Problem solver

[tiggerjay]

I hope this doesn't get misinterpreted. Good way to start a topic right?

I'll just come right out with it. It looks to me, and keep in mind that I am but an outsider so my perspective is limited, that bear's operation is horrifically disorganized. I don't mean that as a criticism, just an observation. I'd like to understand the challenges that bear is dealing with in the hopes that maybe I can offer some sort of assistance. At the very least so I can understand the the madness.

For example, I have order 3724. I have seen orders 3723 and 3728 and possibly 3725 come up on the "to be made tonight" list, but not my order. To someone who has no idea how things work at zeta paws (me) that coupled with the seemingly random order numbers also making the list appears a though there is no rhyme or reason to bears system.

Now, let me reiterate that I am not complaining or criticizing, I would just like to understand how bear is operating. If for no other reason than to have a better perspective. But being in a manufacturing business and having access to a lot of sales and manufacturing IT tools, I may be able to help at the very least get his customer support under control.

[x_panther]

the items that are being made fully depend on the molds availability.

for instance: if i say i have four molds of A, two molds of B, and one of C
and orders i have to fill are:
1 AC
2 ABC
3 ABC
4 A
5 CB
6 C
7 B

if on the first night i fill all the molds, i can start order 1 and 2 with A and B, 1 with C, and 3 with A and C, and 4 with A.
now depending on if the orders are of the old gel toys or not, this could take up to 8-10 days to cure. he has to wait for the toys to cure before he can remove them
on the second night i can make 2's C and  5's and 7's B; notice how 3 cannot be completed until 2's C is done? but theres a kink, in the process of demolding, one of the A molds and C molds broke and are scheduled for recast the next day. this is how brownbears lab works. but now, we've also managed to break.
on the third night and fourth night i have to work on a new C because the first recast failed.

and so on XD

thats the way the molding cue works :3 hope that helps

[tiggerjay]

That is a fabulous explanation. Thank you. Now my next question is, is there a breakdown somewhere in the customer service system? I see a lot of upset folks talking about getting no contact from anyone for extendeeriods of time. Is this actually going on? Is it an aberration or is there something in the process that is broken? If so, could it be solved with another warm body answering tickets and/or emails? Or does the support ticket system need to be examined?

[Talarath]

As Panther said, molds and material are limited so the orders are not made in exact order.  It is what can be done most efficiently for the most amount of people.

The lack of response on support may and may not be an actual issue.  The biggest 'problem' is impatient people who do not read.  Most complaints of lack of support look to be for "Status update" requests.  The problem with that is this is not a car manufacturing company.  There is usually only two responses for it because of the actual mold+cure time is small compared to the queue time.  It is either "It will be done [soon/'in the future']" or "its been made".  It doesn't help either when the people ordering don't read anything and expect to have a shipping number within 3 days of ordering and then start throwing a temper tantrum demanding this and that.

Also doesnt help that I've not had the ability to do anything the past few weeks so the tickets probably have been slower than usual.  I'm evaluating several options which may speed up the process or atleast provide better static help.

[jsealing]

Tal, trust me when I tell you that I process those tickets daily to whomever they have to go to for a response. Now, some of them I have responded to because they were asking simple questions that were only partially answered by the FAQ's on the website. We admins are doing the best job we can with the tools and resources we have.

For the record, NO BB does not use an automated toy making system like some of our competitors do. To use an automated toy making system would make the price of the toys about 4 to 6 times what they are now to cover for the machines and molds to make them. Also, if you screw up one molding session, you've screwed up 100's of toys worth a lot of money. Please everyone, be patient and you will be rewarded with something that is handmade, handcrafted and made with the one thing our competitors can't make a toy with; UNCONDITIONAL LOVE!

Just food for thought.

[x_panther]

omnomnom <3

[jsealing]

omnomnom <3

Why thank you! I just wanted to be polite, but diplomatic about the issue. Although with my writting skills, I could have sent in a weapon of mass destruction like a nuclear warhead.

[tiggerjay]

First off, thank you fine gentlemen for both the education and your hard work. As stated before, I hope I didn't come off sounding impatient or derogatory. I just wanted to learn and possibly help.

[Talarath]

First off, thank you fine gentlemen for both the education and your hard work. As stated before, I hope I didn't come off sounding impatient or derogatory. I just wanted to learn and possibly help.

No worries on either.  Those who get impatient I can understand, and I can't really find anything derogatory in any of your posts.  Knowledge is power

[tiggerjay]

So my final question is this. How does bear manage or generate his production schedule? Is it a simple list in chronological order and just fill the next available mold? Or does he use a program? The reason I ask is that it would be fairly simple to write a sales order system that would extrapolate out the production order by available molds. Obviously this would change in the event of a broken mold or a failed toy, but it would give a fairly accurate estimate of how many customers were in front of a particular order number. This could be good information to give people looking for production updates. That may quiet some of the trolls. It may also help bear gauge his workload and materials.

That is of course assuming he isn't already on that sort of system.

[jsealing]

So my final question is this. How does bear manage or generate his production schedule? Is it a simple list in chronological order and just fill the next available mold? Or does he use a program? The reason I ask is that it would be fairly simple to write a sales order system that would extrapolate out the production order by available molds. Obviously this would change in the event of a broken mold or a failed toy, but it would give a fairly accurate estimate of how many customers were in front of a particular order number. This could be good information to give people looking for production updates. That may quiet some of the trolls. It may also help bear gauge his workload and materials.

That is of course assuming he isn't already on that sort of system.

BB can probably tell you more about this than I can, but I do know that he does have a system that tells him how many toy orders he has received, funds that have been paid for those orders, which ones are still pending for payment, which toy is the most popular, least popular etc. He's just a little over a full year now into the Silicone side of the house and that has presented some unique problems there with the supplier of the material not necessarily the toys themselves. Some personal tragedies have slowed things down a bit, but don't worry, the toys are very much worth the wait; that I can attest to as a customer.

[Red-Black]

So my final question is this. How does bear manage or generate his production schedule?

Here it is, as best as I know it. I'm not Bear, though, so pardon any mistakes.

Order made after 3700-ish are seperate from the older ones and being made by the "new bear". So, if you ordered in May or earlier (3699-ish and older), you're in line with the people waiting for months. The new guy works faster because his only job is making toys. Bear himself has a small farm and a sick mate as well as support tickets to tend to, which slows him down considerably. This is why the old orders are going slower than the new ones.

How molds are assigned (both bears):

1) Look at colors wanted.
2) Check lists of toys in that color against open molds
3) Fill as many molds in that color as possible, time and materials permitting

As an example, let's say Bear wants to make black toys today. He looks over the list and sees 50 orders containing black toys, so he checks the open molds and finds he has open molds for 15 toys from the list. He mixes up the black silicone and pours it into the molds. If there is extra material and an open mold, he may make extra toys to fill later orders or may give them away in raffles.  Typically these toys are keepers and pluggits as they are smaller and a good way to use up leftover bits of material.

I'd also like to mention that different silicones have different cure rates. A toy may be in the mold for anywhere between overnight and a whole week depending on the one Bear uses. From there, the toys need to be checked for flaws, finished with extra silicone removed, and packaged in sealed bags. This makes things take longer, but is important in making sure the toys are made correctly.

Edit: I think this thread should be turned into a FAQ sticky as to cut down on the repeat questions a little.

[Skunky]

BB can probably tell you more about this than I can, but I do know that he does have a system that tells him how many toy orders he has received, funds that have been paid for those orders, which ones are still pending for payment, which toy is the most popular, least popular etc. He's just a little over a full year now into the Silicone side of the house and that has presented some unique problems there with the supplier of the material not necessarily the toys themselves. Some personal tragedies have slowed things down a bit, but don't worry, the toys are very much worth the wait; that I can attest to as a customer.

It is far more reasonable to expect patience from someone who has bought toys in the past than someone who bought from here because I didn't know of any other places.

[Tiberius]

This has been without a doubt the most helpful set of posts I have seen on this forum.   
Its nice to see admins and staff members working to be helpful to everyone,  even the VERY disgruntled customer.  GREAT JOB!   

[tiggerjay]

I agree. I just hope I wasn't annoyingly asking questions that have been asked a hundred times. Because the answers were tremendously educational for me. Knowing what I do now about the process, I have no problem at all patiently waiting for my boxie. I still hope there's a way I may be able to help with the customer service problems, but as I read the threads that people are posting and the answers the admins give, it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot more than "it'll be done when it's done" you can really tell people. My only thought would be if bear was willing to have someone who had access to the current production queue who could do job number lookups and let the customers know how far into the queue they are. I know that I would like to know that just for the sake of curiosity. I just don't know how feasible that is.