Mid-April Fulfillment Update
about 1 year ago – Fri, Apr 14, 2023 at 02:39:31 PM

Welcome, backers.

It's the middle of April, and that means it's time for another look at our fulfillment progress.

Key Takeaways

• Let's begin with a tier check-in. January is waiting on a single order, February has around 60 orders left, March has less than 600 and April, the current month, has a bit over 900 orders left to ship out.
• Last time, we discussed the "hit list" approach, where the oldest outstanding orders would be targeted by a specific craftsman. This provides some balance and helps make sure the lingering orders go out, but why is this necessary? Well, our production looks at the overall need, and adjusts accordingly. We may, for example, need 400 Black Walnut panels for outstanding orders due this month. However, the oldest orders probably need something that we only require 10-20 of for the whole campaign. When the system is looking at all the needs, it's going to want to fill the most orders possible, and target those big blocks, over the small ones, in an effort to accelerate fulfillment for the most people. But this can leave people ordering less in-demand items waiting - especially the further into fulfillment we get. So, to compensate, we have a person look at those orders and go out of their way to make sure they get handled. It's not efficient, but it's worth it to improve the backer experience.
• Production and shipping have both been steady, but not extraordinary, as seen in the charts below. They are ticking along with a general upward trend, though, which is nice to see.
• In terms of packages shipped per month, the total thus  far stands at 58 orders shipped in November, 227 in December, 455 in  January, 1,026 in February, 796 in March, and 312 in April thus far.
• Once again, I remind you to please keep your address up to date  with us, so we can be sure to get your order to you. If you've moved  recently, or you  know you WILL be moving, but aren't sure of the  details, just let us know everything you can via direct message here on  Kickstarter, and we'll update your order accordingly.

Production & Shipping Charts

These are the same charts from last time, newly updated with the latest data:

Finding Your Fulfillment Wave

If you're unsure of your estimated fulfillment month, you can verify it yourself - all you need is any email from BackerKit.

Open any BackerKit message, and click through to view your   order on the website. You can use your order confirmation, or the  link in your original survey invitation - any BackerKit link concerning  this project should get you there.

Once on the BackerKit site, at the top of the screen, you'll see   the project name and image, with your Kickstarter pledge information. Click the reward level - it will read "$0 Reward" -  and a popup will appear. Your fulfillment wave is listed there!

If you can't locate a BackerKit message, or have trouble with   this process, send us a message and we'll be happy to confirm  your wave for you.

By The Numbers

Below are the total number of backers in each  fulfillment wave, as well as the number of shipped/pending status  backers in each. Note that the total number of backers in each wave may change as we begin each new round of fulfillment, due to backers  who have newly responded to the survey being rolled into the final wave.  Pre-orders remain open.

Wave 1: November - 464 backers *COMPLETE*

• 464 shipped, 0 pending
• 100.0% fulfilled

Wave 2: January - 687 backers

• 686 shipped, 1 pending
• 99.9% fulfilled

Wave 3: February - 886 backers

• 824 shipped, 62 pending
• 93.0% fulfilled

Wave 4: March - 1,051 backers

• 458 shipped, 593 pending
• 43.6% fulfilled

Wave 5: April - 1,014 backers

• 90 shipped, 924 pending
• 8.9% fulfilled

Wave 6: May - 1,948 backers

• 102 shipped, 1,846 pending
• 5.2% fulfilled

Wave 7: June - 374 backers

• 16 shipped, 358 pending
• 4.3% fulfilled

Non-responsive - 956 backers

• These are backers that have yet to respond to the survey

Pre-orders - 809 backers

• Fulfillment not started

Continuing Mission

As the weather shifts and we move into Spring, we continue to ship out orders and fulfill the project. At this point, we're around 40% fulfilled overall, and our trendline looks to have fulfillment as a whole wrapped up about a month past the estimated date, which is consistent with how we're tracking now.

I'm hoping we can bend those trends further up and finish closer in line with our original projections, but that's the current state of things - I'll check in on the 1st to let you know how the remainder of April shakes out, and we'll take it from there!

As always, thank you for your patience and support.

~ Ed Maranville, Customer Experience for Wyrmwood

April Fulfillment Update
about 1 year ago – Sat, Apr 01, 2023 at 06:42:28 AM

Welcome, backers.

April is here, and that means it's time to take a look and see how fulfillment is proceeding. I apologize, but there isn't a video this time - PAX East occurred just this past week, and I'm still recovering a bit. However, the information below is up to date and I hope you'll forgive me for making this one text-only.

Key Takeaways

• January has under 10 orders remaining, February under 250, while March is just over a third shipped.
• Starting next week, a craftsman will be assigned to specifically knock out hold-up items on the earliest orders still awaiting shipment. Their first task will be to close out those remaining January orders, then they will systematically target February orders, etc.
• We have received all the remaining GM Bags we had on order, so we now have the full quantity in our possession.
• We mentioned some difficulty leading to Towers lagging behind. This situation has been largely resolved. We've actually refined the process so much that the bottleneck is now milling, rather than the assembly team, which is good news; it means that our throughput can go higher than expected on these items.
• Likewise, with the past week, we are showing signs of reversing the downward trend of shipping volume week over week; see the charts below.
• In terms of packages shipped per month, the total thus far stands at 58 orders shipped in November, 227 in December, 455 in January, 1,026 in February, and 796 in March.
• As always, the numbers of backers fulfilled in each wave is updated and displayed below. However, as we begin shipping the final waves, I've split the numbers up differently. Typically, the backers that have not responded to the survey are shunted from one wave to the next, on until the end of the project. This is still happening, however it gives a warped view of how many orders are in the final wave; as such, these backers have been separated and moved into a "non-responsive backers" category, to give a better picture of the actual state of each fulfillment wave. If we reach the end of fulfillment and these backers still have not responded, they will have their orders cancelled and receive gift certificates in the amount of their pledge.
• Once again, I remind you to please keep your address up to date with us, so we can be sure to get your order to you. If you've moved recently, or you  know you WILL be moving, but aren't sure of the details, just let us know everything you can via direct message here on Kickstarter, and we'll update your order accordingly.

Production & Shipping Charts

These are the same charts from last time, newly updated with the latest data:

Finding Your Fulfillment Wave

If you're unsure of your estimated fulfillment month, you can verify it yourself - all you need is any email from BackerKit.

Open any BackerKit message, and click through to view your  order on the website. You can use your order confirmation, or the link in your original survey invitation - any BackerKit link concerning this project should get you there.

Once on the BackerKit site, at the top of the screen, you'll see  the project name and image, with your Kickstarter pledge information. Click the reward level - it will read "$0 Reward" - and a popup will appear. Your fulfillment wave is listed there!

If you can't locate a BackerKit message, or have trouble with  this process, send us a message and we'll be happy to confirm your wave for you.

By The Numbers

Below are the total number of backers in each fulfillment wave, as well as the number of shipped/pending status backers in each. Note that the total number of backers in each wave may change as we begin each new round of fulfillment, due to backers who have newly responded to the survey being rolled into the final wave. Pre-orders remain open.

Wave 1: November - 464 backers *COMPLETE*

• 464 shipped, 0 pending
• 100.0% fulfilled

Wave 2: January - 687 backers

• 678 shipped, 9 pending
• 98.7% fulfilled

Wave 3: February - 886 backers

• 655 shipped, 231 pending
• 73.9% fulfilled

Wave 4: March - 1,051 backers

• 368 shipped, 683 pending
• 35.0% fulfilled

Wave 5: April - 1,014 backers

• 80 shipped, 934 pending
• 7.9% fulfilled

Wave 6: May - 1,948 backers

• 98 shipped, 1,850 pending
• 5.0% fulfilled

Wave 7: June - 374 backers

• 16 shipped, 358 pending
• 4.3% fulfilled

Non-responsive - 958 backers

•  These are backers that have yet to respond to the survey 

Pre-orders - 687 backers

• Fulfillment not started

Continuing Mission

While we continue to lag behind where we intended to be, we are taking concrete steps to improve, and that's showing some results. I hope to report back on the 15th with more positive progress. Thank you for your patience, and once again, thank you to all of you enjoying your screens!

One last note: I mentioned being at PAX East this weekend. We weren't offering the GM Screen System for sale - of course! - but we had one of our photography sets present, set up for display purposes on a Modular Gaming Table. Some of you were there and checked it out, but over and over again, attendees that hadn't seen it before came over to ask about it, play with it, show their friends, or just marvel at it. Why do I mention this? Well, I understand that a wait is never fun, but I hope you'll find it worth it when you receive your order. If PAX is any indication, you'll have a lot of jealous players across the table at you once it arrives!

~ Ed Maranville, Customer Experience for Wyrmwood

Mid-March Fulfillment Update
about 1 year ago – Wed, Mar 15, 2023 at 12:31:42 PM

Welcome, backers.

It's a new month - March is upon us, so let's check in and see how fulfillment is going.

Key Takeaways

• November has been closed out, and January has fewer than 50 unshipped orders at this stage. February is around 375 orders from being closed out at time of filming, but is our primary focus at this point. March has about 100 orders shipped, so there's obviously some ground to make up there before month's end.
• We've had some staffing challenges the past few weeks in milling, which has led to our production numbers taking a hit, as you can see in the charts. We've been working to pivot players into milling and address the issue, but it's still an ongoing effort. In addition, the veneer press has been down. However, we found a workaround to continue to press GM panels, which is good news for this project.
• Despite the challenges, we are still producing and getting orders out, albeit at lower volumes than we've seen in recent weeks. We are expecting that throughput to trend upward over the latter half of the month, however, so there is good news on the horizon.
• In terms of packages shipped per month, the total thus far stands at 58 orders shipped in November, 227 in December, 455 in January, and 1,026 for February - more than double the January total. 281 have shipped, so far, in March.
• As always, please keep your address up to date with us, so we can be sure to get your order to you. If you've moved recently, or you know you WILL be moving, but aren't sure of the details, just let us  know everything you can via direct message here on Kickstarter, and we'll update your order accordingly.

Production & Shipping Charts

These are the same charts from last time, newly updated with the latest data:

Finding Your Fulfillment Wave

If you're unsure of your estimated fulfillment month, you can verify it yourself - all you need is any email from BackerKit.

Open any BackerKit message, and click through to view your order on the website. You can use your order confirmation, or the link in your original survey invitation - any BackerKit link concerning this project should get you there.

Once on the BackerKit site, at the top of the screen, you'll see the project name and image, with your Kickstarter pledge information. Click the reward level - it will read "$0 Reward" - and a popup will appear. Your fulfillment wave is listed there!

If you can't locate a BackerKit message, or have trouble with this process, send us a message and we'll be happy to confirm your wave for you.

By The Numbers

Below are the total number of backers in each fulfillment wave, as well as the number of shipped/pending status backers in each. Note that the total number of backers in each wave will change as we begin each new round of fulfillment, due to backers who have failed to respond to the survey being rolled into the next wave. Pre-orders remain open.

Wave 1: November - 464 backers *COMPLETE*

• 464 shipped, 0 pending
• 100.0% fulfilled

Wave 2: January - 687 backers

• 639 shipped, 48 pending
• 93.0% fulfilled

Wave 3: February - 888 backers

• 553 shipped, 338 pending
• 62.3% fulfilled

Wave 4: March - 1,051 backers

• 109 shipped, 942 pending
• 10.4% fulfilled

Wave 5: April - 1,520 backers

• 59 shipped, 1,478 pending
• 2.8% fulfilled

Wave 6: May - 2,335 backers

• 68 shipped, 2,267 pending
• 2.9% fulfilled

Wave 7: June - 446 backers

• Fulfillment not started

Pre-orders - 650 backers

• Fulfillment not started

Peaks & Valleys

That concludes this check-in. While we have had a couple of disappointing weeks in terms of shipping volume, we continue to catch up and close out the earliest waves, while making progress on the recent and current ones. January will be closed out shortly, and February should be entirely wrapped up by the end of the month. While it's unlikely March will be completed by the end of the month, we'll certainly do our best and get as close as we can.

Thank you for your patience and support, and a big thank you to those of you leaving feedback on your screens - in all of the charts and data, it's easy to overlook what all this is about: helping you have a better time in your games and enhancing your recreational time with your friends. Hearing from you when that happens is always welcome, and always appreciated.

I'll be back on the 1st with the latest. Until then, thanks, and be well.

~ Ed Maranville, Customer Experience for Wyrmwood

March Fulfillment Update
about 1 year ago – Wed, Mar 01, 2023 at 07:12:28 AM

Welcome, backers.

It's a new month - March is upon us, so let's check in and see how fulfillment is going!

Key Takeaways

• As the numbers show, November and January are around 100 orders from being closed out. After that, the remaining 500 February orders are the top priority before moving into this month's orders.
• Labor has been shifted a bit, and those changes are beginning to bear fruit. Notably, one recent day resulted in production of nearly 100 Two Way Dice Towers, so the capacity bottleneck on Towers is really starting to clear up.
• Last week, we set a new record for GM Screen ship-outs, with over $120,000 of products shipped in those 5 days. We're hoping to maintain that kind of momentum, and keep the numbers high as we move forward. Our shipping trend line also made a sharp turn upward, as seen in the chart below.
• In terms of packages shipped per month, the total thus far stands at 58 orders shipped in November, 227 in  December, 455 in January, and now 923 for February - more than double the January total.
• As always, please keep your address up to date with us, so we can be sure to get your order to you. If you've moved recently, or you know you WILL be moving, but aren't sure of the details, just let us know everything you can via direct message here on Kickstarter, and we'll update your order accordingly.

Production & Shipping Charts

These are the same charts from last time, newly updated with the latest data:

Finding Your Fulfillment Wave

If you're unsure of your estimated fulfillment month, you can verify it yourself - all you need is any email from BackerKit.

Open any BackerKit message, and click through to view your order  on the website. You can use your order confirmation, or the link in  your original survey invitation - any BackerKit link concerning this  project should get you there.

Once on the BackerKit site, at the top of the screen, you'll see  the project name and image, with your Kickstarter pledge  information. Click  the reward level - it will read "$0 Reward" - and a  popup will appear. Your fulfillment wave is listed there!

If you can't locate a BackerKit message, or have trouble with  this process, send us a message and we'll be happy to confirm your wave  for you.

By The Numbers

Below are the total number of backers in each fulfillment   wave, as well as the number of shipped/pending status backers in each.   Note that the total number of backers in each wave will change as   we begin each new round of fulfillment, due to backers who have   failed to respond to the survey being rolled into the next wave. Pre-orders remain open.

Wave 1: November - 465 backers

• 462 shipped, 3 pending
• 99.4% fulfilled

Wave 2: January - 685 backers

• 609 shipped, 76 pending
• 88.9% fulfilled

Wave 3: February - 887 backers

• 423 shipped, 464 pending
• 47.7% fulfilled

Wave 4: March - 1,051 backers

• 66 shipped, 985 pending
• 6.3% fulfilled

Wave 5: April - 1,520 backers

• 42 shipped, 1,478 pending
• 2.8% fulfilled

Wave 6: May - 2,335 backers

• 68 shipped, 2,267 pending
•  2.9% fulfilled

Wave 7: June - 446 backers

• Fulfillment not started

Pre-orders - 583 backers

• Fulfillment not started

Marching On

As we move forward, we're doing everything we can to accelerate our fulfillment; both to catch up, and to keep pace with the growing size of each wave. However, we're well positioned and I hope our demonstrable progress over the past few weeks is evidence of that. Thank you for your support and patience as we build on the progress we've made.

Look for another update on the 15th to give you the latest information. Until then, thanks again, and I hope this update finds you well.

~ Ed Maranville, Head of Customer Experience for Wyrmwood

Mid-February Fulfillment Update [+Modular Gaming Table Kickstarter Info]
about 1 year ago – Wed, Feb 15, 2023 at 11:31:14 AM

Welcome, backers.

It's February 15th! Let's take a look at how fulfillment is going. But first, there's big news - we've launched our long-awaited follow-up to the Modular Gaming Table project, which is live now! If you're interested, check out some details below and head over to the page for all of the important info, and to claim a spot in the fulfillment.

Your regularly scheduled update on fulfillment follows below!

The Modular Gaming Table

The Modular Gaming Table was launched on Kickstarter in 2020, and became the most successful gaming table on the platform in minutes. Now, over two years later, we've shipped nearly 10,000 tables to backers around the world, and we're finally ready to accept new orders. If you're looking for a table available in a variety of sizes and heights to fit any space and lifestyle, crafted from premium hardwoods and made in the USA, that's perfect for gaming, hobbies and gathering with the family... the Modular Gaming Table is your answer.

New woods, new accessories, still the best: claim yours today!

Mid-February Update

Key Takeaways

• I've been working with my colleagues to deep dive our fulfillment system, and we discovered a  couple of bugs that were impacting the project. The first had to do with fulfillment priority - essentially, once orders were late in the system, they received the same priority as all other late orders. This meant that as we moved into February, the November orders and January orders that were still outstanding both had the highest priority in the system, and were on equal footing. This is obviously incorrect - the November orders should have been prioritized first. This has been fixed, but in the meantime, we manually dialed in on the remaining November items needed, and have been pushing those through production aggressively.
• As a result, November is nearly all fulfilled, with the remaining orders due to be out by week's end. Fewer than 300 orders remain in January, and we are aiming to wrap this up by month's end. Of course, we are still shipping February orders and beyond - over 200 February orders have shipped already.
• The other glitch discovered had to do with the production planning, and was resulting in the wrong mix of items being produced. Not completely, but some items needed for immediate orders weren't showing up properly as in demand, etc. Everything being produced was needed for the campaign, but this led to some orders being held up longer than they should be. This, too, has been resolved. The bright side is that the inventory we have produced gets us that much closer to shipping the remainder of the project.
• Production continues to soldier on, and we're seeing good trends in fulfillment. Shipments are increasing in volume, and better lining up with our production. See the below charts for more.
• As discussed last time, our shipping is on pace to increase significantly in February. We shipped 58 orders in November, 227 in December, 455 in January, and we're at around 400 (update: over 500) for February so far, with half of the month to go.
• As always, please keep your address up to date with us, so we can  be sure to get your order to you. If you've moved recently, or you know  you WILL be moving, but aren't sure of the details, just let us know  everything you can via direct message here on Kickstarter, and we'll  update your order accordingly.

Order Tracking

A number of backers have asked about the ability to get an updated ETA on their specific order; unfortunately, this is beyond the scope of what we can really do with our data. Our production data and planning targets orders, but not individually. It works in aggregate, and we produce in batches of product. No one is ever working on fulfilling a specific order - the system is just prioritizing the latest builds based on what the highest priority orders need. As a result, while if an order only needs one or two items, it's very likely to be done soon, tracking when exactly it will ship would involve chasing down the status of each of those items on the floor, and then determining if any higher priority orders require that item, estimating how long it will take to make it to inventory, etc. It's just too granular for our systems to really be able to manage, so the best we can do is to give the estimates we're giving - when we imagine each wave should wrap up.

I apologize for the frustration, but as always, we're working to fulfill the campaign as quickly as possible, and I'll always strive to give you the best information I have in these updates. Thank you for your understanding.

Production & Shipping Charts

These are the same charts from last time, newly updated with the latest data:

Finding Your Fulfillment Wave

If you're unsure of your estimated fulfillment month, you can verify it yourself - all you need is any email from BackerKit.

Open any BackerKit message, and click through to view your order on the website. You can use your order confirmation, or the link in your original survey invitation - any BackerKit link concerning this project should get you there.

Once on the BackerKit site, at the top of the screen, you'll see the project name and image, with your Kickstarter pledge information. Click  the reward level - it will read "$0 Reward" - and a popup will appear. Your fulfillment wave is listed there!

If you can't locate a BackerKit message, or have trouble with this process, send us a message and we'll be happy to confirm your wave for you.

By The Numbers

Below are the total number of backers in each fulfillment  wave, as well as the number of shipped/pending status backers in each.  Note that the total number of backers in each wave will change as  we begin each new round of fulfillment, due to backers who have  failed to respond to the survey being rolled into the next wave. Pre-orders remain open.

Wave 1: November - 465 backers

• 416 shipped, 49 pending
• 89.5% fulfilled

Wave 2: January - 686 backers

• 443 shipped, 243 pending
• 64.6% fulfilled

Wave 3: February - 887 backers

• 244 shipped, 643 pending
• 27.5% fulfilled

Wave 4: March - 1,385 backers

• 47 shipped, 1,338 pending
• 3.4% fulfilled

Wave 5: April - 1,188 backers

• 33 shipped, 1,155 pending
• 2.8% fulfilled

Wave 6: May - 1,761 backers

• Fulfillment not started

Wave 7: June - 446 backers

• Fulfillment not started

Pre-orders - 521 backers

• Fulfillment not started

Closing the Gap

Thank you all for your support and patience as we work on catching our fulfillment up to our original estimates. Trends are moving in the right direction: the goal is to close out November within a week, and January around month's end, freeing us to focus on February and March over the course of March. I wish it was a faster process, but it's just a matter of continuing to make up ground day after day.

I'll be back on the 1st to let you know how we're doing, and keep you informed on the latest progress and projections. Until then, thanks again, and we'll be in touch.

~ Ed Maranville, Head of Customer Experience for Wyrmwood