We’re excited to share the next member of the AltMill family with the AltMill 4×8. This has been a big collective effort to bring a well thought out, productive and affordable full format CNC machine to the hobby market. 

The AltMill 4×8 launches for pre-order on Oct 29th. Stay tuned on our email list, blog and social media for more info. We will have a series of informative videos coming out during pre-order, including an in depth feature from our engineers. Plus, we have a Live Stream Q&A with our engineers scheduled for Thursday, November 6, 7pm to 8:30pm.

What is the AltMill 4×8?

Our goal for the AltMill platform was to find the best balance between cost and performance, offering production level productivity at a price point affordable to beginners and hobbyists. The 4×8 variant takes this to the next step, allowing users to process full 4ft x 8ft sheet materials. 

The AltMill 4×8 has some similarities with the 2×4 and 4×4 sizes, but uses redesigned components to extend the Y axis travel to just over 8ft. The fundamental design of the original AltMill was scaled up to achieve high performance with a larger working area, including increased Z-axis travel and clearance.

The 4×8 format is especially important as it represents one of the most standard sizes used in professional and industrial shops, for most materials like plywood, MDF and plastics. We expect more users to focus on building a business and scaling up their work for making money with this type of machine.

Who is the AltMill 4×8 for?

The AltMill 4×8 was designed at a price point that makes it accessible to the hobbyist and prosumer user, but it has the rigidity and precision capabilities that align with production and industrial focused machines. This makes it suitable for people who are intermediate or advanced hobby CNCers intending to scale into a business; or people who are already running a business and want to supplement or augment their existing production capacity. Entry level hobbyists will need to undergo a learning curve, but luckily we have year-round support and industry-leading resources to guide users on their journey. Learn more here.

Differences Between Industrial Machines & the AltMill 4×8

Software & Programming

For the most part, the CAM processes for both types of machines remain identical. Any CAM software you use for industrial machines can be used with the AltMill. Some industrial machines have more advanced software features on the CAM side, such as version control, managing stock of materials, and distributing jobs between multiple machines. Some software may need specific machines to do these functions, whereas some software is machine agonistic. These are advanced features found on very, very high production machines.

For controlling and sending gCode to your machine, some industrial machines use a custom interface, while some use a third party interface. Common ones include UCCNC, Centroid Acorn and Mach 3. 

We offer official support for the AltMill with gSender, our free, actively developed, and powerful gCode sending software. If you’ve already used one of our other machines or used your machine with our software, you’ll already be familiar with it. 

Speed

We’ve seen a pretty wide range of advertised speeds in the industrial machine space, with rapids from a few hundred to thousands of inches per minute. There are a few practical limitations to speed. First is bit deflection. In the industrial machine, the deflection of the end mill plays the largest role in the accuracy of the cut. This is a little bit different compared to the hobby space, where deflection of the structure of the machine generally plays a bigger role. Second is material or chipload limitations, or the amount of material the end mill can pull out based on the rotational speed of the bit and travel within the material.

The productivity of a machine is also dependent on the acceleration settings. Sort of like how a drag car might go faster in a straight line, but it can’t take corners as fast as an F1 car. Machines are the same. An industrial machine may not complete a job much more quickly than a hobby CNC in practice in some cases, for projects that require a lot of acceleration and deceleration. 

In my opinion, it’s important for customers to consider unit economics. If an AltMill costs 5x less than an industrial unit, but cuts at half the speed, then getting two AltMills might make more sense than one industrial machine.

Cost

We generally would consider 4×8 machines under $15,000 to be in the hobby range, whereas industrial machines are generally above $15,000 and can run hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

There are some industrial style CNC machines that can cost much less, typically built in China, but this generally doesn’t take into account the cost of shipping and importation, setup or modifications to work in North America which can cost more than the machine itself.

Buying Experience

Most industrial machines don’t have a single price and require the buyer to get a quote. This makes the buying process longer and harder for the average buyer to cross shop or compare pricing.

Our goal has always been to make pricing as transparent as possible. Pricing for all products are listed on the website, and shipping quotes can be automatically generated in the cart. 

Shipping

Industrial CNCs almost always need to be shipped by freight. Depending on where you’re located, it can cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in cost to be able to get it into your shop. Additionally, you will likely need to have some method, such as a loading dock or forklift, to be able to unload and move your machine, which adds to the cost.

The AltMill on the other hand comes in a series of 6-7 boxes, which all get shipped by courier, and can be delivered to almost any resident or shop in the world. We estimate that the shipping cost for most parts of the US and Canada to be around $300-500 USD.

Weight

As we mentioned before, the weight of the machine impacts the shipping cost and acceleration settings. Another factor to consider is the ability for the user to relocate the machine. Industrial machines weighing thousands of pounds require special equipment to move, whether it be around the shop or to a different location. Additionally, many industrial machines need a special pad or mounting to the ground for stability and safety reasons. This can cost a few thousand dollars to install if it doesn’t exist in a shop yet.

The upside of having a heavier machine is that it absorbs vibrations, which means that cuts can come out smoother and with less chatter. However, a heavier machine also requires more energy for it to move its axes. This means larger motors, bearings, and other hardware, offsetting some of the benefits of having a heavier frame.

The AltMill 4×8 weighs several hundred pounds and simply uses levelling feet to work with the typical shop or garage. This makes it easier to move around and ship. Although it may not have as much vibration dampening capacity, we believe that it provides more than enough rigidity to get clean and accurate cuts. It’s important to note that the AltMill is designed for cutting woods and plastics primarily, which is considered a fairly soft material.

Features

There are a lot of features that are found with both hobby and industrial machines, but are usually more common or standard on industrial machines. For example, automatic toolchangers and vacuum tables and hold downs are generally more common options that are built in mind for the system. 

At the moment, the AltMill ecosystem does not have every feature to match industrial systems. Some of these features can be added with 3rd party kits from other manufacturers. That being said, we’ll likely work on new features, especially for the 4×8 machines, since we expect more customers to be production focused as time goes on.

Power Requirements

The larger the machines are, the larger their power requirements typically are as well. With the AltMill, the machine itself can run off 110V power from your outlet, but we expect a lot, if not most customers will want a 220V spindle as the 110V spindles may be underpowered. If speed is not your concern and you don’t mind running your machine slower, while being able to not need any additional electrical work, the AltMill is still a great option for a budget friendly 4×8.

Because it’s expected for industrial machines to be used in industrial settings, which typically have access to 220V and even 3 phase power, industrial machines likely will use higher power input options that typical hobbyists don’t have in a home shop or similar. 

Maintenance

The more expensive and complicated a machine gets, the more likely it is to require more expensive maintenance. At minimum, all machines need proper lubrication on all moving components including the linear motion systems, power transmission, and bearings. Industrial machines may require service by a technician or specialist for maintenance and repairs.

Maintenance on the AltMill on the other hand is designed to be done by the user, which means that it can be done without the need to schedule a service. Additionally, parts for replacement are relatively inexpensive. Because there is a self assembly portion of the machine, users also get an opportunity to understand the workings of their machine better.

Engineering

The engineering of the 4×8 combines development and innovations from the other AltMill versions and adds on top of it.

Linear Rail, Rack and Rail Coupling

One of the main challenges of bringing a 4×8 form factor machine to market is getting it to the end user. Simply put, limitations to the size and weight of packages shipped through courier cannot allow linear motion components used in the Y axis to be shipped in a single piece, unlike with the 2×4 and 4×4 machines. This means that these components need to be aligned and coupled together by the user. A significant amount of engineering was done to ensure the smooth and accurate coupling of these components.

Some designs and innovations in this space include developing:

• A special bracket and process for joining the two lengths
• Adjusting the spacing between linear motion parts and tolerancing to reduce the impact of gaps in between components
• An easy to follow process to reduce assembly error 

Rack and Pinion Engineering

A big debate when it comes to choosing rack and pinion versus ball screw has revolved (haha) around the accuracy and precision differences between both tools. While ball screws can generally achieve higher precision, ball screws come with several downsides that make them less accurate over longer distances.

First is that a longer ball screw can flex more easily. Since the ball screw is only secured at each end, it means that it can bend from cutting forces. This also can be exacerbated with any whipping that happens, which can introduce vibrations and limit the speed of which the machine can move.

Rack and pinion on the other hand is mounted along the length of the rack. This means that there is much less flex in the system. 

Additionally, ball screws cannot be joined together. Due to shipping limitations, the Y-axis parts must be separated and shipped in segments. Since racks can be butted together to make longer racks, this is not a problem with rack and pinion. 

It’s also important to note that the theoretical differences between rack and pinion are more relevant in very high precision applications such as commercial vertical machining centers, and less so in the application of CNC routers, where your material and cutting tool is more likely to influence the accuracy of your parts.

Wear and Hardness Testing

We have conducted a significant amount of testing and research to ensure a high degree of longevity of the rack and pinon system. Much of this came down to understanding the effects of hardness between the rack and pinon. We’ve explored many aspects of the materials used for the rack and pinion including:

• Post processing the parts including nitriding and heat treatment
• Working with different alloys
• Adjusting the gear profiles
• Long term testing of the use of different lubrication

Pinion Tensioning System

To ensure proper meshing of the pinion to the rack, we’ve also developed our own pinion tensioning system, which allows for the pinion to have the proper preload for eliminating backlash against the rack and adjusts for wear over time. This also allows for slight misalignments and tolerances in the machine and assembly process.

Gearing

To ensure high levels of precision, the motors are geared down to increase torque and increase resolution of the motor. We found that stepper motors also have a small amount of “elasticity”, which means that when they are held stationary, they can turn very slightly when a load is applied. Given the lower friction and higher distance to rotation ratio, this effect makes a bigger impact to the precision of the machine position while it is stationary. By gearing the motor down approximately 5:1, it effectively reduces the impact of “elasticity” as well.

Spindle options

The AltMill 4×8 will work with 1.5KW, 2.2KW ER20 spindles,, and our up and coming ATC spindle and natively support a toolchanger. 1.5KW and 2.2KW spindles are identical to the ones used on the 2×4 and 4×4 except with a longer spindle cable.

ATC

For those who don’t know, we have been actively working on an ATC spindle. We’re wrapping up development and production, but here’s some details to share before we do a full announcement:

• Price: 2500USD-3000USD
• ISO20 toolholders with ER20 collets
• Capable of expansion up to 12 slots/tools
• 220V, 2.2KW
• Air-cooled via low-noise electric fan

Users must provide an air compressor and dryer (such as a desiccant dryer). The ATC has been developed specially to be compatible with most consumer grade compressors (around $300).

Our ATci is specially developed as one of the most integrated, advanced, and beginner friendly ATC systems, with features including:

• Plug and play operation, with native integration with gSender allowing easy re-mapping/selection of tools for a given job
• Advanced safety features, including integrated: pressure sensing; temperature monitoring; tool in spindle check; and tool in rack sensing to monitor the state of the spindle at all times
• Easy to remove toolrack to allow users to switch to allow passthrough/tiling operations
• Designed for quietness. Low noise cooling fans and air seal that turns off when not in operation

We are expecting to do a full announcement and launch in November.

Production Schedule

Batch 1

We are building approximately 150 AltMill 4×8 in the first batch. We expect units from this batch to start shipping mid-Feb to early March 2026. 

Pricing

Pricing for the AltMill 4×8 without a spindle will start at $7,490USD/$10,390CAD. Spindles can be purchased and configured to the user’s needs and will have different pricings.

Shipping will vary based on location, but customers should expect to pay between $300-500USD in shipping within North America.

FAQs

How much do I need to pay upfront?

A full, 100% payment for the AltMill 4×8 is required to hold your place in line. Customers may cancel and get a full refund for their machine anytime before their machine ships.

Will there be any upgrade path to a 4×8 from a 2×4 or a 4×4?

It is under consideration but it will not be a priority for us to provide an upgrade path. First, given that so many additional new components are needed to go to a 4×8, the cost difference between the upgrade kit and the full kit will not be that significant. Additionally, there is a significant overhead cost to do version tracking and ensure compatibility between machine versions that will add to the cost of the kit. It’s likely that it will be more cost effective and reduce waste if customers sell their existing machines and order a full machine. 

Eventually we will have parts available for purchase which allows us to pave the way for a potential modification or upgrade path, but this will not be available until later next year.

Are you going to make a 5x10ft AltMill?

Not until we get the 4x8ft machines out the door first. But if we get enough interest or demand, we may consider it.

Will the AltMill 4×8 work with an ATC?

We expect to have our ATC system available for pre-order closer to the end of the year. However, the ATC system will be compatible with all AltMill variants and will ship around the same time as the first AltMill 4x8s start shipping.

If you’re ordering an AltMIll 4×8 before all of the spindles are available, we recommend placing your order for one closer to when your machine is slated to ship.

What are the power requirements of the AltMill 4×8?

All AltMills use a 110VAC, 48VDC 10A power supply, consuming up to 500 watts. The power supply comes with a North American Standard Type B NEMA 5-15P plug.

Users will also need to account for power use from the spindle, which have separate specifications.

How big is the AltMill 4×8?

The footprint of the AltMill is approximately 114″ long x 66” wide, and over 66” tall (when including spindle height).

A lot of things are going on at Sienci Labs, and it’s time to talk about what the future looks like for the LongMill product line.

As you might know, the goal for the LongMill was to build an entry level, hobby-focused CNC machine with these characteristics:

• Price affordably
• Features that both beginner and experienced users wanted
• Large enough to do a wide variety of useful projects

A shift in the entry level market

When the LongMill first came out as a Kickstarter project in 2019, it was a radical addition to the hobby market. Not only was it significantly less expensive than some of its earliest competitors and popular machines of the time (like the Shapeoko and XCarve,) it introduced the use of leadscrews, which was (at least in our consideration) far superior to the use of belts.

Over the years, the LongMill was iterated with notable changes including:

• Transitioning to using 3D printed structural parts to metal and injected molded parts
• Custom aluminum extrusions
• Introduction of T12 based power transmission systems
• Introduction of gSender as the most advanced and intuitive hobby CNC control software
• Integration of notable accessories such as the Vortex Rotary Axis, Autozero Touch Plate, and more
• grblHAL and the SuperLongBoard, bringing next generation CNC electronics and control
• Introduction of a 4ft wide format, allowing the use of full width (4ft) sheets

Over time, we’ve seen a lot of changes in the hobby CNC landscape. The first is most hobby CNC producers going upmarket, focusing on “prosumer” machines in the $3000-6000USD range in favour of entry level machines in the sub-$2000 range. This left the LongMill as one of the only mid-format hobby CNC machines in the market.

We also saw a big wave of Chinese hobby CNC brands like Foxalien and Sainsmart enter the market, allowing users to get a taste of CNCing for a few hundred dollars. This created a big gap in the market, where users could get a very entry level CNC machine for a small amount, or move up market to a machine that could be used for small scale production for a few thousand dollars. The LongMill sits somewhere between.

Where does that leave the LongMill today? First, this presents a unique opportunity for the LongMill to combine the best of both worlds. The current design of the LongMill has not seen much change in the last 2 years. With access to new technologies and resources, we believe it’s time to implement advancements into a new version of the LongMill to make it relevant to the times.

Pricing

We will be lowering the price of the LongMill MK2.5. There is a market reason and strategic reason for this change. Over the last two years, we’ve seen a slow decline in LongMill sales. We believe that there are several factors to this, but the two main factors come down to competition and the price delta between the AltMill and the LongMill:

1. We believe that the LongMill now competes more closely with entry level Chinese hobby machines rather than North American built hobby CNC machines, and thus we should adjust pricing to reflect this. 

2. We’ve noticed the price difference between the AltMill and LongMill is small enough that most customers are choosing the AltMill instead.

The LongMill MK2.5 is still a fantastic entry-level CNC machine. We still have customers who actively use their LongMills, and regularly see examples of the MK1 versions being used on a daily basis too. We don’t know exactly how many LongMills are in the wild, but we’d estimate that there’s been nearly 10,000 shipped since the launch of the machine. However, to adapt to these external factors, we’re also making some changes.

New pricing for the LongMill MK2.5 will be available Oct 13, 2025. All machines and their variants will be reduced by $300CAD or $220USD, until supplies last.

We believe that these pricing changes make the LongMill a more competitive option in the current market, aligning with other, more direct competitors.

With regards to the strategic factor, we want to make some space for the new version of the LongMill. We’ve started prototyping some initial designs and want to start prepping for production early to mid next year. This means that we want to liquidate some or most of the existing stock of the current LongMill MK2.5.

What is the new LongMill?

In many ways, the new LongMill will be the same as the old LongMill, aiming to serve the same target demographic at a similar price point. However, the LongMill will be updated with all of the new technologies and development we’ve implemented between the LongMill and AltMill. 

We don’t have too many details to share at the moment, but keep an eye out near the end of the year for more info!

Future of the LongMill MK1, MK2 and MK2.5

Support for all prior generations will continue to be available in several different formats:

• Wear components like the Delrin ACME nuts and v-wheels will continue to be available on our store
• Cross compatibility with the SLB, motors and power supply across all generations of the LongMill will continue to allow for replacement options
• All design generations of the LongMill will continue to be open source, which allows users to fabricate their own parts if necessary
  

We expect the new version of the LongMill to have a lot of similarities and shared parts, allowing some cross compatibility. However, we don’t expect there to be a simple or affordable upgrade path for the core structure of the machine.

Final thoughts

We’re excited to navigate through this new hobby CNC landscape. We’re excited to see this market grow and new competitors come into the space. With new developments and advancements we’ve made in the AltMill line, plus everything we learned from shipping thousands of LongMills, we’re excited to bring new advancements to a new line of beginner focused, entry level CNC machines.

Earlier this year, we were asked by the ESA to restrict the sales of VFDs within Ontario, Canada, until we had received certification. Since then, we have been working on a design of our VFDs to certify their use. We did not have to do any further certifications for the spindle as they were already certified.

The short answer of whether an electrical product needs certification or not is yes, or more officially, complying with CSA standards qualified by UL or equivalent. Certifying a spindle and VFD system ensures:

• The system is tested to be “safe”, which takes into account factors like fire resistance, shock prevention, mechanical durability and more
• Protection against liability in the chance of an issue arising from the device
• Ability to be imported into certain regions

However, in practice, most spindles and VFDs sold in North America for hobby use do not carry a certification. In fact, based on our research, at the current moment, spindles and VFDs from Carbide 3D and PWNCNC, as well as Amazon, don’t have certifications. The only systems that carry the proper certification is Redline CNC, which describe themselves as the “industry’s first and only safety approved plug-and-play spindle kits”. 

As far as we understand, there is no specific requirement for hobby or home users to need certified spindle systems for the US*, especially if they are putting together their own systems which is why we have been able to keep selling to the US. For commercial use, insurance companies may require the electronics used to have certifications, either as a field inspection or with the use of certified equipment.

*Somewhat ironically, given that we are restricted from selling uncertified VFDs in Canada, Canadian customers have been purchasing other uncertified (perhaps less safe) spindles and VFDs instead from the US.

As a whole, I believe that it is the responsibility of the manufacturer to design and develop their products to ensure they are safe. Certification is a good representation of compliance of established standards designed by experts in the field. However, certification can cost thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars, on top of thousands of dollars in yearly inspections needed to keep the certification active. For a full certification of a product like a VFD, we could be looking at spending around $35,000 USD, plus a few thousand dollars per year to upkeep the certification. We believe that the cost restriction is a big barrier for most manufacturers to get full certification for their products. In fact, through this process we learned that our manufacturer of VFDs had received certification for the same VFDs that we currently offer a number of years ago, but due to cost reasons, let the certification lapse. One-time certification at the scale at which we operate also prohibits us from continuously improving our product to meet the changing needs and feedback from users.

There is a secondary option, called SPE-1000, which is a field certification, where an inspector can individually inspect electronics instead. This option is more practical at lower volumes, as we simply need to pay for the inspector’s time, so that the cost to inspect units would work out to only $30 a unit. The cost for this in the short run would be less than getting a full certification.

For the short term, we will offer both certified and uncertified systems to US customers once they are available. Canadian customers will only be able to purchase certified systems. In the long run, we will likely consolidate all of the systems so that all systems will have the same hardware, and have a price difference for models with the certification. In the future when the production volume gets large enough, it may end up being more effective to move from field certification to a different certification standard.

Design Differences

The new VFD comes with several changes considering improved safety and ease of use.

Ease of use improvements:

• Pluggable spindle cable: the cable for the spindle is no longer wired in with a screw terminal but instead uses a plug on each end allowing for the user to easily connect and disconnect the cable without tools
• Pluggable AC cable: like the spindle cable, rather than needing to use a screw terminal for the plug, the NEMA 5-15P style cables. Note that this cable must be rated for 15A (these are provided in the kit)
• Pluggable RJ12 connector for controlling the spindle via RS485
• Fuse is easily accessible and swappable
• Switch allows for user to easily turn on and off their VFD

Safety related changes:

• Components are tested for fire resistance, and all bear appropriate UL/CSA safety markings
• Enclosure designed to prevent shock, with proper spacing and mechanical strength to prevent shorting
• Proper safety warnings and stickers

Customers waiting on certified VFDs

Currently we have a small number of users waiting on certified VFDs within Canada. These are either people who ordered and received a spindle kit (uncertified), or ordered but are waiting for their kits to ship, before we took it down from the store. Customers had the option to return their kits for a refund or wait until we provided the certified version.

We’re currently assembling the first 100 units for the 110V 1.5KW, some which will go to the initial customers, and the remainder will be available to Canadian customers once the batch is complete.

We are working directly with these customers to issue the replacements.

Current Production

Along with the first 100 units, an additional batch of roughly 300-400 of 110V 1.5KW VFDs, and 300-400 of 220V 2.2KW VFDs are also being lined up for production. Whatever units we have left from the first batch will be available to the general public; the other units will be available once we have an expected ship date for everything else.

Pricing

Here’s a timeline and estimated sale price for each variant. Please note these are estimates only and may change – watch for emails and social posts for formal announcements over the next few weeks

Enclosed VFD refer to the certified versions

Unenclosed VFD refer to H100/uncertified VFDs

1.5kW ER20 with unenclosed VFD – $555 USD

2.2kW ER20 with unenclosed VFD – $700 USD

1.5kW ER20 with enclosed VFD – $650 USD

2.2kW ER20 with enclosed VFD – $790 USD

As demand for the AltMill continues to grow, long lead times have been a sticking point for many customers either waiting for their machine to ship or considering a purchase. This article is designed to outline our philosophy and approach to company and production growth so that we can provide clarity on our goals and intentions for the longer term. This article will also show that long lead times are a temporary and transient part of our production process and intentional to allow us to provide the best value CNC machines on the market.

Disclaimer, I did my best to interpret the data as accurately and as representative as possible. However, it shouldn’t be used to estimate and predict future lead times, as things may change. Some outlier data may have been removed to better represent the average customer.

Historical Data

To outline the actual change in lead times customers have been experiencing, I’ve graphed data looking at the average wait time per customer, based on the month they ordered a machine versus the actual order completion date. This graph outlines the historical changes over time in lead time, showing a general downward trend for lead times. Please note that the dotted lines are estimates and may vary in real life. For more up to date and the best real world estimates on specific orders, please see our Order Status page.

AltMill (Launched March 2024)

LongMill (MK1, MK2, and MK2.5)

Why is this important to look at? First of all, lead times are initially long for machines when they are first launched. You can see large spikes at key points such as March/April 2024 for the AltMill, Oct 2019 for LongMill MK1, May/June 2022 for LongMill MK2, and LongMill MK2.5 in May 2024. Why do these large spikes exist?

• Version changes and new machine launches are typically announced before the full production of the machines is complete. This means that machines aren’t ready to ship right away.
• Lead times may be higher when demand is higher than expected, so initial batch sizes are smaller than demand, which makes parts availability a bottleneck.
• Delays due to quality issues, shipping in of materials, and development of assembly processes typically happen at the beginning of each production run.

But of course, as production continues, matures, and scales up, quality and process issues are resolved, and our batch sizes grow, lead times trend down, as we can see for all machines.

Cost, quality, speed

Many of us are familiar with the “cost, quality, and speed triangle – choose two – idea.” To put things simply, we have always chosen cost and quality, because speed comes from consistent growth – as you’ll see as you read through this article.

Our company’s mission is to make CNC more accessible, and cost plays a major role in accessibility. Yes, in theory, we could build machines faster if we spend more and consequently passed those costs onto the consumer, but we chose not to because, in the long run, we can have all three: cost, quality and speed.

Here’s a graph showing the number of customers segmented by the number of weeks they waited for their LongMill:

You can see that the vast majority of customers wait less than 4 weeks. So yes, when we look at the lead time graph over time, we have some large variability, the number of customers actually impacted by long lead times are actually minimized by a certain number of factors:

• While there is a large spike in orders after a product launch, overall demand is slowest at the start of each launch. I believe this is typical because not a lot of people outside of our community know about the product yet, or customers are waiting for reviews and other information to come out before making a purchase.
• Due to the long initial wait times, we push away customers who either don’t want to tie up too much money for a long period of time; are impatient to get a CNC and go with another company; or prefer to wait when lead times are shorter.

We also see demand grow as:

• Customers receive their machines and they share their positive experiences with the community.
• We can serve customers who are not tolerant of waiting a long time for their machine to ship.

At the time of writing, the AltMill is still in the early stages, before we’re able to see a trend in having the majority of customers experiencing a shorter lead time. But, we’re slowly getting there, and we plan to get there as soon as we possibly can.

Here’s a current distribution for AltMill:

Focusing on long-term production over short-term gains

Growing production takes significant time and investment to scale. Here are some of the things that we work on over time.

---

Inventory: As a hardware company, we need materials to build and ship products. Not only do we need to purchase and stock the optimal quantity of parts, but we also need to forecast sales and production rates for individual components so that we can reduce the amount of inventory we sit on while ensuring we have parts on hand so that inventory shortages don’t cause delays in production. Scaling up inventory at the start of a new product can be difficult since we can’t entirely predict what the demand will be, plus it can take some time to accumulate new cash to purchase more materials. While under-purchasing can lead to longer lead times, over-purchasing could lead us to running out of money on hand to make payroll and cover other expenses, depending on changes in demand.

Production space: As we scale the number of machines we produce per month, we also need to allocate space for inventory and space for assembly. Scaling space can have several risks, with one of the main ones being making a long-term commitment to signing a lease (for us, we’re currently on a 5-year lease on our building). Regardless of whether we use the space or not, we’d be on the hook for paying for the space we sign up for. Typically, we also need to invest capital to build out the space to fit our needs, which could include electrical and purchasing racking and benches. Space also doesn’t come often or exactly as we need, and there may be a wait period for another tenant to move out, plus a negotiation period for rates and terms to be agreed upon.

Human resources: We require skilled labor in building and assembling machines, which takes time to hire and train. This not only takes time to interview and hire new candidates, but our senior staff also need to dedicate time outside of their production time to work with new members to get them up to speed. Automation and strategic outsourcing also play a role in the amount of human resources we need. Time is required to identify tasks that are done repeatedly which are best suited for automation or outsourcing, which means that production at the start of a new machine tend to require more hands on work.

Technical support and resource development: Building and shipping a product is only half the battle. We want to ensure every customer is able to succeed with our products as well, which is why we dedicate so much time to videos, tutorials, and resources to help users every step of the way. Additionally, our support staff need continual professional development to be familiar with our products. You can read more about why our resources are so important to our business model here.

Design changes and improvements: To improve yield, quality, ease of production, and ease of assembly, our engineering team continually looks for ways to improve the design of our products and work with manufacturers to make the best components possible. Small design changes that shave of 10 minutes of assembly time could lead to thousands of dollars saved over the long run in lower production costs and shorter lead times.

---

So, breaking things down, here’s a list of costs related to scaling production that could negatively impact the cost of products and prevent production from being as cost-efficient as possible:

• Unused space means rent is being paid for unproductive space and utilities.
• Overstocking of inventory leads to additional costs for storage, plus money being tied up in parts rather than being used for other productive purposes.
• Being overstaffed means there may not be enough work to be done while overhead costs stay the same.
• The quantity of products being sold may not be enough to cover the cost of engineering and development costs.

However, scaling too slowly may come with other risks and costs, including:

• We give time for competitors to gain market share.
• Customers have to purchase other options if the lead times don’t align with what they can accept.

But the costs and risks above only apply when demand is higher than what we can supply, which means that they can, eventually, be overcome. Hardware, as they say, is hard. Mistakes in the production process and scaling too quickly can rapidly get out of hand. For example, messing up on just one of approximately 140 unique parts that go into an AltMill could result in production stopping completely. And when some parts can take 3 or more months to produce and arrive, some mistakes could seriously jeopardize our lead times.

Ultimately, we could charge more, which would allow us to have production at a smaller scale and more easily cover the costs of mistakes, plus lower overall demand and the volume of machines we need to build, but I believe that this would lead us to divert our focus on actually building affordable and accessible CNC machines. At the end of the day, there are many options for CNC machines that have shorter lead times, but it will come at a higher cost or a compromise to performance. It’s up to the consumer to decide what they value most at the current moment. However, if we continue to follow our trend of slowly reducing our lead times down to our general goal of 2 weeks or less across all products, we can protect our position in the market by not only providing the best value CNC machines on the market, but also at the shortest lead times as well.

Feedback?

While these are the processes we’ve been following to this day, we’re always open to hearing from our community on what they think we can do to continue supporting our ecosystem. Does it make sense to raise our prices if we can deliver faster in the short term? Should we implement dynamic pricing? Feel free to let us know your thoughts!