Pentar's mistakes manufacturing smart level

---

For the entire five years Smart Level LLC has done business with Pentar, Pentar has manufactured a continual non-ending stream of failures and mistakes as well as failing to ship in a timely manner. From the very beginning Pentar shipped Smart Levels that had the transducer ported backward causing the sensor to burst which not only rendered the Smart Level inoperable but leaked a large amount of oil into the carrying case ruining the case as well. In addition to this the tubing Pentar was using failed almost immediately once again causing complete failure of the level and creating an oily mess ruining the carrying case and making returns for repairs extremely difficult. Pentar did not repair or financially compensate for any of these levels. That burden fell completely on Smart Level. At one point one of the levels didn’t even make it out of the factory when ordered before leaking. Despite this obvious catastrophic failure Pentar continued to use the same tubing for months stating, “we have to be sure what we replace it with will work”. 

During this initial startup Smart Level came to Pentar with orders for 200 levels per month from one company alone, Unilock. Pentar never managed to manufacture 50% of that number causing huge backlogs and embarrassments. This failure to produce and ship timely continued to the very end of our partnership with Pentar failing to ship several levels that had been order and left sitting in the order que last month. My assistant emailed numerous times with no response as to why these orders were not filled. Pentar simply stopped shipping with no prior notice and didn’t even respond after the orders were late to ship. 

Over the continuing course of these five years there was never a year when orders were consistently shipped timely without significant manufacturing failures. These failures include.

1. Pressure sensors ported backward. This happened at the beginning of manufacturing and again with the introduction of the Rev H model.

2. Tubing failing. This happened for several months without being fixed. Pentar should have the dates documented.

3. Smart Levels either calibrated backwards or not calibrated at all. This failure was highlighted by shipping a complete pallet of levels not working because they were not calibrated to Pave Tool the premier distributor at the NE Hardscape Expo two years ago.  They were showcasing Smart Level at this expo and this was a complete disaster when none of the levels worked. 

4. Smart Levels calibrated backwards. If you raised the level the readings went in reverse, or down, and if you lowered the levels the readings went up. Pentar has no idea how many levels they calibrated backwards. This has happened in the latest Rev H model. 

5. Plumbing failures. Pentar sent 547 Smart Levels into the field with bad plumbing. Pentar designed a cheap plastic adapter to replace the brass and potting that had worked flawlessly for 26 years. Despite my protests every single time this was mentioned Pentar did what Pentar does, they completely ignored my warnings stating, “we are the engineers leave this to us”. Pentar even argued with me there was no problem after I sent numerous emails with photos showing the air in the line and oil on the display. Don Qualls tried to send 10 levels he had “prepped” avoid taking responsibility for their failures. Failure to take responsibility for their failures is typical of Pentar. They either try something like this, or simply do not respond. Pentar’s failure to even respond and attempt to present a fix to their problems is a direct conflict with the 9001 rating Pentar claims to have. In end Pentar has only recalled a very small fraction of these and replaced the plumbing, my guess is 10% or so.

6. Cold solder joints on the zero and power buttons. This happened two years ago and is happening again with the Rev H model. 

In addition to the manufacturing failures that caused levels to completely fail, below is a list quality control issues.

1. Air left in the system from faulty assembly procedures.

2. Brass plugs screwed in too tightly causing short in field life of the reservoir.

3. Bungee straps too short making removal and replacement of the reservoir extremely difficult.

4. Steel discs falling off the reel because no locktite was applied.

5. Magnets falling off the new Rev H model because no locktite was applied.

6. Spools not lubricated causing difficult operation of unwinding and rewinding the tubing.

7. Lock rings not installed properly causing the reel to fall out of the housing while in operation.

8. Tubing not being installed properly causing tangles when the customer first uses the level.

9. Reel labels being installed upside down.

10. Paper carrying case labels used instead of the vinyl specified that fall off before they even left Pentar.

11. Battery covers installed upside down. 

Regarding the inventory Pentar has that was intended for Smart Level. 

Three years ago I notified Pentar that their performance was not only preventing me from expanding Smart Level, but no business could survive this continual stream of mistakes. Nothing changed. Two years ago I notified Pentar that I was actively looking for another manufacturer, nothing changed. One year ago I notified Pentar that I was actively talking with Futaba one of their competitors and needed Pentar to stop hiding the suppliers and parts and give me a full and complete BOM including all part numbers and suppliers in accordance with our understanding. Pentar continued to conceal vital information they had no right to up until the present. Pentar initiated this “policy of secrecy” when I questioned a substantial price increase that was not justified over two years ago. This policy of secrecy and no response has become the norm for Pentar over the past 18 months. Pentar has not even bothered to respond to the majority of problems I have documented over the past 18 months. This is also in direct violation of 9001 procedures. 

In the spring of this year after the last set of catastrophic failures I notified Pentar that they were destroying my business and reputation and Dec 31st 2023 would be our last day of working together. Since then Pentar has very reluctantly supplied a very small quantity of items requested, and have refused to deliver parts and information to either me or their replacement, BayaTronics. Pentar even went so far as to block BayaTronics from acquiring components made specifically for Smart Level from suppliers we have used for years. BayaTronics has been forced to place blanket orders on the assumption that Pentar did not intend to release or supply anything in order to begin production at Bayatronics. This being the case Smart Level is not obligated to take possession of anything Pentar has in its possession.

Additional harm Pentar is directly responsible for.

The result of all the failures listed above has been devastating on the financial survival of Smart Level costing over $1M per year in lost sales. It’s impossible to estimate what this has cost in bad PR that will take years to recover from. And the extreme stress on me, the owner from being forced to work seven days a week, 10 plus hours a day fixing and apologizing for all of this mess, put me in the hospital earlier this year with what appeared to be a heart attack. 

Pentar has put Smart Level out of business, forcing me to start over again. Instead of taking responsibility for your five years of failures and working to assist in this transition to a manufacturer that can actually produce a Smart Level that works and is shipped timely Pentar, has multiplied the stress and financial loss to Smart Level.