DavecUK
Most issues were supplier parts quality related and have been resolved. There was one real design issue, requiring an OPV re-design and retrofit, now done. The rest was being new to production manufacturing; shop floor routing and its inherent QA was eventually worked out, and hiring, always tough.
After some bumps and a year-plus delay now over 500 units shipped and volume ramping up. No influencers received it. Supply is strictly based on order date and only real orders. Influencers had to purchase and then wait in line like everyone else.
In hindsight, hiring a consulting engineer for independent testing, would have speeded things up as it is too easy to get blind to quirks when one is designing a product and seeing it daily. Also hiring a consulting MRP-certified manufacturing engineer, would have helped tighten up supplier qualifications and shop floor routing at the start. Of course, if the Niche team was doing this they already have a substantial experience curve including pre-Niche, but Ross is certainly getting there.
What was remarkable was the transparency and frequent clear communication, which is to my knowledge only equalled by John at Decent. This really kept the Argos community highly positive, despite any bumps. Odyssey is rapidly becoming a very good success story.