Last week I received a 13th Gen DIY. Shipped to me from Taiwan and all was received in new packaging. What caught my eye was the date codes on the power supply box and the keyboard/touchpad input cover. Input cover decal shows July 2021 and Power supply October 2021. I thought that was a bit odd. Most startup/small business cannot afford to build in such quantity that they keep inventory of product for nearly 2 years.
Then, yesterday I see a review of the FW13 power supply (linked below) and this reviewer’s unit had a late 2022 manufacture date on the box. Review linked below in case anyone wishes to watch it. He shows the box around 15 seconds and the date code around 25 seconds. BTW, the power supply got a very good review overall. Good job Framework.
has anyone else noticed same with their recently received laptop? I was thinking the reviewer ordered his power supply through Framework marketplace in which case it was shipped from the US warehouse. And mine was packaged from the OEM in Taiwan. But why and how can Framework afford to keep such inventory for 2 years?
It is a little odd that they would be dated that old. The only thing have to add is that the input cover and the power supply are two parts that are common to all 13" machines and that haven’t really changed since the machine first launched. While the top case, display, hinges, and mainboards have gone through revisions and changes (gloss to matte screen, different hinges, stamped to machined top case, etc.), the input cover and power supply haven’t changed (I know they aren’t the only things that haven’t changed). So I imagine they would be among the highest volume parts produced and stocked.
I hear you. Nothing has changed with these parts - that we know of. Quite often manufacturers will make changes they push through as a transparent change to customers. Sometimes circuit boards go through revisions to resolve issues, simplify design, to work around supply chain shortages, to reduce cost, to make adjustments to the approved vendor list, etc…
Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t question this. However, in this case we have a smaller manufacturer building such quantity that they have nearly 2 years of inventory? It’s an unusual situation for a few reasons. Cashflow, storage costs, risk of a needed design change, post covid supply chain shortages, etc. There’s some viable reasons, one being that they keep rainy day storage.
However, most OEMs would rotate that rainy day storage to keep it fresh.
These aren’t food items with an expiration date.
It’s an input cover and a USB-C power supply. How do they need to be kept “fresh”?
Can’t even understand what concerns you have here. And why do you need the CEO to personally respond?
Your concerns are with how Framework approaches manufacturing & inventory? Are you an investor?
With manufacturing, there are often savings with doing larger production runs. Setting up a line has costs. For parts that are expected to be used for a long time, doing this can make sense and saves money. For the input cover, Framework’s goal has been to keep the body of a model the same to enable upgrades and easy repairs. For the USB-C power supply, it’s 60W USB PD with both cords replaceable, of course it can be expected to be used for a long time.
~edit~
Sorry, maybe I am reading you wrong. It just came off as odd, plus demanding, pinging Nrp for a response.
They are electronic “food items”. Spend some time in manufacturing and you’ll better understand. I spent 10 years manufacturing circuit boards and finished product. Managing inventory is huge. Plus the optics of shipping 2 year old parts isn’t all that great.
I didn’t ask for you to understand my concern. I feel this is a question worthy of an answer. Please respect this. I asked for users to provide some feedback on what they received from FW. If you have a 13th gen, any idea what they shipped to you? Do you still have the carton for your 60w power supply, assuming you ordered one?
Yes, I get it. But 2 years worth of parts for a startup business that would likely be better served using investor cash for R&D rather than parts sitting in a warehouse for years.
Warehouse storage isn’t free.
Think of the top cover. 12th gen and newer use a different top cover. FW learned and adjusted. This is an example why you don’t stock parts for the long term when building electronics. What if the touch pad changes and the new one is fractionally larger or smaller? Or it has different attachment points?
NP. I didn’t demand anyone answer me. I asked if he could shed light on it. The founder often responds to messages here. Why isn’t mine worthy of a reply from someone with intimate knowledge of their manufacturing processes?
Keep in mind the charger I received in July 2023 is more than a year older than one purchased by the YouTube reviewer who bought his much earlier in 2023. The inventory and logistics logic is odd to me. Hence my post in this thread.
Why do you feel it important to understand their processes? Frankly, I would be surprised if they were willing to get into any level of detail there. None of us is entitled to know how they are managing inventory, planning revisions, et cetera. If they do decide to divulge any of that information they would be doing so as a courtesy. and potentially setting a bad precedent.
It’s the charger and the input cover - which has not changed other than the fingerprint reader having some new revisions, the firmware for which does not work in linux, and has to be rolled back using windows. So maybe that’s why you got an old one.
I purchased a 13th Gen laptop and some of the parts received are nearly 2 years old from when they were building 11th Gen laptops. There’s been some complaints and issues with the touchpad and fingerprint reader, for example. If there were any revisions to address issues (for example), shouldn’t I be entitled to receive the current parts with a new purchase? That’s why I’m asking. Watch this Youtube video then re-read your response. My questions dig far less into processes, etc. than the material covered in this video.
I’m less concerned about the charger. I brought it up because there’s a video of a reviewer with a charger that seems to be newer production than mine. And that video is a few months old already. In addition to the manufacture date, the charger in the video has some different markings as compared to mine. My charger has the NOM and NYCE marks which are safety marks for Mexico. My charger box indicates it’s for US, CA and MX. The one in the video does not include Mexico. I believe Framework does not (yet) ship to Mexico, but to remove the NOM and NYCE certifications if they already got them? Why would they remove the Mexico safety marks unless the charger was modified and they didn’t bother to reobtain safety testing for Mexico. Maybe I have it wrong, but it is odd from my vantage point.
As far as the input cover is concerned, I have little to compare it to. My fingerprint reader shows a FW03 on the decal. Other than that I see ribbon cables and the overall assembly with mostly 2021 dates on them. One item has a Feb 2022 date. I’m asking for clarification and to be certain I received current parts.
Well, I would be concerned that they may be returned or used components. It’s perfectly legitimate to want answers to something you have paid for, if there seems something odd or strange. I’m not suggesting Framework do this, but a lot of people sell used or returned products as new, when they are not. I once bought a replacement screen and surround which was guaranteed new, of course it was a pulled part that you could see the scratches where the cover had been pried off. Some people don’t mind old or used parts and others do. He’s entitled to ask.
I sincerely hope all parts are new. I have no reason to believe they are not new. Everything was packaged properly and everything looks like new. I think this is more about how FW or Compal handles inventory rotation. I hope!
There seem to be some misconceptions here. All parts and laptops sold as new, are new. Just because they were manufactured in earlier dates doesn’t make them used. The parts are interchangeable, and if we have new stock of components, we will use them in builds. Everything has the same warranty regardless of the manufacturing date of the component included. We will use the inventory that has been manufactured as that is in line with our mission of avoiding disposal of perfectly working tech. Any refurbished parts/laptops are labeled as such and sold on our website with proper markings. We will also provide either refurbished/used, or new parts for warranty replacement as per our terms.
Just to be clear, I never accused Framework of selling used parts with new builds. I simply asked why new builds are receiving parts with manufactured dates from 2 years ago? To make matters more questionable is when a Youtube reviewer orders a power supply, and does a review several months ago, yet his power supply is more than a year newer than the one I received (a week ago). Odd, don’t you think? I’d appreciate a reply to this direct and specific question.
The input cover is a different situation. It has several decals on it, and date codes of various different parts. Including the touchpad, ribbon cables, keyboard, and my assumption is a decal representing the overall assembly date. Why Framework is keeping these around until they grow cobwebs is questionable, especially considering that the input cover includes quite a few components that are subject to be changed over time. Can you help me better understand why my input cover has such an old date code? Did Liteon or Compal build many thousands of these for Framework and those are still in inventory and current/up to date?
So, what if you don’t have stock of components? What do you use for new builds?
I don’t understand this statement. Can you clarify what you mean?
Thanks for replying. I’m not stirring the pot, just looking for answers for the laptop I recently ordered and received.
I don’t see the issue with asking. But I suppose where my line of questioning would end is after being told that despite the manufacture date what I received was new. This is my only concern. If there is no iterative change between dates then it really doesn’t matter. Information beyond this knowledge is not really necessary.
Perhaps asking your specific question to support directly instead of a public forum meant for the community would have been a more tactful way of addressing the company.
Why is this relevant? All that matters is that you get what you ordered and in new condition.
One of Framework’s core mission is to stop the rampant waste of resources in the computer industry. They mean that they are trying to follow practices that are in line with this. Using components that are identical but manufactured earlier instead of manufacturing more identical products to appease date currency suspicions. The material take away here is that regardless of when the component in question was manufactured, it is new, and is what you ordered.
I can think of possible reasons, all of which are totally mundane and wouldn’t really matter.
It sounds like the person from this Youtube video ordered the power supply separately, while yours was ordered with your new laptop. Perhaps these come from different places, through different fulfillment chains (likely). Perhaps the warehouse has a shelf full of them and when you ordered yours the shelf was almost empty and one toward the back that had been there a while finally made it into a box (this kind of thing definitely happens in warehouses and even on store shelves). Perhaps they DO have an inventory rotation schedule and when you ordered yours they had recently rotated stock to ensure older stock went out. I know this is all speculation and doesn’t tell you what definitely happened in your case. But they are all plausible scenarios. Does the specific reason really matter? Not trying to be dismissive, it’s a genuine question. As long as you have been assured that you received new parts with full warranty support, is the exact reason really important? Would any of the above be a “problem” that needed to be fixed? The reason I ask is because the members of the Framework team who frequent these forums may not even know the exact reason. And since the correct, new parts made it into your machine, they probably aren’t very motivated to do a deep audit of the process to determine how every component and accessory is handled in terms of manufacture date. Again, unless there is an actual issue being caused, but I don’t see one.
Honestly, this isn’t uncommon in manufacturing. If you tear apart anything new that is composed of many different parts, there is a good chance that the manufacture date of some parts/components will vary wildly, for any number of reasons. As long as they were stored and handled properly during that time, there shouldn’t be a problem.
Basically, for whatever reason, if there ended up being some parts in stock at the factory/warehouse that were manufactured a couple years ago but are still new, unused and perfectly good, they are going to use them. This is in keeping with their philosophy of sustainability and reducing waste.
Thanks for everyone’s replies. I was kind of hoping for at least a few other recent purchasers to post their findings with their new laptops. There’s still time if someone wants to check their power supply carton and/or their input cover and report here. Lol.
For those who wonder why I did not ask support before posting here, simple answer. I figured support would give me the standard canned corporate reply (basically a non answer). The Twistgibber did reply, but I was hoping for more than he shared on this subject. Anyway, by posting here I figured there was a good chance other users would report similar findings with their units and that would help me feel better about my well aged NEW parts.
I have a pre-order in and it’s not likely to be here for at least a few months. But if I think of it when it gets here, I’ll update and let you know what the dates are on the type cover and power supply.
Since I received a DIY FW13 with a broken screen I haven’t had the time to nitpick the dates on parts that don’t really matter. New chargers are just as likely to fail as old ones, in my 12+ years of IT experience, so that doesn’t matter. And as long as the input cover isn’t being used over that time period its shelf life does not matter. Just use your computer dude.
Man, I thought I was demanding contacting customer support over my damaged screen.
