Fri May 31 '19 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Fri, May 31, 2019 at 05:18:57 AM
Hey Backers,
It is the end of the month. Time for an update.
We are progressing very well in terms of manufacturing.
What we are working on
Production
The toolings of the package 1 are in production with weekly updates from our partners. We will get the samples next month. Meanwhile we finished all details for package 2. Mainly some detailed design adjustments in collaboration with the suppliers. The third and last package will also be ordered shortly.
Hong Kong / China trip
As we already informed you, our team member Elias, has been in Hong Kong and China for a while. Here is some information about the outcome of this trip:
-
Manufacturer
Together with our local partner, he visited our manufacturer in order to discuss technical details. The result was very satisfying for all of us so far.
-
Fulfillment Center
Elias has personally visited three fulfillment centers with a very good reputation, in order to get a personal picture with whom we will possibly be working with and to discuss details about the prices, lead time and packaging.
-
Networking
Since the trip was organized by the Austrian Trade Commission for several Austrian startups, we got the opportunity to exchange experiences and to get some contacts for different matters. We have now an even better knowledge of doing business with chinese companies, which should avoid possible problems you often hear about.
Timeline
The timeline did not change since our last update. But for an overview, here it is:
April-July: Production of all tools in 3 packages, Sampling, Testing, Tool adjustments
July: Pre-Production, Testing
Aug: Beginning of Mass Production + Shipping
Awards
We are happy to share with you, that we have won two prices since the last update. The “German Design Award” and a “Young Entrepreneurs’ Prize”. Yeah ;)
-Team Lumapod
Tue Apr 30 '19 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Tue, Apr 30, 2019 at 07:56:08 AM
Hey Backers,
I know, we are late with the April update. Sorry for that - these are busy days. But here it is.
What we are working on
China Visits / Production
Elias is in Hong Kong and China right now for visiting all our partners for manufacturing, quality control and fulfillment.
We mentioned in our last update, that we will order the tools in 3 packages instead of everything at once. Production of the first tools already started and we will order the second package soon.
Prototype of our design changes
As we wrote some time before, we made some design changes, especially to the telescopic mechanism. This upgrade eliminates the “twist”, which was needed before to lock the telescope. This means Lumapod now got even faster :) And more important, you don't have to lift the tripod and hold it at both ends to change the height, which is a significant improvement.
We made a video, so you can hopefully imagine what I am talking about. It is a short video - I should have made a longer one before, but Elias is still in China with this prototype, so this is all footage I have here right now.
Timeline
Our partner is already working on the tools. This is our current timeline:
April-July: Production of all tools in 3 packages, Sampling, Testing, Tool adjustments
July: Pre-Production, Testing
Aug: Beginning of Mass Production + Shipping
We are sorry about the delay. It is a huge amount of parts and tools, so we planned some extra time for sampling and revising.
We are looking forward to get the first real parts out of the tools. We will keep you updated.
-Team Lumapod
Crowdfunding Love
These are some other projects we think you might like!
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Fri Mar 29 '19 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Fri, Mar 29, 2019 at 08:32:35 AM
Hey Backers,
we had a busy and successful month. We are happy to share all relevant events with you, in order to keep you updated about the progress we make with your Lumapod.
What we are working on
China Factory Visits / Quality Audit
Shenzhen, known as “The Factory Of The World”. In the meantime we count 7 visits at potential suppliers and it turned out the one who was our favorite before these visits is a perfect fit. This manufacturer passed the very tough quality audit of our sourcing and supply chain management partner very easily. Which confirmed our decision. The chosen company produces for several premium brands of camera equipment for years.
Contracts
Furthermore, we have already negotiated and signed the contracts with our sourcing and manufacturing partner. We found a fair agreement for both sides, which gives us as much security as possible with chinese contracts.
The process of ordering Lumapod
Because of the high number of tools we need, Lumapods manufacturing will take place in three separate packages / sub-assemblies, which we will order step-by-step: Telescoping Tube, Head with tensioning mechanism and the Base.
This gives us the opportunity to do some things in parallel: While they are working on the first package, we can prepare the next sub-assembly. Once they work on the tools for the second package, we already inspect samples of the first package, so we can optimize it if necessary...
Our partner is already working on the first package. When we visit him the next time, we will check the progress, discuss open technical questions and commit on a timeline with the manufacturer.
Next China Visit
Currently we are preparing for the next trip to China, which will take place by mid of April. Aside of the mentioned meeting with our supplier, we take this chance to audit the sub-suppliers of our manufacturer together with our experienced sourcing partner.
The trip is organized and grant-aided by the Austrian Economic Chamber. You see, we take every opportunity to save the money you have entrusted to us.
Team Member of the Month: Andi
We will introduce one of our team members in each update. In this update: Andi
Andi is the professional photographer in our team - and a freak when it comes to photography gear. He taught himself photography because he lives what he loves. Now he is a full-time photographer, mainly for weddings.
He and Martin are friends since their youth. That’s why Andi is supporting us from the first idea on. Andi made all photos and the video for our crowdfunding campaign. By the way, our crowdfunding video was the first and only video of this kind he ever made - a pretty damn good result, as we believe :)
Soon, Andi starts a road trip through northern Europe with his wife Lisa, little son Gil, their T4 camper and a Lumapod prototype. We are thrilled to see their photos.
-Team Lumapod
Wed Feb 27 '19 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Wed, Feb 27, 2019 at 11:42:17 PM
Hey Backers,
this is a shorter update then the last one. During Chinese New Year, there was not much communication with our potential manufacturers. We took this time to do our homework regarding the background checks.
What we are working on
Legal use of the new telescoping mechanism
We already wrote about our new innovative telescoping mechanism. To avoid any problems with intellectual property, we made an extensive research and also consulted our patent attorney about this. We are happy that the result was, we can apply this mechanism without being in risk of getting sued :)
Narrowing down our partners
All that glitters is not gold. It turned out that the manufacturer, who initially was our favorite, does not suit us for different reasons. But since we already looked for alternatives before, we now have a shortlist of suppliers which are willing and are able to produce the Lumapod in the quality we are looking for. All these are suppliers of well known brands (we still don’t search for the “cheapest”).
In addition we fixed our partner for quality, and supply chain management in China. So we always have somebody on site if anything happens and to make independent quality checks everytime we order new batches.
We will fly to China next week and visit the factories together with our local QM partner. We are aiming to fix the manufacturer after that. If everything works out well, production of the first tools shall start in march.
Survey of the RWTH Aachen University
Stefan and Caroline, students of the RWTH Aachen, kindly offered us to make a survey with our backers to find out the main motivations of backers to finance a startup. The results of this survey might be very interesting for many people within the startup ecosystem. We are proud to be part of this contribution and we hope many of you will participate in the survey. The survey is in english. Here is the link:
https://winrwth.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3QqOAy3jAiSbj4V
Team Member of the Month: Eva
We will introduce one of our team members in each update. In this update: Eva
Eva is next to Martin a co-founder. After studying economics and marketing she works as an marketing manager. Eva is the Strategist and turns Martins fantasies into a real product. In the next few month, she is working on collaborations, social media and influencer-marketing.
The rest of the time she spends with her lovely daughter Valerie. Like almost every girl she loves shopping, preferably shoes and bags :-) ... but also sports. Currently, her favorite is piloxing. There she can burn off energy!
More about the founding of Lumapod
Sometimes we get asked how we had the idea for Lumapod and why we made a crowdfunding campaign. If you are interested in the story about founding the Lumapod company, you may read this interview (there are some in german, but this is the only one in english):
https://www.crowdfundport.eu/blog-post/lumapod-the-worlds-fastest-tripod-interview/
-Team Lumapod
Fri Jan 25 '19 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Fri, Jan 25, 2019 at 02:52:24 AM
January Update
Hey Backers,
Here is our January update.
Surveys 93% complete
Most of the people already filled out the backer survey. But for different reasons, some did not receive their backer survey link. (Spam filters, wrong email addresses on kickstarter, …)
Everybody who did not receive the survey link: please write us a message and we will send the backer survey to you directly. Thanks!
What we are working on
Choosing the rope material
The ropes are a key element of Lumapod. And you don’t buy high tech ropes in a super market. So we met a big manufacturer of fiber ropes to talk about our requirements and their possibilities. They confirmed Aramid (Kevlar) as one of the best suited materials for our use case, however they suggested to use PE-fibers (Dyneema) which have advantages for outdoor use. Aside of the core material, the cover material and technical construction of the rope has been set.
Changing the telescoping mechanism
In our original design it was necessary to twist the telescoping tubes for locking. To make the setup even faster and more convenient, we designed a new telescoping mechanism. No more twisting - just pulling out to the required height and the telescop is automatically locked. This is a major improvement and we will provide a video from the new mechanism when the prototype is completed.
Setting up the production
Lumapod will be produced in China. To ensure our high quality standards and a trouble-free fulfillment, we work with local partners to monitor the whole process and to be able to intervene quickly. Currently we are discussing prices and the contractual frameworks, as well as the technical adjustments for smooth and efficient serial production. For more, see “Timeline”.
Whats happening to your money
We want to point out once more, we are using the money of the backers with the highest possible efficiency. The current expenditures are: Finalization of the engineering (for mass production), labour costs and bills of engineering and sourcing offices. And the major share of the money will be used for tools, production and shipping.
The long-term objective is a strong brand with multiple innovative products and our backers in the background which can be proud to be part of the success story. On this occasion, thank you once again for your trust and your support!
Timeline
As you can see in our updates, a lot is going on. Since quality, efficiency and long-term partnerships have highest priority we will not rush to get only a half baked product. Although we already had some contacts, we spent a lot of time to find additional options and carefully select our potential partners. We have planned a trip to Shenzhen (China) at the end of February, right after Chinese New Year. Following this we will finalise all contracts and start producing the tools.
Unfortunately from todays perspective we will not be capable to ship in May, but 2 or 3 months later. As soon as we have agreed on a timeline with our manufacturer, you will be informed in our monthly update.
Summary: Why not May?
- Searching for new team members and partners has taken up a lot of our capacity
- Incorporating design improvements after feedback we got from our backers
- Finding and verifying manufacturing partners takes a lot of time since there is a lot of potential for failure
- Getting quotations from manufacturers - especially before Chinese New Year - can be a time-consuming process
- Chinese New Year costs the whole process nearly a month
We know this is not the best news. But as we said, quality and functionality have first priority. We hope you understand our actions and will be happy with all the improvements we are making to create a perfectly practical product that lives up to its expectations.
Team Member of the Month: Martin
We will introduce one of our team members in each update. In this update: Martin
Martin is Lumapods inventor and co-founder. After gaining experience as a mechanical designer, he studied industrial design and founded a design office.
He loves hiking in the Austrian mountains and traveling around the world. During a trip to Iceland with his fiancée Eva, the idea for Lumapod was born. Since then Martin puts all his energy into this project. After a hard working day he is spending time with Eva and his daughter Valerie. “By this I can get a clear mind for the next day”.
-Team Lumapod
Crowdfunding Love
These are some other projects we think you might like!
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