December 2017 Production & Shipping Update

Since October, we have been producing Origin on a daily basis with our manufacturing partner, and at an increasing weekly production rate. After several weeks of production, we now have sufficient build data and enough visibility into our supply chain to provide a meaningful update. Unfortunately, the production “ramp” has been more shallow than the ramp we had originally planned. Below is a graphic to better illustrate where we are now, compared with where we planned to be. At this point, we know that we will not be at full production capacity in time to fulfill 100% of Batch 1 pre-orders by the end of the year. Our latest estimate for completion of Batch 1 fulfillment is now late January or mid February 2018, with the start of Batch 2 fulfillment commencing immediately thereafter.

I understand that some of our pre-order customers may feel frustrated by this news. For this, I am sorry. We are frustrated also, especially since the Shaper team has worked so very hard to successfully pull off a timeline to production that many people had considered impossible. During the Design and Development phases, it was comparatively easy for us to control most variables involved. During these phases, if we wanted to move faster, we could apply more resources, work more hours, etc. During the Manufacturing phase, we no longer control each variable, since so many external partners are involved. Even tiny hiccups in the supply chain send large ripples that greatly impact planned production output. The good news here is that nothing is actually broken with production; it’s just taking a bit longer to get our final assembly output rate up to planned capacity. And the great news is that we are receiving a huge amount of enthusiastically positive feedback from those of you who have already received your Origin. Thank you for that! And we look forward to hearing many more of your success stories and for you to join the conversation in the Shaper Community.

We remain committed to quality and making sure that when Origin arrives, it instantly puts a smile on your face and makes you realize it was very much worth the wait. While we hope everyone who has pre-ordered will remain on board, I’ll also remind everyone that pre-orders of Origin are fully refundable until we send the shipping confirmation email letting you know your Origin is on its way. Thank you again for joining us on this journey to change the way we all make things. We can’t wait to see what you’ll do with Origin.

Joe Hebenstreit, CEO