WonderLab Update - end of October
A couple of weeks ago I shared some behind-the-scenes information about our developing lab.
In summary: reviews were consistently telling us the quality of our images is great but the 3-week turnaround is too long. I wrote about the plans we were putting in place to significantly reduce the turnaround as well as improve communication; and I promised I'd be back to let you know when I had a meaningful update.
And I do!
But once again I'll step aside to let a customer review speak for itself:
What's Changed?
As of last Friday:
- Our turnaround on colour developing is down to 4 working days from receiving the film to sending edited scans
- Our turnaround on B&W developing is down to 7 working days from receiving the film to sending edited scans. NB: this also includes mixed orders that have colour rolls with B&W, as we upload orders together
- The quality of our scans has not changed! We continue to receive 5* reviews from folks enjoying the results from their photography
Clearly there is still work to do (see next section) but this is a massive improvement on where we were at the start of October, and all thanks to a monumental effort from the team. Double shifts, long hours, folks chipping in from the warehouse and office - to make sure that the work was done, and done well.
Alex and Emily during a lighter moment 😅 Shot on Portra 800
What's next?
No time for complacency!
- We still have work to do on turnaround: B&W is not where I want it to be, and I need us to show that we can comfortably sustain these numbers over the coming weeks
- We're building new capability that will allow you to log into your 'My Photos' area on the website to see exactly where each of your rolls is in the process - LIVE! Think the Domino's app spinning wheel...but less fancy 🍕
That last one isn't online yet (it needs some extra software investment and quite a bit of testing) but I'm excited for how it'll help you check-in on the progress of your films whenever you wish.
There is also another top-secret project in the works, which will drastically expand the services we can offer to you through the lab. I can't say more about it now, but there should be news in November...
Watch this space!
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