Production update - November 2019
We totally fell in love (all over again!) when we received our newest Boxi Cool™ lunchbox in the gorgeous Strawberry (ice cream) colour. It’s quite stunning and compliments the Ice Blue lunchbox beautifully. After taking the time to test the second lot of refinements to the design, we’ve decided to make it even better with a few more enhancements. Here’s what we’re doing:
- Leak-proof seal in the lid – making it thicker/deeper so it ‘squishes’ down more tightly when the lid is closed.
- Front clasp – making it wider so it’s easier for little (and big!) fingers to open.
- Back hinges – making both hinges slightly longer to make it more durable
- More rigid material - we're on the hunt for a recycled plastic alternative. The recycled HDPE we hoped to use is too flexible after we reduced the wall-thickness to counter the weight of the lunchbox. Our options are PP and PC which are both food-grade recyclable plastics. We're still anticipating the ice-brick to be made from recycled HDPE. UPDATE: We've finalised the raw material as being ABS - a more durable and rigid plastic that performs well during manufacturing and consumer-use.
Now what?
Making these changes now, and testing them again prior to production, means that we’re reducing the risk of performance issues during the sampling phase (after tooling and before manufacture). It also ensures that our lunchbox is super functional, performs well and is a quality-made product. These refinements do mean that we’re currently three weeks behind schedule (as outlined in the initial timeline on our crowd-funding campaign) and because of this we're now affected by Chinese New Year. During CNY, everything shuts down in China from 25 January to 8 February, so that puts us a further two weeks behind. Although we are hoping we can make up some time by visiting the factory during the sampling phase.
As with most products launched on a crowd-funding platform, there are time-risks associated with delivery. Delivery to customers is now expected April 2020. I want you to know that I’m working really hard with the industrial engineers to make sure this is a product you’ll love, and because of that, it’s worth the extra time that it takes to deliver it to you. I’m always happy to answer any of your questions, please feel free to email me (Kirby) at hello@boxi.com.au
Here’s the new timeline
Now we're doing the final tests on our refinements and once we are happy with them we'll hit 'go' on the tooling (think, big massive steel robots!). This stage will take approximately 4 - 6 weeks.
From there, we'll do our Quality Assurance and Specifications Checklists, in the factory, during the sampling phase. This will take approximately 1 - 2 weeks (early-mid Jan).
Chinese New Year starts January 25 and runs until February 8, as noted earlier - everything shuts down in China during this period so there will be no progress on our manufacturing during this time.
After that, it's the home straight - manufacturing will take approximately 4 weeks (Feb - March) and then shipping approximately 2 - 4 weeks (mid March - mid April). We estimate shipment to Australia to be mid-late April, and then delivered to you as soon as it lands.
I can assure you it'll be worth the wait to get your awesome lunchbox and I will work around-the-clock, when the shipment arrives, to get them out our door and into your door.