It's been exactly 3 months since our last post - although it's summertime and we've all been recharging our batteries for a bit, it doesn't mean we haven't made any progress in the meantime.
Actually it's been quite the opposite...
We started to industrialize our hardware design in May, and due to the round shape of the Band, we needed to redesign our PCB material to match its shape by using a flex-rigid solution, meaning some of the electronics remain on a rigid board while others are placed on a flexible material. We did redesign it all twice because the first time we were exceeding the manufacturing costs to keep the affordable retail price in the future.
After some consultations with our mentors and advisors, we met with Macer Sweden AB, one of Europe’s leading PCB solution providers, and decided to partner up and design new, high-end flex circuit boards. While this took care of flex boards, we realized that we needed to find a local partner for the rigid board in order to keep the overall production costs in check.
For this, we chose selected a Tallinn-based PCB manufacturer Kamitra, who came highly recommended by many, for both quality of products and speed of delivery.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Konstantin in action @ Jomi BBQ
In the middle of the summer we had our very first Jomi BBQ which will probably become our tradition from now on. The team had an opportunity to discuss about all the ideas and issues, fix our coming plans and of course - go to sauna together.
After solving our design issues, we now had to seek out an electronic manufacturing company to actually assemble the components on board. Our team visited Oshino Electronics Estonia, and they walked us through every step of their manufacturing process and offered advice on how to streamline our production. Impressed by their expertise, we knew we had found the right guys for the job.
Now that we had the whole production process in place, it was time to start focusing on the other piece of the puzzle – the software. After several meetings with the prestigious developer house Codeborne, we were able to secure a deal, forming a team that is going to be taking care of all the back- and front-end development for Jomi’s platform and mobile app. As of today, the hardware is exchanging information with the iPhone app, which in turn is relaying it to the online platform.
So, what’s in store for Jomi in the coming months? Well, we have been invited for a meeting with Danone’s Research and Innovation department in Paris in September. Our goal for this trip is to find ways for mutual collaboration, and to conduct some information exchange relating to nutrition and water needs. Also, Jomi has been invited as an exhibitor to Web Summit in Dublin, which will take place during October 30-31. Our team will be there to provide a progress report, our future plans, and of course, to talk about water : )
We hope to see all of you there!
All the best,
Andre
