No attempt at humor. Unfortunately, I’m not seeing where there might be an issue with what I said. For clarity, I’ll try to reword it without changing my intended meaning.
Keep in mind I was replying with this in mind… These units aren’t built until we confirm acceptance to the “Do you want your Glowforge?..
With what I believe must be at least 90% of the prepaid orders still outstanding, the chance of Glowforge ever running out of willing recipients is exceptionally small. That being the case, it makes more sense (to me) to build them as quickly as they can and possibly send out more emails if they ever find themselves with excess inventory.
If they are actually building them after you confirm you want it and it takes six weeks then it must include procurement. If it actually takes six weeks to make a small batch then how are they going to make 100 a day? If they all take six weeks they would have 4000 in work in progress. Bonkers!
Exactly. It just struck me as odd when the post specifically stated " These units aren’t built until we confirm acceptance to the “Do you want your Glowforge?” Shipping email."
And dan replied “that is correct.”
I’m not sure how to interpret it, other than how it’s written.
I take solace in that if their definition of shipping is when we send you an email their definition of built could also be non-traditional. I’m not completely discounting bonkers, however, as I’ve seen some screwed up ERP installations.
The expediter is different each day, but on mondays, it’s me. I stand at the front of the factory hitting refresh on my blackberry, checking the hotmail account where your emails arrive. As soon as one shows up, I blow the Laser Whistle, and grab the latest Glowforge Parts Cart. I run through the building, shouting to find someone who can build the unit - sometimes it can take a while! Once I find someone who looks free, I had them the Parts Cart along with the name of the lucky owner along with a printout of their Myspace account. At that point, we both sit down on the floor and I open the “So You’re About To Build A Glowforge” instructional video on the blackberry screen, in case they’re unfamiliar with the process. I’ve seen it a million times but I never get tired of it. The build gets started, I lead a small ritual that is necessary to fill up the coolant chamber, and if it’s a Pro unit, we call over a member of the clergy to deliver a small speech and strike the laser tube with a small bottle of absinthe. If the bottle breaks, it’s a Pro. If the tube breaks, we send it back for warranty repairs. Someone brings over a large wheel of Forever Stamps and verifies the shipping address one last time, and I head back to the front of the line to start hitting refresh again.
I KNEW IT! Tell you what - I’ll save your clergy the effort and the cleanup time. Just include that absynthe along with my Pro and I’ll drink to you & staff as I press the glowing button. Deal?
Dan’s comment was humorous and I did get a kick out of it but honestly there are real concerns behind the question and people just want to understand the reason for the 6 week window. A witty comment is enjoyable for a moment but when it comes to actual enlightenment on an issue, in true glowforge fashion… nothing.
Love the humor…keep it coming…shows the GF staff are human!
My personal interpretation of @dan feedback (keep in mind…my personal interpretation, which may not be actual fact):
There’s an expediter at the factory that checks for incoming emails from GF “Owners” who have responded to their “do you want your GF” email.
With email received by the expediter…the expediter grabs a GF parts cart, looks for a factory employee to build a new GF unit (the one requested in the received email has not yet been built).
The expediter, along with the factory employee, reviews the GF building instructional video (undetermined length of time --not stated).
The factory employee builds the GF (undetermined length of time --not stated).
Once built, the newly built GF is tested (undetermined length of time --not stated).
GF’s that pass the test are then reviewed by “someone” who verifies shipping address (undetermined length of time --not stated).
The expediter starts all over again with #1 listed above.
??) Unknown how many times #1 through #6 happens per-day.
I’m not looking for answers to any of the above…I’ve merely put my personal “interpretation” of the process down. I continue to believe @dan and the GF staff continue to do an exceptional job with an extremely challenging product.
Keep the humor rolling…it helps lighten up a lot of these grumpy posts
Darn it, I knew I should have started a band in the early aughts. I never had a Myspace account; no wonder why it isn’t here yet. It all makes sense now.
Any way I can get one of these Laser Whistles included in my Pro order? I would love to be able to put on my Laser Glasses and then blow the Laser Whistle every time I am about to hit the print button.
