Hello Everyone,
Didn’t intend for such a long delay between updates but it’s been busy! We’ve (sort of) officially completed Batch 1 shipments. I say sort of, because we have 2 machines that never received a final shipping confirmation from the owner so we’ve resorted to a good ole fashioned mailed letter. Woohoo!!! Overall, we’ve been hearing great news from customers that tell us how their Argos is allowing them to enjoy straight espresso for the first time or just bring back their passion for coffee.
Batch 2 Building:
As mentioned, we went straight into Batch 2 builds using the remaining good parts from our Batch 1 order. Unfortunately, our shipment of Fill Tubes was severely delayed which set us back a few weeks, during this time we were able to build 36 machines halfway until those parts arrived this past week. We’re now all hands on deck getting those 36 machines completed and quality tested as fast as possible.
New Parts:
Due to some slight changes in how the new parts mate together, we did a last minute request for some samples to verify fitment and avoid hiccups down the line. Sure glad we did this! The parts assembled perfectly, but the large machined parts had much worse machining quality and finish than our original batch. I sent a full report back to the supplier who reviewed the documentation and immediately got to work re-machining the Top Plates, Base Plates, and Spring Covers to send new samples over.
Part of this issue stemmed from a new program manager since our last order combined with attempted cost savings efforts. We were able to review each of the critical details that were missed and am pleased to say that the new samples were flawless. A full machine was built using the new parts and brought to a local Weber Workshops x Prodigal coffee meetup where I’m pleased to announce the machine operated flawlessly during the continuous 1.5 hours of pulling shots.
The supplier is expediting the manufacturing to reduce the additional delays that this has inevitably caused. All other Batch 2 parts that were ordered have been arriving by air over the past few weeks to ensure we can continue building with larger shipments by boat arriving by the end of the month. As for these reworked parts, we’ll be shipping a portion of stainless parts by air to allow us to continue building while the powdercoating takes place. When powdercoating is completed around the end of this month, a portion of those will go by air and all remaining parts will go by sea. This means that we’ll have a slight delay of powdercoated machines using the new parts but not much.
The good news is that the new parts are easier to assemble and will reduce majority of our visual quality control issues that took extra time to address on batch 1. At this time we don’t foresee any significant shipping delays for Batch 2 machines beyond what was estimated in the last update. I would expect final Batch 2 machines to go out in February and straight into Batch 3 at that time.
The Changes:
I know I’ve mentioned it in the past but the full list of design changes is as follows:
Front Cover:
Front tabs and mating slots made much smaller to reduce visual gaps between front cover and top and bottom plates.
Additional tabs added to prevent sides of the front cover from flaring out when base plate is torqued.
Piston Linkage:
Linkage holes updated to allow longer stroke of the piston in the direct configuration only for higher shot volumes. (Consistently saw 50g yield during the local meetup)
Piston Assembly Pins:
Female Chicago Screw updated to be a “D” shaped bolt head preventing the need for an additional 3mm hex key when reconfiguring the assembly.
Grouphead:
Grouphead gasket cutout modified to make removing and installing the Grouphead Gasket slightly easier
PCB Mount:
Mounting holes for the PCB slid over slightly to allow more space for wires to bend immediately coming out of the 18 pin connector
Drip Tray:
New design to sit straight under the grouphead with a more functional grate, finger hole for removal of grate, and thicker gauge stainless tray for more sturdy feel.
Base Plate:
Drip Tray cutout slid back to center the drip tray under the grouphead
Larger hex key cutout to allow space for our new Wera brand hex keys
Small pockets for rubber feet to sit in to prevent feet from sliding
Improved Serial Plaque cutout for better fitment
Hex Key:
Included hex key now upgraded to Wera 3mm cryogenically hardened chrome key
Unfortunately, not all of these updates will be backwards compatible with Batch 1 machines. We’ll have a kit for the new Drip Tray to work which will be a disc to sit in the current base plate cutout and an offset magnet to hold the new drip tray in place. The new Piston Assembly design will fit in an older style machine or just the linkage itself can be swapped in.
Wera Partnership:
We’ve always been HUGE advocates for high quality, (usually German and US) made tools including Wera, Wiha, Knipex, and Tekton. If you look back at all of the videos we’ve posted, you’re always going to see these brands used in our shop. While they are expensive, I firmly believe it is worth the cost to have these machines built with the best quality tools possible.
The most obvious reason for this partnership is the included Wera hex keys that are magnetically held to the bottom of the machines. This will ensure longevity of both the tool and screws as users swap piston configurations or perform routine maintenance.
We’ve also been talking about putting together and selling a basic espresso machine technician’s toolkit including the specific tools that we use to build your machines. We would likely offer 2 kits catering to different budgets. The basic kit will include the common hex drivers, hex keys, wrenches, and pliers while the advanced kit will include a few of the more obscure tools as well as the Wera Torque Drivers that we use. Keep an eye out for these kits in the next month!
For those that have followed Wera tools in the past, you know that they’ve been putting out fun advent calendars for the past few years. We now have the opportunity to bring that fun to you! Regardless of what holiday you celebrate, these calendars make great gifts which allow you to grow your tool collection with useful products! We currently have these in stock and shipping immediately.
https://www.odysseyespresso.com/shop/wera-advent-calendar-2024
You can also expect some Wera giveaways on our social media including a few of these calendars and some basic hand tools that can be used on your machine!
China Trip:
I’m currently on my way to Hong Kong while I write this email. I’ll be meeting up with William who is already out there. We’ll start the trip with a quick tour of the Decent Espresso factory then be travelling across the country for the next 9 days meeting with our biggest suppliers. We aren’t exactly large customers for our suppliers so this will help continue to build our relationship with them to ensure we get the best quality parts and service. Not only will we be able to see how all of our parts are being manufactured and inspected before shipping out to us, this is a great opportunity to review how we assemble and use the parts so that our suppliers understand what’s most important to us.
These meetings will be great for collaboration on manufacturing processes. When iterating on the part design, I’m thinking through what material stock sizes are available, what tools will be used for each operation, and what order the operations will occur all to reduce manufacturing time, tool wear, and material waste. The suppliers might have a different process in mind based on the equipment they use. These in person meetings will allow us to get on the same page to reduce quality issues, improve lead times, and bring part cost down with full optimization.
Don’t worry, our techs will still be hard at work while we’re gone. We appreciate everything that they do!
Hiring:
Speaking of technician appreciation, I’m still working on getting better at delegation which has led us to promote 2 of our techs to management roles! Kayli is now our Build Manager and Jon is our Quality Control Manager. By passing responsibility off as we grow, this will ensure that I don’t remain as the bottleneck for our operation. Kayli does a fantastic job with organizing build sheets, tracking inventory, and keeping our shop organized. Jon is excellent at reviewing builds for both visual and mechanical quality control issues as well as organizing our QC and Returns data. As we continue to scale, we plan to pass as much off to our team as possible to grow this business together!
Software:
During our last update, we rolled out Classic Mode. This has been a hit and made the Argos more accessible to different workflows that see a hotter grouphead. We’ve just made a small update to Classic Mode where we bumped the lower boiler limit up to 114C which allows for a slightly higher pre-infusion pressure over prolonged periods and doesn’t have a significant impact on shot temperatures.
Additionally, the latest firmware version (1.5.0) allows for waking up the Argos from sleep mode by changing the set temp or toggling steam mode, rather than having to turn the Argos on/off.
We’re continuing to improve our firmware and software based on user feedback and have gotten additional support from Acaia on integrating with their scales so we’re hoping to fully resolve those issues in the near future.
Shop Re-organization:
While waiting for the delayed parts to arrive, we took the time to model up some new shop layouts! Our small space wasn’t optimized for growth and efficient workflow so we laid out a few options and have landed on a new arrangement that allows our techs to sit closer to the parts they work on with more usable desk space for all of our techs!
With a nearly empty shop, we’re able to re-organize all of our shelves in preparation for the new parts to arrive. As shipments are received, we’re taking full inventory of the new components and making sure we arrange the shelves efficiently for future workflow. This will help as we continue to grow next year.
Videos:
A while back, we bought and tested the Filter 3.0 basket which works very well on the Argos. It takes a little dialing in and getting used to but a video is in the works for doing pour over’s on your Argos! I’ll complete the video when I return from China which will include Tips, Tricks, and TDS using Filter 3.0.
With a new machine built using the sample parts received, I’ll film a side by side comparison of the changes so people can better understand the design iteration process and where that has led us.
