When you use our online quoting system (S quote), you will see different lead time options, 48 Hours, 72 Hours, 5 days, etc. How exactly is a lead time calculated? At 3DSPRO, efficiency and accurate project planning are crucial for successful project management. Calculating lead time is a key aspect of providing a reliable 3D printing service with Lowest General Costs, and it involves considering various factors to ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget. In this article, we will briefly introduce the process of calculating lead time for a 3D printing project, outlining the key considerations and steps involved.
The Concept
The term "lead time" you are looking at on our website refers to production lead time, which is the amount of time it takes to complete a 3D printing project from production to shipment. It includes the time for roughly 4 steps - production, post processing, quality control, and packing.
Before We Starting Calculating Lead Time
After receiving your order, for every product, our engineers will do a thorough technical review for printability analysis, such as wall thickness and structures, before sending it to production. Technical review usually takes less than half day, but if our engineer team found any issue during technical review, an engineer will reach out to you with technical suggestions and risks listed and confirm them with you, which will take extra time. For such scenario, 3DSPRO won't move forward before having your instruction, so we strongly recommend you to keep your eyes on your inbox & phone call so you don't miss our communication.
Production
Once your products passed technical review and are ready for production, they will directly go to the 3D printers and the lead time will be counted starting the moment production begins. This step may take serveral days, depending on the lead time option you chose. Large size products & complex products may need longer to print and we will let you know in advance.
Post Processing
We do have a default post processing procedure for all products, while certain 3D Plus services might take longer. Our team will let you know in advance.
Quality Control
3DSPRO actually has 2 quality control steps -- before post processing and before packing. We will let you know if we see a defect that might requires longer time to fix or even reprint.
Packing
This includes the time of finding the right box for your products, wrapping them properly, making documentations for custom, etc. This usually take only a few hours, and we always make sure we ship out products the day they pass quality control.
Additional
All lead time options are in business days. Please let us know if you have an urgent project and we will be happy to accomodate with our best efforts.
While 3DSPRO is trying our best to make sure our production lead time is accurate, we cannot guarantee the shipping lead time because it is controlled by our logistics partners. We recommend you to talk to the carrier directly after we shipped your products and we will be happy to assist you for this process.
