Zach
thanks for the update.
Dave
Any updates for us 
I’m frustrated and excited to report we have shipped 83% of X-Carve machines ordered to date. At this point I expected that we would be shipping the same day orders were placed but demand for X-Carve continues to outpace our ability to deliver. In addition to the temporary staff we have hired we are going to try and hire 2-3 more people. Part of our team has been coming in early to try to muscle through but we haven’t been able to ship fast enough. I’ve asked our head of operations to do whatever it takes to catch up. They are putting together a 30 day plan that we are reviewing next week. Between yesterday and today we filled up about 5 UPS trucks with X-Carves! On the one hand I’m completely frustrated but when I go down there and see the physical size of what we are shipping out I’m also very proud of them.
We have completely redesigned our warehouse this summer and 8 of the new stations have been completely spec’d out. We are starting to get to a point where the principles of continuous improvement and lean manufacturing methods are starting to show benefits. The way we have the stations set up now we can scale by adding more people. Said another way the stations are set up for the task so the parts move through the system rather than the people. In theory we should be able to scale with demand by adding more people to the line. It took a while to get this set up. In addition next week we are piloting a workforce manager software that can help the team measure their own performance. We are hoping that by giving the team data back on how they are doing it will help them improve.
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Is there any chance of seeing some photos of shipping line. I’m sure that every one on the forum would love to see how you are handling all of these shipping challenges.
Dave
Yea I can take some pictures next week.
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Great looking forward to seeing them.
Thanks
Dave
@Zach_Kaplan I’m happy to hear that you’ve got such a positive response from the market. I understand your frustration but really it’s a good problem to have, and it sounds like you’re taking some real positive steps to improve your capacity.
In terms of your turn-around time, I can tell you that from the viewpoint of a customer who just got a shipping notice the 4+ week wait time has been a point of some frustration, however, your customer service team has been pleasant to work with, giving very timely responses anytime that I’ve asked for an update or needed information about my order.
Please send along my thanks for the hard work that your team has put in, as I know that those filled up UPS trucks have certainly made this customer very happy on the other end of the delivery route.
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I think this is the hardest part…waiting!
A reference point for the impatient (I was one): my 1000mm was ordered on Aug 10, I got the shipping notice Sept 4, and the rail set and waste board arrived today. The real package seems stuck in Chelmsford, MA, but UPS is showing delivery tomorrow.
I hear ya! Any day now…I can feel it!
First off thank you to everyone for your support on the X-Carve product. The response has been totally overwhelming. We are honored you’ve chosen to order the machine and share your success with us. Thank you also to everyone for being so patient.
Quick update on shipping. We are starting to pull in the shipping times! We wanted to wait a week before announcing just incase it was an anomaly. Today we are adjusting the expectations from 3-4 weeks down to [2-3 weeks][1].
We’ve put together a 30 day plan and started executing on it. Within 30 days we should be caught up and shipping the same day orders are placed. Please realize typing that in advance of it happening means that demand might spike and then we won’t be able to get there as quickly as we had planned. Demand for X-Carve continues to increase as more machines get out into the world. We are so thankful for all the feedback and enthusiasm everyone has given Inventables, [Easel][2], and the machine.
Have a nice weekend!
[1]: X-Carve – Inventables, Inc.
[2]: http://www.easel.com
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Quick update. We are at about 99% caught up now on X-Carve shipments. We have to get through shipping out backordered line items in recent X-Carve orders so we are still leaving the lead time up until those get caught up too.
This means same day shipping will start soon!
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David, I see that you’re waiting on the power supply interface PCB. I dissected my 24V supply interface board. I imagine with a tweak or two you should be able to make your own clone of the Inventables interface board for about $10 bucks. Here’s a link to the thread.
I finally received my X-Carve in Guatemala after a wait of many months due to the customs service here either losing (or stealing) the first shipment back in June. Thank you to Paul at Inventables for following this through and ensuring I finally got the kit. As I had almost given up on ever receiving it I had abandoned the forums and have forgotten the assembly instructions, so I will have a busy week or so catching up.
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I know when you started shipping 7 months ago you did not plan on, or think, it would this long to get to this spot. Congratulations on keeping on keeping on, to get there.
Now you just have to prep for the Christmas rush ;-).
But the prospective x-carve newbie wont know the joy of anticipation of the machine’s arrival!
Next step:
Shipping before the customer places the order!
(this would involve a time machine, me thinks…)
Inventables kept all promises and support everyone received they’re shipments with no exceptions.
Congratulations to Inventables team and especially @Zach_Kaplan for the success.
We became one big Family, that is another success.
We will keep helping each other any possible way. This forum will be alive.
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Thanks @AlanDavis I really appreciate it! Everyone’s support has been fuel in our tank. It’s been a great experience getting to know everyone on the forum. I look forward to many more collaborations.
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That’s a great idea for the next Inventables machine…