Thu Apr 13 '17 Announcement
over 7 years ago
– Thu, Apr 13, 2017 at 07:36:52 AM
continued....
Stainless Steel Supplier: The manufacturing partner we hired has an expertise and technology of injection moulding. Since with Golchi, plastic parts are the most complicated parts, we were very focused on bringing on board a quality manufacturer for plastic parts. Our plastic part manufacturing partner had the responsibility of hiring a quality stainless steel supplier.
80% of work on stainless steel work was done by the end of February itself. Shockingly after that things started moving at snails pace. Our entire team was making visits to Stainless steel factory every alternate day to ensure things were on track. We were very committed to provide all the technical support and guidance to meet timelines. The supplier kept showing us a lot of attitude and not adhering to our timelines. Our only constraint was the timelines. We were very fixated on somehow achieving our committed timelines.
Recently we requested for 100 samples of different stainless steel parts for quality control and also validation of design. We found that samples had different dimensions across and were not in compliance of our design specifications. When we raised this point, we were assured that this will be addressed in bulk production. Dissatisfied with this response, we undertook an independent and extensive quality audit of the factory and found many gaps. Fortunately without much loss of time, we have already signed a definitive agreement with this new supplier.
Bottom line is that the existing supplier might have somehow worked and delivered on few critical functionality but would have failed on other important attributes and delivered cups with different heights, diameters and specifications. Of all, we are very particular about design specifications and open communication. Positive thing is that our new supplier has that 'can do' attitude and is taking the ownership of delivering quality product.
The new Stainless Steel supplier has already started development of new moulds. We have been promised that within 30 days we will receive final samples and within 45 days entire order will be produced.
We know that this delay of 45 days is a massive delay but trust us we also feel the pain. It's a significant financial investment for us but we feel this is a bold step to uphold our brand values and also deliver what we promised.
Team Golchi
Thu Apr 13 '17 Announcement
over 7 years ago
– Thu, Apr 13, 2017 at 07:30:10 AM
Production Update #6
Hello Backers,
We know you all have been waiting for a production update. We are very sorry for the delay. Our entire team was in China for last 2 weeks to look after each and every step and evaluate the progress. As shared with you, two of our team members have already been stationed in China for more than a month. The remaining members of our founding team went to China in last week of March with a clear vision of kickstarting the production and start fulfilling the orders. This is the only prerogative of our life these days and we are doing everything we can to make it happen at the earliest.
Good news is that all the plastic parts have been produced, adjusted, stress tested and validated. We are sharing images of multiple rounds of samples that we have produced so far.
We have finalised the surface finish of all plastic parts and validated the assembly of all sub parts and complete bottle. The bottle in complete assembled form looks awesome!!! So we are very confident of delivering the exact or may be even better look and feel of Golchi.
Now coming down to issues and corrections, there are 2 updates that we want to share with you:
Thread Direction: As you all know, Golchi has a modular design. It has many interfaces with threads. Initially we designed threads uniquely based on our intuition to support the modularity of the bottle and avoid accidental spillage. We felt that conventional threads will not work with our product. Based on real life testing of assembled bottle in different circumstances and orientation, we feel that we need to revise some of the thread directions. We want to make thread design and direction very intuitive and also much more robust to eliminate undesired / accidental spillages. This by no means is a must to have change but we feel that this change can really enhance the ease of operations of bottle and significantly reduce the risk of spills. So we would like to go ahead and implement this change. Threading is the last step in the sampling / production process so no other process gets impacted. But this is a manual process as all the impacted moulds will now need to be revised for this new thread direction. This process will take around 15-20 days.
To be continued......
Thu Apr 6 '17 Announcement
over 7 years ago
– Thu, Apr 06, 2017 at 11:37:27 AM
Small Update !
Hello Backers,
This is not a production update but for a long time we have been wanting to acknowledge the efforts of two team members who have been putting a lot of effort in making your Golchi. A production update will be sent out next week.
Updating Shipping Address: We have received requests to check and update shipping address for few backers. We just wanted to keep you informed that we have only locked the Golchi selection on your survey responses. The shipping address is still editable and can be changed by visiting the following link: https://golchi-most-versatile-customizable-bottle-ever-gadget-i.backerkit.com/
Stay tuned for more updates!
Team Golchi
Fri Mar 24 '17 Announcement
over 7 years ago
– Fri, Mar 24, 2017 at 10:45:43 AM
Production Update #5
Hello Backers!
In this update we want to give clarity on material that your Golchi will be made up of. As previously communicated we will be using premium grade stainless steel and BPA free plastic. Below are further details :
Stainless Steel : We will be using 18/8 stainless steel which has high corrosion resistance, heat resistance and a good combination of strength and surface finish. This is the grade of steel that is used in high end kitchenware and drinkware products. We will be using this variant of steel for both the inner cups and outer cups of top as well as bottom compartment.
Plastic : We will be using a combination of PP and ABS for different parts based on strength, clarity, flexibility and other characteristics that we want to achieve. These are premium plastic grades with good tensile strength, crack resistance and surface finish. All the plastic that we will be using inherently is BPA free but we will still be obtaining BPA free certification through independent lab tests.
On production front, things are progressing steadily. We have been making adjustments on plastic parts to improve their functionality and surface finish in order to achieve a product with great overall functionality.
On stainless steel parts, things were a little slow as the supplier suddenly started demanding a massive price increase. We are already paying a premium price as we are guilty of delay and want to move things fast without compromising with the quality. This development was completely unforeseen as every details was already documented in the agreement. We finally yielded in and accepted an even higher price as we know we are hard pressed for time. Things are back on track on this front also.
Below are few images of the samples developed this week. Next few weeks are going to be all the more exciting.
Looking forward to your support!
Team Golchi
Wed Mar 15 '17 Announcement
over 7 years ago
– Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 09:06:24 AM
Production Update #4
Hello Backers,
As promised, here we are with our weekly update.
Progress last week:
1. All the 26 moulds have been completed. There is NO mould that is still under production which means that the most challenging part of the pre-production process has been completed.
2. We have produced 3 rounds of samples for all the plastic parts. Our team identified 7 small errors in the samples which are an easy fix. The process to fix those errors has already been initiated and we are hopeful that by end of this week we shall be able to get completely error free and are fully functional parts. For those, who are not aware about the process of mould making and production, we just want to share that finding small glitches in moulds is a very normal process. Since moulds are dismantled and assembled multiple times these errors can be easily rectified.
3. We have also started the process of surface improvement. Our Mould expert is reviewing the assembly of all 26 moulds to make sure that they are properly aligned and we get smooth and desired surface finish. This process is running in parallel and we hope to accomplish this by early next week.
4. We produced more samples of the stainless steel parts to get the structure right and meet other design specifications. Shape and structure of the inner flasks and outer flasks of both the top compartment and lower compartment have been completed. We plan to spend next few days in welding the outer and inner cups, creating a vacuum hole and improving the surface finish of the stainless steel parts.
Priorities for this week:
1. Pressure testing for leak proofing at different possible areas / design elements that can result in leakage.
2. Temperature Insulation : Golchi has a unique and first of its kind design. This requires a new approach to create vacuum hole and achieve insulation. So far, we do not foresee any challenge in execution of vacuum for bottom compartment. For top compartment also, our manufacturer is fairly confident. They are creating a customised set up to accomplish the vacuum insulation for top compartment. Once we have the samples, we will thoroughly test the insulation using ice, cold beverages and hot beverages in different ambient temperatures.
In terms of timelines, we are still committed to the same timelines that we shared in our last update. Below are some of the pictures of the samples produced this week:
Looking forward to your continued support!
Team Golchi
