Updated shipping dates and detailed info on the production process
Hi everyone!
This is Dmitri, CEO of Boost Surfing, and I’ve got a big update today. We are still actively working on finalizing the launch of mass production of the fins and starting shipping.
A small problem with an antenna emerged during the assembling of the first 50 fins. There were no issues with the test units, but a hard antenna didn’t fit ideally on the final samples – it sticks half a millimetre out and we’re not happy with it. We are going to use different material now and change the painting method. And then we will wait for the new version of the antenna for testing.
After such news, we’ve decided to conduct a deep review and realized that some deadlines are too optimistic, and frankly speaking, they can be achieved only in case of perfect performance and in the absence of delays in samples delivery, communication, and inaccurate models from factories.
At the same time, during the last month, we’ve been actively looking for someone in China who could control the production and speed up some processes, and we found him. He will start next week. Apart from speeding up production processes, he will be able to share the additional photo and video content.
Unfortunately, we still are unable to get the visas to travel there ourselves, so we’ve made a decision to find someone on the spot.
Thereby, I don’t want to announce specific dates when we can ship the fins. We’ve already been mistaken several times and don’t want to give unnecessary optimistic expectations (even if the whole team believes in them and does everything possible to make them happen).
However, I understand that might be uncomfortable without some dates at all, so I will give approximate estimates that we are focusing on with current tasks.
In short, we plan to start shipping the first batch of 1000 units in December. Currently, all the problems are clear and there should be no more delays.
It differs a lot from the timeline we’ve announced previously, but after having a discussion with the entire team and production, assessing the potential risks – those dates look the most realistic.
I’ve noticed that usually your worries and your feedback are not related to when the fins will arrive, but to the fact that it’s not always clear what’s been done and what’s left to do to start the shipping.
That’s why we decided to add a few important things to increase our transparency:
- We’ve created a special page for the updates, which we will post info on several times a week. In addition to the updates, there is a list of all the tasks that we need to resolve before starting shipping so that you can understand what tasks we currently have and see a list of what needs to be done.
- We will post regular updates (several times a week) on our Facebook, Instagram pages as well as in the private Facebook group. At the end of the week, we will gather all the info into a big email update.
Here are a few photos from the production I’d like to share today – the Fin after the painting process, PCBs production and the current version of the box. Check out our status page here to keep track of our production process and see more photos:
If you have any more ideas or suggestions about what you would like to see in the news and updates – send me an email at [email protected].
In conclusion, I want to express gratitude to everyone for your massive support. I regularly read emails, comments, posts in our private group and I am glad that you support us so much! It helps us a lot to move forward and constantly improve the product.
Thank you,
Dmitri.
