Hi everyone,
So... it finally happened! There are thousands of Pillow Talks in existence in the world!
Last Minute Hiccups
We suffered a few minor setbacks over the past couple of weeks. They are building a new subway system in the region of Shenzhen where most of our factories are, which means there is a lot of city-wide construction work going on. Locals are often given a day or two of notice that the power supply is going to be cut off (sometimes none at all).
To say this has been frustrating is an understatement! We have been in China for weeks, and at least twice a week some of our factories have been unable to do anything due to a lack of electricity.
Just as our patience was wearing thin and the shipping company were starting to sweat, our production manager, Victor, managed to call in some favours and keep things moving for us. Not all angels have wings!
Mass Production
With all the various parts and components made and ready to go, the final step was to deliver everything to the assembly house. You'll have seen photos of this process in previous updates; it's a long workstation where the products are put together, tested and boxed. It runs like a military operation and is quite spectacular to watch.
Last week we turned up, buzzing with excitement, ready to watch Pillow Talk finally come to life. Whilst strolling past all the parts, we noticed some of the wristband parts didn't look quite right. Upon further inspection, almost the entire batch were inconsistent.
After cycling through various emotional states of anger, disappointment, frustration and fear, we were told we faced two choices: accept them and let assembly finish, or reject the entire batch and delay everything by a day or two.
In the end, we rejected the entire batch. It was decided we have spent too much money (and too many years!) to just accept something not being perfect.
The good news is that China is very efficient, and a new batch were made in a matter of days. So in the end, mass production went okay - albeit a few days later than planned :)
Wristband pucks
Speakers
Now for the good news... shipping!
Most days this week Pillow Talks have been assembled, boxed, packed and labelled with shipping information. At 5pm every day for the past few days, the courier has come to collect everything that has been made that day and taken them away to be shipped (we're sending them out in the order we received them).
We've opted to pay a lot of money to send everything expedited delivery, so that everyone will receive their products by Christmas. If you placed an order before Dec 15th 2017 (and we have all of your information!) then your order is in a box and en route!
You will all receive tracking information in due course. Please bear with us on this one!
Red wristbands being boxed
Thank you!
We will post another update in a couple of days when the dust has settled and everyone has been issued with their tracking information. We're almost there! I hope you guys are as excited as we are :)
Thank you again for your patience and thanks for sticking with us.
With love,
Joanna and the Little Riot Team
xxx