option for priority printing?

Could I propose an option for priority printing for WSF?

I make camera accessories that are very technical and require a lot of tweaking. It takes me usually 3 tries to get the product right. I spend 5 days for each tweaking and about 14-16 days waiting for the shipment. If I had to tweak 3 times, that is a total of around 60 days to develop my product.

Usually I get notified after 7 days of submitting a model that it has gone into production, then 3 to 5 days later it is shipped. 4 more days to received package.

My dream would be to get a prototype overnight! I could finish a product in 18 days! but I know it's not practical for overnight.

What I propose is to set one machine aside for priority printing with a 3 day production, down from the average 10 days, cutting 7 days of waiting. With 3 tries, this would save me 21 days out of the normal 60 day process. I would be willing to pay double the cost for priority printing. The queue could be setup to accept priority orders during checkout only when there is enough space for a 3 day production.

Being able to develop a product faster would justify the additional fees for me. Another reason why I would like priority printing is that I am constantly moving from city to city each week or month while I go hiking or traveling, and having to stay in the same place to wait for my prototype limits my mobility. My goal is to use 3D printing to support my travels. Currently my 1st set of products supports 15% of my travel costs. I hope that my next 2 sets will increase this to 50%.

For now, best thing to do is vote it up here. Right now there are a few things that need to be done before this can be done. As Bart says on this item "Hi all, here’s a quick update: As our first priority, we’re currently working hard to decrease the lead times for all our materials. Priority shipping will probably take a little longer to realize." There are priority shipping companies. But the price won't be anywhere close to what Shapeways can do.

Hello Michael,
The shipping is actually great. It's the queue and production time I was referring to which makes up most of the waiting time.

Just also wondering, is it possible to camp outside your Eindhoven factory to pick up models? I could live in my tent and work on my laptop! I'm thinking of going from New Zealand to Germany to the Photokina trade show in Koln in September to look for design work somewhere in the world. But until then I could maybe live in Eindhoven.

Just a wild idea. Or.. I could ride my bicycle around Germany... or live in the forest for a few weeks... hm...

It looks like I posted the wrong link (opps) but I fixed it. You can contact CS about camping outside lol. They may allow pick ups, I'm not sure on that.

It appears that there is a delay in WSF. Normally the model I submitted would have been shipped on Friday and I would receive it on Monday, but it looks like it won't ship until next week, which shows the importance of having an option for priority production in case of delays.

I had expected to get it this Monday or Tuesday and purchased a one way ticket from New Zealand to Germany in 10 days from today. I'm not sure that I will get my order before I leave new Zealand. Since I'm going to be traveling on a bicycle I won't have a permanent address in Germany, and I won't have a tripod or tools to test my design before making it commercially available.

if it somehow does get here before I leave New Zealand, it will be cutting it close, and leaving me very little time to test, photograph, and forward to customers before I have to prepare for my move.

priority processing would give designers in my situation the peace of mind and guarantee that a print will arrive in time for a tight schedule.