Production Update From The Factory

Production Update From The Factory

First of all, as you’ll probably be wondering, we’re on schedule for delivering bikes in April 2023.

The PlayPulse ONE is currently in its final stages of minor adjustments before going into mass production. With covid restrictions to Taiwan finally lifted, Pia (Head of Hardware) was finally able to visit our production partner to personally oversee the final iterations . Even though she has quite a busy schedule, she still managed to squeeze in some time to send us a little “postcard”.

 

 


Hey!

I made this postcard and thought you might like it 😄 I’ve been so busy while I’ve been here, but wanted to give you an update on where we’re at and what I’ve been up to! I’m so excited to finally be in Taiwan, as I had to wait until it was legally permitted to travel here due to covid - otherwise we would have been here many times earlier to test along the process.

Most days I get up, have a coffee and catch up on some work at the hotel room. Then I meet the guys from QDesign (our partners), and I usually have lunch with them. Then we go to our manufacturer’s office, where we sit and work on all sorts of little details. At the end of the day I go back home and have some meetings to update the Norwegian team and catch up on emails.

Basically, I’m here to overlook and review different phases of the final product development. We visit the place where the full bike is being produced and visit the factories to review the different components there.

PlayPulse production_collage


We have to confirm that the output for all the tools are correct, and to confirm the ‘golden prototype’ that will serve as the standard for production of our product. We’ve also had to wait for the tools to be ready because different stages can’t be tested until we have all the parts for all the tools. (Fun fact: The mold for the body of the bike weighs 4.4 tons—and took almost 3 months to make!) You can’t even imagine how many tiny little details I have to check over and review for this bike! Every little logo, the knobs, symbols on the buttons, bits and bobs all have to be looked at, re-looked at, and approved for the final design!

PlayPulse production collage

Besides work I’ve had lots of great boba tea and sushi boats, and I even found starfruit in the park, which I tried. Oh! I also experienced my first earthquake—it was a 5.1, in the middle of the night. My whole bed was shaking and I was a bit scared since I’m on the 8th floor, but don’t worry, I survived.

  PlayPulse food collage Taiwan

Anyways, what’s most exciting is that we just finished our golden prototype today, which means we will begin to implement that standard on EVT (Engineering Verification Test) units. EVTs are made from tools/molds, whereas former prototypes have been handmade so they are more expensive and take longer time. EVTs can also be mass produced, and are a later iteration than the prototypes, so there are many improvements and things that have been changed. The EVTs have been improved functionally to be more stable, with a different finish, new fastening units that make it easier to adjust the height of the bike, and overall are a lot closer to the final product.

Now we’re in the process of making 25 units (the first of which should be ready by the end of this week!) to test and confirm that they can be made this way and everything works the way it should and looks correct, since it’s easier to check over our work in a physical product rather than on paper. (And we definitely want to make sure it’s perfect as can be before it gets to you!)

Overall, we’re making heaps of progress towards our goal and are SO excited for you to see the final product!

Talk soon,
Pia

PlayPulse factory images collage