Talks From A Assembly Company.

[spaceballs3000]

I worked with an assembly company over the many years that makes and builds hardware, from PCB population, to final assembly steps, i.e. turnkey.

I had lunch with one of the owners, and I talked about the Pandora and how much time is usually required with something that complex. I then gave it's current stage, and talked about the 4k boards, keymat, cases, thumb pads, etc... and mentioned that it's done my people on their spare time. He tells me that at the rate it's progressed, and from it's current position, he said to expect to see it in 2011.

Ouch, guess the second batch might be a while then.

I feel he better qualified to gauge lead times better than anyone here, since he does it for a living.

 

[gruso]

Based on some guy's evaluation of the situation after one conversation, I'm going to have to cancel my order. Sorry guys.

 

[spaceballs3000]

Based on some guy's evaluation of the situation after one conversation, I'm going to have to cancel my order. Sorry guys.

Hey, the owner was giving his view on the timeline, I feel he better qualified to gauge lead times than anyone else here.

 

[mali]

The randomness of the first post in this thread is disturbing :huh:

Spoiler

 

[LineOf7s]

I was going to say something, but I'm not sure which piece of ridiculousness to go with first, so I'll just leave it at this.

And yeah, this post is about as pointless as this entire thread.

Thankyou for your input, though.

 

[spaceballs3000]

The randomness of the first post in this thread is disturbing :huh:

edit:
Ask the Pope about Condoms, he does thinking about that stuff for a living, after all

Nothing random about it, as Pandora is assembling their unit to sell. All this company does, is make and assemble units for companies, thus it seems like he be a qualified person to ask.

 

[EmuGuy]

Better than the people actually building it? :rolleyes: Yes, we're all disappointed with the delays (2008 was a while ago!), but threads like this are just unnecessary, especially when we're soooo close now. I'm with Gruso on this one!

I do agree the second batch will be a while from now (and more $$$)...all the more reason to get in on the first batch.

 

[spaceballs3000]

I was going to say something, but I'm not sure which piece of ridiculousness to go with first, so I'll just leave it at this.

And yeah, this post is about as pointless as this entire thread.

Thankyou for your input, though.

Why do you think it's pointless getting an idea on timetables from someone that does it for a living?

 

[EvilDragon]

Errmm... you DID tell him that neither the board nor the case production is done by people in the SPARE time but by companies who do that for a living?

Yep, the DESIGN of the case and board as well as software has mostly been done in the spare time - but that's over now.

And assembly will not take place in spare time either, we gather a team which will work fulltime on assembling the stuff.

So... let me see, we got approx. 200 days left until 2011 (already substracted a few days because of holidays, etc.)
If we have 4000 Pandoras to build, that would mean that we shouldn't build more then 20 units a day. Since we are working something between 10 - 12 hours on assembling (maybe even more), that would mean no more than 2 units per hour.
MichaelW made a video tutorial showing us how to assemble a Pandora. He does it really slow and repeats steps quite a few times to really show you how to do it.
That does take 17 minutes.

So if one person is working REALLY slow to build a Pandora, it takes 17 minutes - which would be a bit more than 3 units per hour.
That's already too fast.

We have at least 8 people assembling Pandoras - so how slow should they work?

 

[spaceballs3000]

Better than the people actually building it? :rolleyes: Yes, we're all disappointed with the delays (2008 was a while ago!), but threads like this are just unnecessary, especially when we're soooo close now. I'm with Gruso on this one!

I do agree the second batch will be a while from now (and more $$$)...all the more reason to get in on the first batch.

Are we really that close? After talking to the owner, he mentioned that the final assembly steps required can be very long due to it's volume (i.e. 4k units) and limited resources.

 

[mali]

Nothing random about it, as Pandora is assembling their unit to sell. All this company does, is make and assemble units for companies, thus it seems like he be a qualified person to ask.

To give your post more meaning you'd have to fill the space between now and 2011 with the stuff that guy said will happen. You told him what has happened, he pulled out his pocket calculator, made an important looking face and told you it'll take till 2011?

Are you serious?

 

[spaceballs3000]

Errmm... you DID tell him that neither the board nor the case production is done by people in the SPARE time but by companies who do that for a living?

Yep, the DESIGN of the case and board as well as software has mostly been done in the spare time - but that's over now.

And assembly will not take place in spare time either, we gather a team which will work fulltime on assembling the stuff.

So... let me see, we got approx. 200 days left until 2011 (already substracted a few days because of holidays, etc.)
If we have 4000 Pandoras to build, that would mean that we shouldn't build more then 20 units a day. Since we are working something between 10 - 12 hours on assembling (maybe even more), that would mean no more than 2 units per hour.
MichaelW made a video tutorial showing us how to assemble a Pandora. He does it really slow and repeats steps quite a few times to really show you how to do it.
That does take 17 minutes.

So if one person is working REALLY slow to build a Pandora, it takes 17 minutes - which would be a bit more than 3 units per hour.
That's already too fast.

We have at least 8 people assembling Pandoras - so how slow should they work?

Ah, well I wasn't aware of this line below

"And assembly will not take place in spare time either, we gather a team which will work fulltime on assembling the stuff."

I thought it was just spare time people, and not full time, this will change things.

Curious are you going to get full-time to do assembly? are these volunteers?

Hiring 8 people for 10-12 hours a day (for 200 days) going to get really pricey, and I assume money was always been an a problem, since Pandora is skipping FCC (cost), did china cases instead of local (i.e. cost), and not doing local assembly company.

 

[Polossatik]

Hum, IMHO once the "first batch" is out and the OP team take some weeks to recover, the second batch will be lot less work.
The main pain point of all the delay's was simply stuff you need to learn while doing if you didn't do a project like this before.

Adding the fact the OP team finally asked to make all the cases and that the board is for the 700 first already made/shipped there will be at least a lot of padora's out (even with imperfections like the wifi problem) before 2011

 

[dschroeter]

Well, my uncle's friend went on the internet and watched a movie and some TV (which he does for a living) and he said some guys said that the world is going to end in 2012.

So at least I'll have a year of playing Pandora Panic until it becomes painfully ironic.

 

[spaceballs3000]

Nothing random about it, as Pandora is assembling their unit to sell. All this company does, is make and assemble units for companies, thus it seems like he be a qualified person to ask.

To give your post more meaning you'd have to fill the space between now and 2011 with the stuff that guy said will happen. You told him what has happened, he pulled out his pocket calculator, made an important looking face and told you it'll take till 2011?

Are you serious?

Yes I gave a run down of what happened to date, in a nutshell told him all parts were available for assembly (and case parts) I gave him a number of 5-7 people (part time, 2-3 days a week) to do assembly (i.e. volunteers), etc.. he did some mental calculations (remember he does this for a living so he's good, or else he looses money if he's off) and gave me that answer.

 

[r00tw00t]

2011 is so far away

 

[mali]

Yes I gave a run down of what happened to date, in a nutshell told him all parts were available for assembly (and case parts) I gave him a number of 5-7 people (part time, 2-3 days a week) to do assembly (i.e. volunteers), etc.. he did some mental calculations (remember he does this for a living so he's good, or else he looses money if he's off) and gave me that answer.

Ok, I see

 

[dschroeter]

he looses money if he's off

Wait, so we can bet on it?

 

[spaceballs3000]

he looses money if he's off

Wait, so we can bet on it?

He loses money because if he off it interferes with other customers orders. He main job is maximizing resources of his employees by making sure the queue is filled. And making sure orders are done in a timely fashion.

 

[EmuGuy]

Better than the people actually building it? :rolleyes: Yes, we're all disappointed with the delays (2008 was a while ago!), but threads like this are just unnecessary, especially when we're soooo close now. I'm with Gruso on this one!

I do agree the second batch will be a while from now (and more $$$)...all the more reason to get in on the first batch.

Are we really that close? After talking to the owner, he mentioned that the final assembly steps required can be very long due to it's volume (i.e. 4k units) and limited resources.

I'll still take ED's word over your random guy, sorry, I'm sure he's the best at what he does. Obviously anything could happen (and will!) between now and when I get my Pandora. Regardless, I still don't get the point of this thread...even if it takes until 2011, so what? If Pandora is the device we want, should we not wait for it? Cancelling isn't going to get me one any faster than just waiting will. Anyway, ED's post seems to have laid out more information for both of us. Yes, I think we're very close. Closer then ever before in fact! B)

LOL @ dschroeter...gold.