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Hey backers! Hope everyone is enjoying what 2019 has brought and more or less sticking to those resolutions. Here at BLU3 HQ, we’ve committed to bringing you the best possible Nemo in the next few months and that’s exactly what we’ve been working toward.
Report: As we head out of a meeting with our injection molding partners, we’re excited to say that we’re right on track! Here’s where what we have going on:
- Materials for the first 500 units are approaching headquarters. These are the longest of the lead time items, including magnets, motor cores, and copper wire.
- Injection molding of the custom Nemo battery pack has begun. We’re right on track with the battery pack to send out with the first units in May.
- The DFM (design-for-manufacturability) with the injection molders of Nemo’s plastic parts is underway. We should begin cutting molds in the coming weeks. Very exciting!
- This delay has brought yet another improvement! We’ve upgraded our electronics board. The board has some smarts in it that will limit energy usage while Nemo is in standby, meaning a battery is plugged in but you’re not using it at the time. This means it won’t drain your battery just sitting in your closet!
- Our original plan was to CNC-cut the foam flotation units in-house. At DEMA 2018, we met a great contact who is already experienced with this manufacturing. We’ve tested samples and decided outsourcing this part to them is the way to go! This means we’ll be bypassing the steep learning curve of foam cutting, preventing any future delays in this step.
Forecast:
We’ve been working on getting our manufacturing assembly plan ironed out. This means finding ways to eliminate waste, improve efficiency, build a productive and motivated team, and start pushing units out the door! We’re expecting March to be a month packed with setting up machinery and streamlining the whole process. As always, we’ll keep you updated.
???? BLU3 Team