Hello Everyone,

We’ve had to make a few adjustments to our schedule while waiting for our updated stainless steel parts to be completed and shipped. As of now, we've built 56 machines, but only shipped 39 since our last update on December 4th. There have been a few minor issues with assembly and QC, as outlined below, but we’ve addressed them and are now operating at a slightly reduced capacity due to the holiday season.

Early issues with new parts:

The new fill tubes are slightly too long so we’ve had to shave them down and then re-chamfer the edge. The bends are still not perfect. We created a fixture to aid in assembly that allows us to fit the tube before having the whole grouphead affixed to the machine. This is causing some leaks where it is taking more adjustment to resolve. We have ordered new fill tubes with these issues corrected.

The new restrictor valves were not drilled out completely so we had to drill them out by hand in the shop to ensure bleeding correctly, because during QC this is when we notice that bleeding is happening too slowly.

We added a second Scace and Thermometer to help speed up our QC process but started getting ~6C temperature differences between QC runs. This required us to do additional runs (sometimes more than 5 per machine) until we were confident in the results. We opted to stop using the new device until I was able to calibrate and find the issue relating to a setting in the Thermometer device.

We’ve shipped some batch 2 machines with the newly designed drip tray which sits centered under the group. Unfortunately these are still not the final revision as the lip on them is not high enough and the drip tray cover slides off easily. We’ve decided to still ship these machines out since it is not critical to the functionality of the machine and will send the new drip free of charge once we get them at the shop the second week of January.

Random:

Fun cameo in the latest Hoffman Video:

Can You Roast Coffee In An Airfryer?

Without spoiling the video, we’re pleased to see James actually getting some fruit flavor notes in this uniquely roasted coffee and calling the Argos a “very nice lever machine”.

We have posters! These designs were created 3 years ago as a way to add some relevant art to your coffee corner. We finally got around to integrating with a third party fulfillment service that handles everything for us, so these will usually ship within 5 business days directly from the printer.

https://www.odysseyespresso.com/shop/argos-art-deco-poster-light-version

https://www.odysseyespresso.com/shop/argos-art-deco-poster-dark-version

Outstanding Issues:

We’re still working to determine the root cause of our fogging boiler gauges. We think that tolerances in the boiler cap design and gauge internals may cause some gauges to not compress the o-ring as much as necessary which may allow some steam to escape and get through the glue that holds the cover to the gauge body.

We’re continuing to test screw modifications and thicker o-rings. Unfortunately, it’s a time consuming process as we must individually bring each gauge up to temperature and pressure on a machine to best replicate the scenario.

With the new 3d printed jig that we provided to our heating element supplier, they are now able to get each part made made within the tolerances we need to allow for much easier assembly. We should receive these pieces in a few weeks which will speed up one of our more labor intensive sub assembly builds.

Build Rate:

William and I spent some time doing resource planning. Now that we’re back into a groove with building machines, we need updated time estimates for each stage of the assembly process.

We’re currently hitting our initial ramp up target of 4 machines shipped per day. Once we can continuously manage this for another week, we’ll increase our target to 5 machines per day. If no issues arise, we’ll add another full time employee with the goal of 6 per day.

The more machines we build and ship per day, the more resource shuffling we’ll need to do with our staff who are comfortably cross trained between building and QC or building and packaging.

This is an exciting time in the manufacturing process where we’re able to really start working on optimizing our workflow to have a self sufficient operation that requires less oversight and day to day problem solving.

As we reach these targets, we’ll work on keeping everyone updated more frequently so you can track the progress with us.

Future Planning:
We’ve spent the past month updating and ordering our next batch of parts. Timing on this was critical because we wanted to make sure we built enough batch 2 machines to confirm our previous design changes and supplier quality reviews while also balancing lead time.

With inventory orders locked in now, we’ve got plenty of room for delays around the 3 week Chinese New Year holiday in Jan/Feb to receive parts by early March. By having just finished our quality reviews in China, and maintaining consistent communication, we’re confident that we’re aligned with the suppliers on expectations moving forward.

2024 Recap:
As we reflect on this past year, we are incredibly proud of the growth we’ve achieved as a small business. This journey wouldn’t have been possible without the unwavering support and patience of everyone involved!

Ross made the bold decision to leave his engineering career and dedicate himself fully to growing the business. We’ve since expanded to a team of 14 talented full-time, part-time, and contract employees—each of whom plays a vital role in our success. As we continue to evolve, we remain committed to learning, adapting, and refining our workflow to create a workplace that is both enjoyable and productive, while delivering exceptional products and customer service.

Machines awaiting 2nd QC and temp dial bonding

Sincerely,

Ross & William