Actually that delay was noted in the first email that addressed specific ship dates beyond “by the end of January”.
It was December 23, 3 months to the day after the pre order went live.
1 Like
Im going to conclude they have been successful and will continue to be successful if they can keep offering a product for WAY below the average market.
things happen, and im sure they are working hard to get the products out.
one thing ive learned racing, that can be applied to damn near anything.
what ever you think itll cost, double it and add 10%
weve waited over 4 months since the preorder went on, so double that, and add 10%
2 Likes
Being a software programmer I always tell my customer we are 90 days from completion! Month after month the same answer; we are 90 days away. I’m in batch 2 and they told me due to my order number(11856) it will probably be the end of April. I’m not ready for the table anyway! Just gives me time to get everything ready and learn Inkscape and Sheetcam.
Just as in software, it is impossible to predict a completion date 180 days away. Crap always happens. I would rather have the delay and get a better product. Quick, good or cheap. Pick 2. You can’t have all 3, ever!
4 Likes
Daniel will probably chime in with a shipping update by this evening. H
Welcome to being an “early adopter” and watching a business grow. Sounds like you’ve probably never invested into a Kickstarter or similar project? Not saying the delay is easy to swallow, but delays are pretty standard in new products.
In the end, the delay was due to an outside source and they’ve been very open about delays. We should at least appreciate the openness.
I’ve worked for several companies in manufacturing and logistics, and have ran thousands of forecasts. As a forecaster you know one thing: you are wrong 100% of the time. My performance is based on minimizing the margin of error rather than hitting my predictions.
I worked for the largest furniture store in San Diego and the largest trucking company in North America. The only difference is Langmuir COULD have added a large buffer at launch, with an in house goal of January. But, they chose to share their target date.
I remember telling customers “6 weeks out” despite the actual ETA of 2 weeks. When things were late 2 weeks for us, they were still 2 weeks earlier for the customer. They’re happy, they didn’t know we expected it earlier, and life goes on. So, don’t think that those “successful” companies are some how wildly better than LS. They’re just communicating their estimates with a larger buffer.
My prediction: they add at least a month to their next product.
4 Likes
I guess since you’re so unhappy and argumentative, you should cancel your order. Maybe LS will cancel it for you, and tell you to pound sand.
He can cancel, but that would not look good for a vendor to cancel.
When did I say I was unhappy? I simply stated that it would be smart for them to announce dates that they can actually obtain. Must be a liberal putting words in peoples mouth.
That is wrong. You were sent an email (and it was posted on here as well) that contained the following:
Our goal from the beginning was to get all of the Batch 1 PRO Machines shipped by the end of January 2020.
While we understand that the most frustrating part of pre-order campaigns is knowing when you’ll receive your machine, quality is of utmost importance to us at Langmuir Systems. During our inspections we discovered a non-conforming part from a key supplier that had to be remade which introduced non-trivial delays in our production. We are doing our best to mitigate these schedule delays but will not be able to get all Batch 1 packages shipped in January as advertised. That said, we are more confident than ever in the performance, fit, and finish of this machine and fully expect them to ship according to the table below.
I received that email 23 Dec 2019.
1 Like
Correct, this was sent out with the original ship dates.
We should remember we were given a substantial discount for being early adopters of this machine. This discount should buy them some slack. We will also have to get through possible growing pains for new hardware and software.
4 Likes
Yes lots of people hear seem to forget this… I hope there is not as much bellyaching when the new table/ software bugs arise…
2 Likes
This.
My first big purchase Kickstarter was over 2 grand for a 3D printer that came a year late and nearly didn’t come at all. I’ve lost much more than that on an injection molding machine, a wireless phone charger, and two full packages of an SLS printer that that never materialized. And the crowd funding sites’ terms give you little if any protection or recourse. (The 3D printer company went bankrupt shortly after fulfilling all the orders, it was quite sad, because the founders mortgaged their houses and cashed in their savings to try to keep it afloat. It’s full of proprietary boards, so if it ever tanks on me, I have to build the control system from scratch.)
Langmuir has a successful product in the wild, and didn’t stray far enough off of the original design or parts sourcing to throw up any red flags. Ship date was estimated at January and boxes started shipping in January. If this were a Kickstarter, backers would be happy with the progress. Because of said progress, I’m hopeful that the April orders ship early. Will I be disappointed if they don’t, or if they’re slightly late like the January orders? Sure I will, but I’m a big girl and I can handle it. I’ll still have a table eventually, and the brand new Hypertherm I’ve been wanting that I can sell for more than I paid for it.
Nah, I’m going to love my Hypertherm and keep it forever.
4 Likes
yes, and the Torch height controllers were probably the part that was effected by manufacturing. so it got delayed.
then, the VIM box that is part of box 2 got delayed because of the Mexican beer virus.
delays dont just effect the one single part, they usually have ripple effects on assembly and scheduling for other items in the warehouse.
a company can make estimates as best as possible. you must remember what Forrest Gump said ; “shit happens”
4 Likes
Maybe not early but I expect they’ll ship pretty much on time. The January ones needed to have first manufacture bugs worked out - quality, design oopsies and logistics. April is simply a “repeat what worked before”. There might be an issue with the scheduling of time in the factories due to other projects the factory had queued up after the January ones but before the April ones were scheduled and the coronavirus quarantines may have shoved everything back a couple or three weeks. I think it depends on what kind of things were being made overseas (like the VIM enclosure) and whether the factories are going to try to catch up.
3 Likes
Agreed. The next Chinese holidays are at the beginning and end of April, so lets hope they get caught up well before then. The only other thing I could foresee is if a component has a major flaw that’s not seen until the first units are put in service, requiring a rework. (That happened with the 3D Printer, three of the factories swapped out cheaper components after the prototypes were created without the company knowing. We had fried boards, bad switches, and the most fun…exploding power supplies!) My third company was started just to cater to the other backers’ replacement part needs, and sales and supplies for two other Kickstarters I was a part of.
I wouldn’t know what I know or have the skills I have today without those adventures and the strangers that endured them alongside me. Before that printer I didn’t even know how to solder; now I can build or fix just about anything. The plasma table is one more checkmark off my list for a one-woman (and many robots) fabrication army. I’m going to need another company name, do you think Cyberdyne Systems is taken…yet? 
4 Likes
Funny 
I need another welder and looked into a robotic Tig welder but the company only leases based an full-time human equivalents. So I’m talking to some folks interested in random contract work.
Lots of things that are doable with the computer controlled tools available to regular folks now.
1 Like
Hey Daniel is there any update on the shipping… It’s the end of the week… People are going to be getting really anxious and looking for some info from you guys.
We’re going to have 70 ish THC boxes and 50 boxes 2s leaving our factory today. The long pole in the tent is Z axis assembly so we’ll need to get more assemblers on that to catch up. Goal for next week is 150 boxes out.
7 Likes