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When Does This Run Have to Start?
Group buy dates get published before anyone asks a factory, which is the single most common reason a run loses its community's trust. Put your date in and see what it actually requires.
Ranges are typical market lead times in working weeks, not a promise from any shop. Get your own dates in writing, per phase, from the shop you pick.
Approve the drawing by
—
Pick a date to see the plan.
- Total, best case—
- Total, realistic—
- Date to publish to buyers—
Where the weeks go
Bars show the realistic figure for each phase in your plan. Phases that are not in your project are dimmed.
Finishing is the phase that slips most often, because it is a batch process at a third party with a queue your machine shop does not control. Ask who does it and what their turnaround is before you commit.
What each phase is
- Quoting and shop selection 1 to 2 weeksFaster with a complete package. An incomplete one buys a round of questions first.
- Prototype 2 to 4 weeksMachining takes days. Waiting for an anodising batch takes the rest.
- Prototype review and changes 1 to 2 weeksBuild it, type on it, write one list.
- Second prototype round 2 to 4 weeksOptional, and common after a dimensional change.
- Material procurement 1 to 3 weeksUsually parallel. 6063 plate in a specific thickness can be the exception.
- Production machining 2 to 5 weeksThe most predictable phase in the project.
- Finishing 2 to 4 weeksA batch process at a third party. This is where slippage concentrates.
- Second material or second finish 2 to 4 weeksOnly on the critical path if you order it late.
- Inspection and packing 1 to 2 weeksMore if you are kitting or doing retail packaging.
- Freight and customs 1 to 4 weeksAir is fast and expensive, sea is slow and cheap, customs is unpredictable in both.
The clock your buyers watch is not this one
Everything above starts at an approved drawing. The community clock starts at the close of the buy, and between those two points sits finalising the design, collecting payment, choosing a shop and often revising the product because the buy sold more or fewer units than expected.
That gap is where most of the disappointment lives. It is not a factory being slow, it is a schedule published before the project had one. There is more on this in how long a run actually takes.