If you haven’t been following our updates on Kickstarter, you might be wondering “What’s the latest with InvenTABLE?” and, more importantly, “When am I going to get mine??”
First things first, let’s talk timeline. As of February of this year we estimated that we would start fulfillment in late September to October 2024. This was in-line with our Shopify estimates, and everything was going according to plan. In late July, however, we started safety certifications. While we had a high degree of certainty going into Safety Certifications, the first units that came off the assembly line were a little bit different from the prototypes we had been testing. We had to make some changes to a number of parts to correct for those differences and ensure the product passed key safety tests to make the InvenTABLE a great experience for kids and adults alike. After re-estimating to account for these fixes, we now believe that Shopify customers will start to receive their orders in November 2024.
We know a timeline delay (though necessary) is a bummer. We also know that some of you pre-ordered InvenTABLE as a gift, and this delay impacts those plans. While we want to ensure everyone gets their order quickly and can get making, we understand if some customers feel the need to cancel their order. Check out the FAQs section here for steps to cancelling your order, and reach out to us at hello@itsinventable.com for additional support if that process doesn’t work for you.
Now, onto the juicy details! See below for more detail about everything that has come out of months spent on manufacturing and safety certification so far.
The last update on our website was about the industrial design process and the new renders of the InvenTABLE. Well, now we can show you the real deal! Team InvenTABLE went to China for 4 months to collaborate closely and ensure everything going into InvenTABLE was high quality, safe, and fun.
While there, we kicked off tooling for the plastic and metal parts, and tested many components to ensure quality. Along the way, we made key improvements to the accessories kit, the debris collection drawer, the power switch, and of course, the cutting head itself. These changes are too numerous to list out in detail, but we do have some pictures of early versions vs final product photos to show. Check those out below!
Now, tooling is complete, and many parts are being sourced or produced at scale to get ready for producing finished units.
After tooling, we moved into a phase called Engineering Validation Testing (EVT) where we produced a very small run of products on the assembly line and tested to ensure all the parts worked together as intended. This phase went very well, and the units were functionally sound. We found minor improvements to make, but proceeded into safety certification testing while we made some tweaks.
Prior to EVT, we had already consulted multiple safety certification specialists to come up with the list of certifications and tests that best fit our product for the US and Canada. These certifications include (among others) ASTM F963, CPSC, CA Prop 65, and CPSIA for the US, and SOR/2011, SOR/2018, and ICES-003 for Canada.
While we had a high degree of certainty early on that we would pass most tests, the units that came off of the assembly line for testing performed a little bit differently from the samples we had been iterating and testing during the final design process. There was one major problem: there was a lot of variance in the maximum noise level reached by the first units that came off the line. Some of the best units stayed under 80 dB, which is well under the safe limit of 85 dB. But many were exceeding 85 dB when the unit was cutting. Not only is this a bad user experience, but it begins to inch into problematic noise levels and would cause the InvenTABLE to fail some key safety tests.
Rather than implementing a quick fix, we decided to make more significant changes to improve reliability.
To address this, our manufacturing partners as well as our engineering team all grouped up in one room for a few days to brainstorm how to reduce the noise. We made a lot of changes including tightening tolerances, and adding additional noise and vibration dampeners in key areas. As a result, the InvenTABLE now consistently operates below 85 dB, averaging around 75 dB while in use, making it much safer and more enjoyable to use.
There are 114 tests total and we have passed 112. There are two more to go:
InvenTABLE Power Tool: We had to add an additional warning label to our packaging to pass the last of the children’s safety tests, which is now being re-printed and sent to the facility for approval.
Toys & Games Project Pattern Pack: One of our off-the-shelf metal pieces for the Project Pattern Pack failed the lead content test, so we found a new part and have resubmitted it for lead content testing
These are both very small changes that can be completed quickly. We will be receiving our final report by next week!
We have passed all safety tests for the table accessories set, hole punch tool, and scoring tool.
Making the necessary changes for the noise levels gave us a little window of opportunity to make other improvements that we had previously saved for later because the parts needed changing anyway. There are a lot of small changes here and there, but here’s how they impact the experience of cutting with the InvenTABLE:
It’s now easier to remove the lid, and the lid more reliably aligns to be flush with the cutting head opening. This makes it easier to push cardboard through when at the maximum acceptable material thickness.
It’s easier to open and close the drawer, for smoother maintenance. And, there are now no openings in the drawer area through which debris might enter the interior of the InvenTABLE.
The switch now has an over-center mechanism to ensure that it reliably clicks into position. We had previously tooted our own horn about the design, but it turned out to be a bit inconsistent during assembly. The over-center mechanism makes it consistently awesome. (Toot!)
The case is more resistant to breaking. This helps us ensure the InvenTABLE will arrive safely to customers, and also helps the product last longer even for energetic little makers. (It’s not indestructible, and the housing is still plastic--best not to drop it).
While these changes are hard to capture in photos, here is a more recent product shot to give you a glimpse of the InvenTABLE that will be coming to your door in a few months:
All of these small changes and the lengthened safety certification testing pushed our timeline back by a few weeks, and because this now overlaps with the Mid-Autumn Festival in China (during which factories take a well-deserved break), this has added an additional weeks delay to our timeline. The first 1000 units, which are the outcome of production validation testing, will be produced and will leave China in October before the Mid-Autumn Festival, but subsequent shipments will only be produced afterwards. Now that we’re closer to the finish line, we have some more detailed dates. Here’s the updated schedule:
The first 1,000 units are expected to arrive at our warehouse on October 18th and will immediately ship to the first kickstarter backers.
The next 4,000 units will arrive in our warehouse on November 8th, followed by another 4,000 on November 15th, and 3,000 more on November 21st.
This means that some Kickstarter backers will receive their pledge rewards at the end of October, but most will receive them sometime after November 8th. Most Shopify pre-orders will be delivered sometime after November 15th. After November 21st, we expect to have stock in the warehouse so that new orders can ship immediately from within the US, which means we’ll be officially launched and actively selling!
To keep things on track, Max will be heading back to China during Production Validation Testing to make sure that the production line is as efficient and reliable as possible, and the quality control is up to our high standards.
To make this happen, we’re scaling up production as fast as we can. As it turns out, it is tough to coordinate lead times of all the different parts and processes needed to make a final product! It takes multiple months from the day we communicate we want more inventory to the day that we receive that inventory in our warehouse. We wanted to minimize the impact of lead times on our fulfillment, so we started mass-producing some parts even before finishing safety certification testing. Among other things, we’re already producing/sourcing these at scale:
Motor assembly
MCU
Parts of the cutting assembly
Accessories set
User manuals
Packaging
We share this with you because we want to provide some reassurance that we’re doing everything we can to keep our pace high and deliver quickly. We know it’s hard to wait, and we’re right there with you pushing for everything to be done faster.
We’re in the home stretch now, and it’s crazy to look back at the last year (almost) since our initial Kickstarter campaign. We’ve started from a little homemade prototype, and with all of your support and confidence, we’ve been able to create a sturdy and fun tool and scale up manufacturing.
We’re so excited for you all to receive your rewards and pre-orders in a few months. In our next update we hope we’ll be telling you the first units are on a boat, and that we’re locking addresses!
Thank you for the continued support and belief. If you have any questions or concerns, or just want to say hi, reach out to us at hello@itsinventable.com.
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