Lead time/ waiting time

I wonder what are your experiences with buying a printer in Uk? Does it always take so long (a month) to complete and deliver a set, are there shops/ sellers who can do better?

I have placed an order for tricolour one on 18th of March and after 21 working days still no joy . It doesn't look good from business point of view.

If you're talking about the reprappro, then I have a similar/worse situation (like I just posted in a similar thread). I paid for mine on February 11th, and just received the package yesterday. That's a full 60+ days to delivery, when I was told 'it should be off next week' back in February. I have a specific business project that was simply waiting for months for this piece to arrive (and they were aware of that). I'll let you know if it was worth the delay when it's set up and running.

yes, I am talking about them. 44 working days? it is more than double they advertise, you must be very patient person.

Mendel90 kits have about a 2 week lead time at the moment. The reason is that there has always been a queue due to people ordering them faster than we can make them. However, since we started charging VAT we have 50% less orders so maybe soon we can ship next day and have a life as well.

Also it is very hard to keep every component in stock due to world wide shortages of things like precision rods cause by RepRap.

I presume Reprap Pro have the same problem on a bigger scale.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

It's not just a UK issue. There are a lot of startups jumping on the bandwagon that don't know how to run a real business. They take customers money right away and then make them wait, most are 6-10 weeks. That's not good customer service. They have no stock of printers before opening their doors for orders, in fact most have never built more then a couple test machines, then start selling. Don't even have parts to build more than a couple and make as orders come in.

i waited 11 weeks for an M2 from Makergear.

its a fact of life. better business practices are common courtesies now, good vendors will let you know of the delay. Never assume a customer will go to your web order and check the status. better just email them to keep up.

shame... this way they loose business and damage reputation.
I have canceled my order as they were not able to fulfill my order this week (20+ working days)
Shame they trying to gain customers on misleading information.

Took 7+ weeks to get a Series 1 from Type A Machines. Told 4-6 weeks. The last week of waiting was painful. Love the machine but lack of communication when it was late was frustrating. I think all of the companies that have good equipment seem to be backlogged a bit. Customer service is what will determine who stays in business the longest.

Hello All,

First of all I would like to apologise to anyone who has ordered a kit from us that has taken a few day's longer than the advertised lead time to dispatch.

We have had a large volume of orders for all of our kits over the last few months, which is why we have had a long lead time. We do our utmost to ship by the lead time given in our advertising. This lead time gets increased and reduced in advance depending on the current order volume we have. When they were originally released, our Colour Upgrade kits were offered on a short lead time for the first 50, followed by an advertised lead time of 40 working days. We did have a short delay on a several of these 40-working-day kits, and customers were notified of this delay by email.

We are currently shipping every day, and for the kits that went over the advertised lead time at the time of order we have had an email correspondence with the customer. We are working overtime to get the outstanding kits shipped as soon as possible, and to get our lead times back down to 10 working days or less.

Best wishes
Sally
RepRapPro Ltd
reprappro.com

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2013 05:15PM by SallyRepRap.

It's only a "fact of life" if one chooses to do business with vendors that operate in that fashion. There are timely, professional vendors with good communication skills. As the movement is still young so too are many of the entrepreneurs and they may not realize what it takes to run a business, even a small business. It's one thing to have lead times, look how long it takes to get a Tesla. It's another thing entirely if they aren't communicated or communication is slow. From what I've seen many don't understand supply chain and inventory management, time to market, how to manage the growth curve of a startup or basic customer support. Chris Anderson's Maker book has some good tips for how to build a strong business. For those with business experience it's nothing earth shattering but for those that may not know it's a good place to start. Being able to operate a printer is the least of the business concerns.

SallyRepRap Wrote:
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We are working
> overtime to get the outstanding kits shipped as
> soon as possible, and to get our lead times back
> down to 10 working days or less.
>
It sounds great, but... in practice looks slightly different:
maddox - 60+ days
myself - 21 working days and canceled as I am not prepared to wait another 20.
People do projects and need real timescale, I have allowed your advertised lead time and wasted a month, now I have only a few days to find all necessary parts myself.

I am not angry, just disappointed.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2013 02:42AM by qp3d.

Ya, I had that problem with the 1st one I ordered. I was told it would take 6-8weeks and I was ok with that. But then in their forums I saw newer orders for machines shipping and not mine. Contacted and got promised next shipment mine would go out. Again nothing, so I got pissed at them and they promised it again, nothing that time either. So I called and cancelled the order and went with Luzbot and got it in less then a week, fully calibrated and working.

If I was going to buy another pre-built machine I would use them again, but I feel more comfortable building my own now and have that as a backup or workhorse.

What amazes me is the impatience of some people if you have a project with a deadline and need a printer buy a pre-assembled one and pay the premium.

Once you get your kits it's goings to take hours and possibly days to build it and get it working to a good standard to be able to use it.

We ordered 2 from RepRapPro in their Christmas promotion and that was shipped within the time frame they quoted.

Ben

FWIW, Generation 7 Electronics ships between 2 and 10 calendar days, depending on demand. While I know many people are keen on next day shipping, I'm not in a hurry, because quality takes precedence over speed.

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

plexer Wrote:
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> What amazes me is the impatience of some people if
> you have a project with a deadline and need a
> printer buy a pre-assembled one and pay the
> premium.
>

It is not a point, paying up-front I agreed to advertised lead time - what how business should work.
Some people do planning and when their timeframe is streched because suppliers don't keep their promise, impatience is born.
Anyway, I would buy somewhere else if I knew what I know now. Shame no one replied to this post 21 days ago, it would save me some time.

Hello,

I think every experience should be reported, not only the bad things.

I bought my RepRapPro Mendel from reprappro.com.
They announce a 20 working days delivery and they fulfilled it.

Order on: 2013-01-14
Payment on: 2013-01-16 (2 working days)
Shipment on: 2013-02-04 (15 working days)
Delivery on: 2013-02-07 (18 working days)