Hi again everyone!
TL;DR: Factory printing delays continue, but we are in almost daily communication with them to minimize the challenges. Ideally, printing complete around mid-May. Our shipping and fulfillment timeline will ideally hold for late summer.
April 28 - Project Update
Here's a joke about project managers that I'll share with you.
Let's say a dog is going to have a litter of puppies, the female will be pregnant for about 3 months. A project manager would put 3 females in a room together and you'll have a litter of puppies in just 1 month.
Besides the obvious "office-appropriate" hilarity, the underlying premise is that the project manager doesn't understand how the process actually works and therefore throws more resources at the challenge. It also highlights how project managers don't like waiting.
Scene from Parks & Rec
Printing is underway. There were some challenges at the factory had matching our rich and vibrant colors with the mass-run printers. We've always focused on quality of the project and that means things can take longer. We know that the rigor we are applying to the process now is going to make everything worth the wait.
Shipping and logistics are unchanged since our last update. The worldwide challenges with shipping are still being untangled, so the good news is that we haven't missed the boat! Calendar with latest estimates is at the bottom.
Shipping prioritization is challenging during a pandemic. We're still looking at delays as food stuffs are being prioritized; but the good news is that we're using that newfound buffer time for our quality control checks at the factory.
The Evergreen Ship impacts are still being felt in the worldwide shipping supply chain. We're doing our best to keep our estimates honest; but we're still waiting to see the full impacts.
Optimistic schedule:
Early May - approval of proof/production copy
Mid May - truck from factory to dock
Mid May - picked up and loaded on to ship
Mid June - arrives in Portland
Mid June - cleared customs / offloaded from ship
Late June - arrives at warehouse
July - in the mail to backers
Late July arrivals of official copies
Impacts to the timelines at this point:
+2 weeks for the loading / shipping of the game (prioritization of perishable goods by the shipping companies, and Suez Canal debacle)
+1 weeks to offload from ship
+1 weeks to clear customs since this is our first project and customs is scrutinizing stuff from China
Late Summer for the delivery of games to our backers
Bottom line – Nobody panic. We are going to deliver Dogs BOND. When the games arrive is, unfortunately, mostly out of our control at this point. We’ve got the right vendors for freight, insurance, and other things all lined up. We’re just beholden to the market forces and world events.
Again, thank you to everyone for your patience at this point. Please understand that it’s just me working within the global supply chain, and at this point even larger projects cannot spend money to make the process go faster.
We cannot thank you all enough for your support. Dogs BOND has always been a “little project that could”, and that’s all thanks to our backers.
FAQ: Couldn’t you fly the board games to the USA?
Air freight is a possibility; however I have estimated costs about $900 USD to fly a single copy of the game from Shanghai to San Francisco via FedEx. Customs fees not included. Air Cargo rates are equally unappealing. It’s simply not cost effective for anyone involved.
FAQ: I need to update my shipping information / email / order
Thank you all for your patience and support!
