Printing Progress - More Communication?

Discussion in 'Bug Reporting' started by PeregrineStudios, Feb 24, 2013.

  1. PeregrineStudios
    PeregrineStudios Well-Known Member
    Hey Shapeways,

    Firstly, I love the amount of communication we as Sellers and Buyers both receive. Uploaded, Processed, Confirmed, Sent to Printer, Shipped, etc. All very useful things to be aware of, and all very much appreciated.

    But I was wondering if Shapeways could take it to the next level.

    Firstly, there's some confusion (with myself and other sellers, I'm sure) as to what exactly happens in what order. As I understand it, things happen generally in this order:

    A customer (or seller) orders a product
    Shapeways checks the model for printability
    If it passes, it is sent to printing facility
    The model is checked again by the facility workers
    If it passes, the model is queued for printing
    The model is printed
    The model is shipped

    As it stands, we get useful but also somewhat vague emails, such as 'Your product has been sent to the factory'. I'm not exactly sure where that email falls in this order. It passed the first check, surely, but has the second check been performed? Am I wrong to believe there even IS a second check? I know I'd had models rejected AFTER being 'sent to the factory' so someone must be checking them again.

    I would love to see a progress bar, or a checklist, or something similar on each of our orders, that indicates which step in the process the model is currently at. Obviously this would necessitate quite an overhaul of interior communication as well, so I'm certainly not asking for something like this overnight. But a more precise and definite indication of just exactly where our model is would be very much appreciated.
     
  2. MitchellJetten
    MitchellJetten Shapeways Employee CS Team
    "I would love to see a progress bar, or a checklist, or something similar on each of our orders, that indicates which step in the process the model is currently at."

    Soon! Really Soon!

    I'll ask our product team to see if they can reply on your post.
    They are working on some really cool stuff which will allow you to see in more depth what is actually happening to your models in an order.
     
  3. NimlothCQ
    NimlothCQ Well-Known Member
    Howdy PeregrineStudios,

    Mitchell is correct. The ability to see order statuses and orderline production statuses is something we are actively working on right in this moment. You will be able to see this information on the Order Status Page for each order (previously named "receipt" page) in the near future.

    Moving forward, I wouldn't factor out the possibility of a notification center that informs about activity that happens with orders, mentions, shipments, etc from appearing ;)
     
  4. PeregrineStudios
    PeregrineStudios Well-Known Member
    Sounds awesome, thanks for the replies! :) Really looking forward to it!
     
  5. wedge
    wedge Member
    Yes I Support the Idea! Example:
    I ordered a birthday Present, for I birthday on 1 March. By the Order It tells me: "Your order will ship by February 25th". Today is 26.02. No Message, no info. It fells a little helpless. Will it arrive in time? ...
    It remembers me a little bit in a German saying: „In court and out on sea you're in God's hand."

    More Info, especially when the Target Ship Date has past.
     
  6. Dragoman
    Dragoman Member
    Yes, please!

    Greetings
    Dragoman
     
  7. UniverseBecoming
    UniverseBecoming Well-Known Member
    One thing in the ordering process involving better communications is getting a rejection for a design rule violation. What's needed for new users is an explanation of what to do. When I first received a rejection I didn't know what to do so I assumed. I corrected the error and uploaded the modification.

    Then I waited. AND NOTHING HAPPENED!!! HAHAHA! :laughing:

    I thought it would just be thrown back into the confirmation process, but found out later, by writing and asking, that I needed to reorder the item. So a simple step by step explanation of what to do next would be a big improvement. Something worded like this perhaps; please make corrections to your design and then reorder so that it can be reevaluated.
     
  8. NimlothCQ
    NimlothCQ Well-Known Member
    As we just released a big feature on the order status page, I recommend checking it out :)
     
  9. PeregrineStudios
    PeregrineStudios Well-Known Member
    Just had a look - looks awesome! Love it! The only comment - or rather, question - I would ask is: does "In Production" mean it has passed all checks and is queued for printing / on the tray right now? Or does that mean it's simply been sent to the printers, and may be rejected by the folks on that end?

    Really do like it, though. I just placed a large order with multiple parts, it's awesome to see which individual ones are still being processed, printed, or finished.
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2013
  10. Youknowwho4eva
    Youknowwho4eva Well-Known Member
    It could still be rejected in production. I recently had an item rejected there :'(. So I've fixed the model and will order it again next time.