FM3 Now Shipping

I'm an industrial designer who has worked in manufacturing for 25 years including in the electronics equipment industry. People complaining that a popular product isn't getting to them in the timeframe they consider adequate to produce the items with no information on how many are on order, the complexity of the manufacturing process, and cash flow needed to order parts, pay staff, buy new testing equipment etc are coming across like angry Mum's trying to buy a new Nintendo console 2 days before Christmas at a retail store.

If you think about how hard it is to design, tool up, get inventory of parts made, manufacture, program, test, pack and distribute for even 0.05th of a second then maybe you'll understand. How long does it take to make a batch of FM3's when they're more popular than anticipated? No one knows except the people who work at Fractal.
 
Azrehan said:
I'm an industrial designer who has worked in manufacturing for 25 years including in the electronics equipment industry. People complaining that a popular product isn't getting to them in the timeframe they consider adequate to produce the items with no information on how many are on order, the complexity of the manufacturing process, and cash flow needed to order parts, pay staff, buy new testing equipment etc are coming across like angry Mum's trying to buy a new Nintendo console 2 days before Christmas at a retail store.

If you think about how hard it is to design, tool up, get inventory of parts made, manufacture, program, test, pack and distribute for even 0.05th of a second then maybe you'll understand. How long does it take to make a batch of FM3's when they're more popular than anticipated? No one knows except the people who work at Fractal.
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As many people so often eloquently state “FA does not owe us anything”. Hence, no need either telling the customer how industrial production works, what problems may or may not arise... because most of them couldn’t care less, as long as there’s some kind of light at the end of the tunnel. When you’re in the tunnel and every now and then some candle flares up but you remain in the dark, people start reacting that way. Human behaviour.
 
mortiistoboggan said:
Maybe next time around, doing a pre-order instead of a wait-list could help solve the issue of cost shortages maybe. I'm sure that would be way more stimulating in terms of speeding up the supply chain. I mean, I wish I could just buy it outright, if I knew that was what's holding all these units up. Idk. Just wanted to throw that idea in the hat, for next time around I guess. Until then, we wait, and glady!
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Best way to alienate even more of your (potential) customer base, should delivery somehow be delayed. Can’t imagine how this place must have looked if all those people waiting on the FM3 would have paid for it fifteen months ago...
 
nlaaln said:
Best way to alienate even more of your (potential) customer base, should delivery somehow be delayed. Can’t imagine how this place must have looked if all those people waiting on the FM3 would have paid for it fifteen months ago...
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Yep, expect that would have been a debacle. Also agree with the earlier comment re. human behaviour, which is mixed and highly variable, and more often than not, not entirely rational. I could try perpetuating the futility of my thoughts on stakeholder/customer expectations management etc, but I have learnt, and instead will post a pic of the bottle top of one of my new favourite beers!!!! And of course can't wait for my FM3 (but will). :cool:
 

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mortiistoboggan said:
Maybe next time around, doing a pre-order instead of a wait-list could help solve the issue of cost shortages maybe. I'm sure that would be way more stimulating in terms of speeding up the supply chain. I mean, I wish I could just buy it outright, if I knew that was what's holding all these units up. Idk. Just wanted to throw that idea in the hat, for next time around I guess. Until then, we wait, and glady!
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I think getting rid of lists entirely would be the way to go. Make a certain amount of units available for shipping every week and treat them as “drops”. They go live at the beginning of the week and close when units run out. If you don’t make it one week, you can try the next. You’d have a lot less whiny people. I feel like waitlists are just inefficient when a company is this size and there’s a lot of demand and low output.
 
cp13po said:
Yep, expect that would have been a debacle. Also agree with the earlier comment re. human behaviour, which is mixed and highly variable, and more often than not, not entirely rational. I could try perpetuating the futility of my thoughts on stakeholder/customer expectations management etc, but I have learnt, and instead will post a pic of the bottle top of one of my new favourite beers!!!! And of course can't wait for my FM3 (but will). :cool:
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mmmmm…..beer.....espresso stout sound like a great tasting beer. 👍
 
nlaaln said:
Best way to alienate even more of your (potential) customer base, should delivery somehow be delayed. Can’t imagine how this place must have looked if all those people waiting on the FM3 would have paid for it fifteen months ago...
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Depends on how they handled it. I took part in something similar to that - pre-order a device and pay the full (discounted) amount up front. They hit delays, and a few days before the product was supposed to be available the emailed us all basically saying "Sorry, delay, valid reasons." But the options they gave were great. First two were obvious - you can keep waiting, or we'll immediately refund your money. Third option was a surprise to me, and really went that extra CS mile in my eyes. They'd give you their current product (same type of device, but more expensive than the full price of the upcoming model) for that discounted pre-order price we'd paid.

Obviously that isn't something Fractal could have done - no more AX8s, and they'd take a financial bath giving away FXIII's at the price of the FM3.

I'm just sure a lot of people on here would be satisfied with a little more communication from Fractal. As for me, I got on the list March 2020. I don't expect my invite any time soon.
 
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