Hello Everyone,

We built and shipped 88 machines this past month despite running into production hiccups. We’re getting closer to our goal of ~100 machines per month. We’ve seen steady growth in sales throughout Q4 2024 and into Q1 2025.

Production Updates:

We had 3 production slow downs this month. Boiler cap alignment pins that were ordered the day before Christmas got lost in the mail for 2 weeks which left us waiting early in the month after we ran out of current inventory. The overnighted replacements also had a weather delay. We now have enough supply of these pins for the remainder of batch 3.

It’s been a struggle to get good quality sandpaper in the size we need for refinishing the original 60 sets of stainless parts that we received by air in the fall. After wearing through the original set of 82in long belts from China (Amazon), I sourced some domestically in the US due to a much shorter lead time. What I didn’t know is that I ordered the thin version of the belts which created ripples from the bump of the seam. After more research I found the same company makes a thicker version similar to the original belts from China. These performed better, but still not as smooth as the originals. I was able to find the original belts restocked on Amazon weeks later and ordered 2 sets of those to get back to the smooth finish.

Finishing these plates is a 3 step process which I learned on my second trip to China last fall. I was able to replicate their brushing setup on a much smaller scale. I start off with a coarse belt to remove deep scratches and imperfections. I then move on to a middle grade, then finer grade to get a smooth feel but brushed finish. This issue was specific to this small shipment of parts and has subsequently been resolved in the shipments after.

The last slow down was restrictor valves. The new parts we received were better than the previous batch but still different from the original ones we used at the start of production over a year ago. Issues with restrictor valves typically mean that we’re QCing each machine much more than we should need to. The techs can usually feel a difference in the way it pulls and the temperature data is out of our typical range.

We spent some time testing out modifications to the new parts and were able to settle on some manufacturing updates in house which produced consistent results. This meant that we were swapping all of the restrictor valve parts in each of the machines that were flagged and performing a new set of 2 QC runs.

The new orders of fill tubes and heating elements have arrived both with perfect fits. Each of these will help speed up the builds ever so slightly. The use of 3d printed test fit jigs have proven successful as we’ve never had such consistently good fitting parts from these suppliers!

We seem to have also resolved a majority of the fogging boiler gauge issues! We found that a combination of tolerance stacks due to the manufacturing method of the gauges would sometimes lead to the gauge o-ring not being compressed fully and allowing some steam to seep past and get under the cap. We’ve been testing and using thicker o-rings which provide better squeeze regardless of the gauge manufacturing tolerances. Some gauges do still have issues but the number should be much less and we will ideally be catching them all during the initial QC testing.

Random:

William sent over this video the other week about what it takes to bring a product idea to production. I think this creator did a fantastic job at walking viewers through everything from ideation, prototyping, and finding suppliers to quality control and sales.

Part of the reason this video is so great is that it breaks down the arduous process for a relatively simple product made from a single material and supplier. While the steps for us are almost the same, parts for the Argos come from multiple suppliers across China, Italy, Taiwan, and USA and functionality requires electronics, pressurized water, moving parts, and safety compliance.

One day I’d love to make a similar video that is more focused on our operations, but until then, please enjoy this spot on walk through of exactly what we’ve been doing for the past 5 years.

Product creation video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gTz_JmlYtQ

Speaking of which, we’ve officially hit 5 years in business!!! Time really flies!

For those that are new here, Ross came up with the idea and started sketching designs towards the end of 2018 just after moving to Colorado. This started as a fun, creative project stemming from a lack of what he wanted on the market. An affordable, modern looking lever machine with updated electronics.

2019 was a year of continued sketching, 3D CAD modeling, fatigue analysis, business planning, and product strategy in Ross’ free time.

January 2020 is when the LLC was formed and things started to get real. The first prototype was manufactured and assembled with initial testing kicking off later that year. This was when we started on social media as a way to gauge interest in the product and determine market feasibility.

2021 was spent sourcing suppliers and having initial pre-production units made for continued testing and proofs of concept. William joins in on the fun! Pre-orders were opened on our site with overwhelmingly positive response and we began to kick off production of the initially released parts. 2 designers were brought on part time for the next 8 months to help take the prototype design to a production state with refined fit, finish, and functionality.

Design, production, and fundraising continued in parallel through 2022 and our first technicians were hired later that year. We assembled parts as they arrived and began testing and formulating assembly procedures.

2023 final parts arrived and we began shipping units while growing the team. Ross was too scared to hire full time techs as we were still figuring out what the heck we were doing but part time schedules were difficult to manage and we needed to increase production rate so we decided the start hiring full time at the end of the year.

Production was sporadic throughout 2024 as we continued to make design refinements to resolve assembly issues along the way. Lots of problem solving. The consistent small updates to design, assembly, and quality control made inventory management a little chaotic. Some months were great and other months had delays. We shipped a total of 536 machines last year.

2025 is an exciting new stage in the business. We’re starting to have a handle on inventory with our techs keeping track weekly. A lot of procurement lessons are being implemented to reduce defects and improve production quality. We’re just over a month in and have already shipped 18% (96 machines) of what we did in 2024.

To everyone who has remained patient from the start, we thank you as you’re the reason this business is possible! We look forward to continuing to provide quality espresso machines while pushing the bounds of what is possible in home espresso.

Custom plate brushing setup. The hand press and sliding platform allow us to achieve and even finish with even pressure across the part.

Prepped side panels with magnets bonded in

Sincerely,

Ross & William