Hi Backers,

Our current November timeline will be severely impacted by current global distribution challenges that will delay Crownes Chess' arrival to each region. The supply chain is experiencing a global shipping crisis effecting all product based industries, namely, Kickstarter & IndieGoGo campaigns trying to fulfill orders.

PLEASE READ: Supply chain disruption message (from Kickstarter) - for all campaigns!

https://www.kickstarter.com/articles/global-supply-chain-disruption?ref=banner


Vital info backers should be aware of, impacting our November fulfillment:

- Limited space: Containers continue to be very scarce and difficult to secure.
- Price Increases: Containers are triple, even quadruple what they cost a year ago.
- Port Uncertainty: Ports cannot promise when a shipment will leave or arrive.
- Port Closures: Various ports around the world are closed, largely due to Covid/pandemic regulations.
- Labor Shortages: Ports that are open, are struggling to forge ahead as labor shortages continue to slow down operations.

NOTE: We cannot promise fulfillment by end of year, as the global supply chain crisis has been worsening on a weekly basis. Team Crownes will inform backers when sets are loaded and cleared to finally ship, however, this is very uncertain at the moment. We're doing whatever we can to ship our orders out ASAP considering these untimely global circumstances.

Our Status:
The majority of Crownes sets are stuck at the distribution center waiting to be loaded for shipping. Once loaded, we await official clearance from customs to proceed with distribution asap. As this pending global / distribution problem persists, the following reasons elaborate on supply chain issues preventing Crownes from fulfilling by November:

A) Export/Import Backlog:
There is a record backlog ("bottleneck") of container ships at various ports, in addition to largely growing numbers of shipping container shortages (limited space/availability) - causing extreme delays throughout the world.

B) Container shortages:
Competitive cost per container unit has skyrocketed (Up to 300% since 2020) as a result of limited container space availability. These costs were unforeseeable 6 months to 1 year ago. DesignNest has been consuming increased costs/pricing to proceed with shipping asap. Even large companies, such as Costco, are struggling to find adequate container space for essential items (i.e. food, cleaning & sanitation, etc...)

C) Global Impasse:
Tens of thousands of containers are stagnant in ports around the world at both export & import locations, waiting to move, as cargo regulations have tightened & distribution costs have increased - especially nearing the holiday seasons.

Regulations Effecting Industry Efficiency: 

1) Electrical Shortages & Outages:
Many cities in China, including ones DesignNest is operating from to manufacture Crownes Chess, have been experiencing electrical shortages/outages on a regular basis causing front end difficulty in supply chain management - In addition to government regulated power supply regulations.

2) Chinese / Carbon Dioxide Emissions Goal:
Resulting in intermittent factory shutdowns, amidst lower labor & personnel. For example, our supplier facilities have been ordered to work 15 days max in October to cut back on factory generated emissions. This is best for the environment, as the world aims to emit less CO2. As a result: Power supplies are shut off (by the government), when facilities are not approved to proceed - to ensure temporarily halted supplier production & distribution center activity.

3) Delta Covid Variant Restrictions:
Supplier factories, shipping & distribution centers, exporting/importing facilities are all impacted by the sweeping spread of Delta. Health regulations have rightfully caused stricter working conditions to protect employees of these essential supply chain partners.

Next Steps:

• As mentioned, our distribution center has been unable to load our inventory due to looming logistics issues. The majority of Crownes sets are ready to be shipped when ports give us the OK to load & clearances to proceed.
• Our team is doing it's best to overcome this global & economic dilemma, which will inevitably prevent Team Crownes from fully distributing to each backer by November.
• DesignNest is actively seeking/pursuing more container space availability to fulfill the entirety of orders from Kickstarter, IndieGoGo & DesignNest pre-orders asap.

Best,
Team Crownes