Update for the re_computer case

It has been one month since the last update blog for the re_computer case. During the past month, we’ve been working closely with our suppliers in accelerating the delivery of the case. We apologize again for the delay of the case and we are trying our best to push the progress and ensure the quality at the same time.

In today’s blog, I will update the following progress and the issue we met:

• Update about the distortion issue.
• Update the number that has been manufactured and shipped.
• The new issue we encountered.

We have solved the distortion issue

In the last blog Aluminum Anodizing Process and Update for re_computer Case, we mentioned about the distortion issue. It turns out that there are several factors that caused the distortion.

• The material’s distortion
• The design of the mold
• The process of CNC

We found out that before the CNC process, the aluminum extrusion material itself has a little distortion, but it is still within the spec.

Since the material could be changed for the first batch, the mold could not be modified very quickly, we decided to utilize the CNC process. By changing the order of each CNC steps, we are able to make the final dimensions getting close to the spec.

There is still a tiny distortion for the current version, in order to make the lid assembled with the aluminum case more smoothly. We also make the lid slightly smaller so that it can be fitted in the case perfectly.

50+ pieces of the case is on the way

We planned to ship 100 pieces by May 15th, and 200 pcs by May 22nd, and the rest orders by the end of May. However, the result is far away from what we promised and expected,

By the end of May 20th, we have shipped 50 pcs cases and will ship 150 more soon. There are more than half of the orders that could not be delivered for the first batch.

The new issue we are encountering

It is not because we didn’t prepare enough material, we have prepared aluminum material for 1000pcs case for the first batch, however, we are now encountering cosmetic issues. Here are some photos of the cosmetic defect.

Basically, there are two kinds of cosmetic defects.

• One type is the aluminum is very soft, easy to be damaged,
• Another type is the white point caused by anodizing failure.

We have set a relatively high-quality requirement of the appearance, we could not accept the defect in the above photos. After sorting the whole 1000pcs case, it turns out that the defect rate is very high, there are only about 200 pcs case can meet our requirement.

The high defect rate has caused another problem: the cost of the case has increased a lot. In order to provide the product with better quality, we have to increase the price of the product before we can decrease the defect rate.

The delivery for the next batch

We are now trying our best to push the order of the second batch and there will be an update for the next batch by next Monday.

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