chillers (a third with the second Duplex),
  a plate heat exchanger, warm and cold tanks and a branch to every press,
  extruder and the hydraulic oil cooler; operating cases from the launch plant
  and its commissioning to one module down, the design basis, an equipment schedule and
  the open questions for the boiler and chiller RFQs
- [Plant operation page](docs/plant-operation.html): a single static page
  animating the launch plant as a simulated SCADA overview at real cycle
  times: the Newbilt Duplex system and the Classic, the Pheenix Alpha
  electroforming line and Sibert stamper prep, from PVC intake and the
  material lab through pressing, inspection, packaging and fulfillment,
  with the three artist gates, the mother archive, utilities and energy;
  1× is real time, up to 3600× (a day in 24 s); every station is
  clickable and names the source of its figures; on phones and tablets
  held sideways it pinch-zooms and opens station details in a side sheet
- [Plant and business plan calculator](docs/fleet-calculator.html): a
  single static page for the business plan: choose the plant
  configuration (presses, galvanics in-house or bought stampers, cutting
  in-house or outsourced, metrology tier, cassette and CD-R, solar bought,
  PPA or none, steam fuel, Thai or Chinese utilities, crane, visitor
  corridor) and it builds the investment from the cost blocks of the
  total investment, checks it against the investor's 180M and 216M THB,
  and runs the money a year and a ten-year cash view (payback, NPV, IRR,
  pre-tax sketch), with presets from the launch plant to a full hall. Set
  the records a year and the share of splatter and specials, and it sizes
  the mix of Duplex systems (3 records a minute each) and Classics (2 a
  minute) from the launch plant of one Duplex and one Classic up to a
  full press hall, with the people,
  power, central hydraulics, steam, cooling, air, floor, compound and
  stampers that fleet needs, drawn as a live schematic of the machine
  park with the stamper line (lathe, Pheenix galvanics, Sibert prep)
  feeding it, each station counted from the galvanics cycle times;
  plus the money a year: revenue (standard, specials, title services),
  PVC, labels, sleeves, jackets, cartons, lacquers, plating chemistry,
  electricity and steam, labour from base salaries with social security,
  on-costs and health care for all staff, overheads, EBITDA, depreciation
  and payback, with the revenue model's adverse, central and favourable
  cases, BOI promotion on or off (machinery import duty and import VAT,
  PVC duty relief) and USD, THB or EUR; every assumption is editable, with its
  source, and a scenario can be shared by link
- [Test site](site/README.md): `site/` builds https://cnxvinyl.lol/, the
  internal test site with demo pages from `docs/` (the plant operation
  page first) and any static site we want to share by link; Gitea Actions
  deploys it to the buildfor.life web server on every push that touches it
- [Production timeline](docs/production-timeline.md): how long an order
  takes stage by stage, launch vs mature configuration, the repress fast
  path, and what lead time can honestly be quoted to a customer
- [Project timeline](docs/project-timeline.md): the calendar from today to
  first paying release, the BOI-to-machinery critical path, and where the
  float actually sits
- [Site candidates](docs/site-candidates.md): the land options side by
  side (the Mueang Chi lease, the Northern Region Industrial Estate, and
  Payap University's offer of land next to a pharmaceutical facility under
  construction) and what has to be checked before any of them is chosen
- [Payap University partnership](docs/payap-partnership.md): joint student
  programmes in audio engineering (mastering, lathe cutting), IT and
  business built around the plant, what they change in the plan (cutting
  room earlier, pre-release security, student access) and what to agree
- [Project scale](docs/scale.md): rough numbers for everything on one page:
  output capacity, building area, land, electrical demand, solar and
  storage, steam and fuel, headcount, and money cross-references
- [Total investment](docs/finance/total-investment.md): the launch plant
  decided in October 2026 (~168M to 296M THB, ~5.1M to 9.0M USD, midpoint
  ~232M THB) with the basis of every block, the two plans for the investor
  (Plan A ~180M, Plan B ~215M THB, without contingency), and the earlier
  answer to the 180M / 216M question; the earlier full vision and phased
  entry are kept as superseded
- [Phase 1 construction RFQ](docs/finance/phase1-construction-rfq.md):
  the spec sheet for asking a contractor to price the phase 1 buildings
  and site works, with quantities taken from the parametric BIM model
- [Revenue model](docs/finance/revenue-model.md): pricing, direct cost
  and margin per record, the launch plant's operating picture at the
  planned 60 % specials (central revenue ~3.65M USD a year on ~0.74M
  records, EBITDA ~1.7M; the adverse case loses money), the operating
  pictures of Plan A (payback ~3.2 years on ~182M THB) and Plan B (the
  same output, payback ~3.8 years on ~217M THB: its extra pays back
  through what the table leaves out), the five-press table, and the levers and
  caveats behind the numbers
- Business plan, draft 0.3 (October 2026), in two versions:
  [Plan A, ~180M THB](docs/business-plan/CNX-Vinyl-Business-Plan-A.pdf)
  ([docx](docs/business-plan/CNX-Vinyl-Business-Plan-A.docx)) and
  [Plan B, ~215M THB](docs/business-plan/CNX-Vinyl-Business-Plan-B.pdf)
  ([docx](docs/business-plan/CNX-Vinyl-Business-Plan-B.docx)): the
  investor-facing roll-up of everything above, each a complete plan with
  one table comparing it with the other, both priced without contingency
  and with the ramp-up reserve. Each carries renders of the
  [plant and business plan calculator](docs/fleet-calculator.html) with
  its own preset (the isometric plant view on the cover and in section 6,
  the budget check, ten years of cash; in `docs/renders/calculator/`) and
  a software section (5.5) with screenshots of the plant overview, the
  factory console with its ERPNext link, the artist ordering demo, fan
  funding and the record passport (`docs/renders/demos/`). Built from `docs/business-plan/build/`
  (`python build_plan.py` makes both versions; the PDFs are exported with
  LibreOffice so the table of contents is filled in). Draft 0.2, a single
  launch-plant plan with contingency, is in the git history

## Repository Layout

```
docs/
├── brand/                 Poy Records logo (1536 px PNG)
├── business-plan/
│   ├── CNX-Vinyl-Business-Plan-A.docx / .pdf   Investor business plan, Plan A (generated)
│   ├── CNX-Vinyl-Business-Plan-B.docx / .pdf   Investor business plan, Plan B (generated)
│   └── build/                 Python source of the plan; regenerate with
│                              build_plan.py
├── consulting/            Consultancy proposals and overviews
├── equipment/
│   ├── newbilt/           Offers, site requirements, process schematic,
│   │                      service rates, 2026 product flyers (vendor PDFs)
│   ├── oms/               OMS introduction letter: wet-room units, reference
│   │                      prices, capacities, lathe contacts (vendor docx)
│   ├── pheenix-alpha/     Electroforming range flyers (vendor PDFs)
│   ├── sibert/            Stamper prep specifications and line-up drawing
│   │                      (2021 issues in specs-2021/), 2008-09
│   │                      optical-disc literature (vendor PDFs)
│   ├── duplex-cell-layout-sketch.png  Duplex cell arrangement (sketch, not to scale)
│   ├── galvanics.md       Electroforming and stamper prep equipment plan
│   └── pressing-line.md   Press fleet strategy and equipment plan
├── finance/               Project cost overviews, revenue model,
│                          construction RFQ, PEA electricity tariff
│                          schedule (pea/), biomass fuel market
│                          reports (biomass/)
├── suppliers/             Supplier contacts, vendor landscape, supplier map,
│                          Chinese utility suppliers (china-utilities.md)
├── artist-order.html      Artist ordering and fan-funding demo page
├── artist-platform.md     Upload, price calculator, fan-funded pressing
├── biomass.md             Biomass fuel strategy and the 60 rai coppice idea
├── boi.md                 BOI promotion strategy and requirements
├── cnx_vinyl_parametric_payap.FCStd   Payap scenario parametric BIM model
├── cnx_vinyl_parametric_payap.png     Top view of the Payap model
├── cnx_vinyl_parametric_payap-iso.png Isometric view of the Payap model
├── cnx_vinyl_parametric_payap-office.png Office building floor plans
├── cnx_vinyl_parametric_payap-block.png Finishing and print block plans
├── cnx_vinyl_parametric_payap_parts.FCStd  Payap model in Part/Draft: roof, PV, parking canopies
├── cnx_vinyl_parametric_payap_parts.png     Isometric view of the parts model
├── cnx_vinyl_parametric_payap_parts-top.png Top view of the parts model
├── CNX_apply_Params.FCMacro Pushes Params edits to the model (FreeCAD 26.3 RC1)
├── crane-workshop-tours.md Overhead crane, workshop, visitor corridor
├── digital-factory.md     Data platform, NixOS/Clan fleet, acquisition, app
├── facility-security.md   Security, HVAC, fire and life safety, compliance
├── factory-console.html   Factory application and customer portal demo
├── fleet-calculator.html  Press fleet calculator: output, mix, requirements
├── land-listings/         Land offers and zoning records (Mueang Chi, Payap)
├── make-a-record.html     Artist platform investor demo (end-user flow)
├── payap-partnership.md   Joint student programmes with Payap University
├── plant-operation.html   Animated plant overview (simulated SCADA)
├── process-flow.md        Audio file to delivered record, with all checks
├── production-hall-layout-sketch.FCStd  Rough BIM sketch, Mueang Chi hall (earlier fleet)
├── production-hall-layout-sketch.png    Top view of the sketch
├── production-timeline.md Order turnaround, stage by stage
├── project-timeline.md    Calendar to first paying release, critical path
├── quality-automation.md  Stamper metrology and layered record QC
├── roadmap.md             Next steps in dependency order
├── scale.md               Rough project sizing on one page
├── site-candidates.md     Land options and the checks before choosing
├── steam-cooling.html     Steam and cooling plant diagram, launch plant
├── sustainability.md      Energy, water, materials commitments
├── traceability.md        Process logging and per-order traceability
└── worker-safety.md       Training, clean rooms, PPE
site/                      Internal test site https://cnxvinyl.lol/
├── public/                Served as is: landing page, static sites
├── build.sh               Builds site/dist: public/ plus demo pages from docs/
├── Caddyfile              Virtual host for the web server (applied by hand)
└── README.md              Build, deploy and one-time setup
.gitea/workflows/
└── deploy-site.yml        Builds site/ and deploys it on push to master
```

Vendor PDFs and spreadsheets are primary sources and reflect the state of
negotiations at their file dates. Treat prices and lead times as snapshots,
not commitments.

## What This Repo Will Grow to Hold

- Accumulate planning and vendor documents as decisions firm up, including
  the mastering, cutting, and galvanics chain
- Add structured data (inventory, orders, production batches) once operations
  begin
- Host the software/tooling built to run the factory (tracking, ERP-style
  workflows)