icebreaker - ice cubes made easy

August Update
over 6 years ago – Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 01:39:03 AM

Dear Backers,
It’s time for an update, but sadly this one is not as happy as the last one.
As we reported last time, the production started out very well, and we have produced 1/3 of the crowdfunding batch. In such production flow, all the QA processes are in action – Luckily! Even though a part of the In-Process-Quality-Control (IPQC) is a vacuum test of ALL products, our Out-going-Quality-Control (OQC) found a problem: in the OQC some products where NOT watertight, when testing with water (whereas it was found air tight in vacuum test).

By result the production is stopped until the problem is error-diagnosed.
We have located the root-course to be the silicone gasket, which is received from a sub-contractor. The rest of the batch is rejected and a new batch of gaskets is in production. This means, that we have to change the gaskets in more than 1000 products, which is a time consuming and expensive process, which we are not at all happy with.

But, we are not shipping anything before we are in control. We furthermore decided to once more, go to China, to facilitate the validation of the QA process and the products, and to re-setup the test equipment to be able to diagnose the new gasket issue going forth.  

We are in China all of this week, and the next, and we will report to you as soon as we know more.  

We are trying hard not to lose our nerve and to be patient – and we hope you are able to do so as well.

All the best, 
Kim & the icebreaker team

Confirmation of Shipping Address
over 6 years ago – Sat, Aug 19, 2017 at 01:15:53 AM

Hi guys, 

As you saw in the last update it wont be long (knock on wood) before your ICEBREAKER(s) are ready for shipment.
In this connection, we have had quite a few enquiries about the confirmation of shipping address - maybe you moved? Maybe you are not sure you wrote the house number correct? 
Fear not - a week before the products are shipped from our production site, we will send out a survey asking you to confirm your shipping address.  

So just hang tight (we already know you are good at that ;) 

Have a great Friday and an awesome weekend.

Cheers
Sahra - icebreaker team

WE HAVE STARTEDE PRODUCTION!
over 6 years ago – Wed, Aug 16, 2017 at 11:26:48 PM

Hi guys...

So, the saying goes that 3rd time is the charm. Well, that wasn’t quite enough for us – we needed 5 visits to our factory in China, to finally be able to announce:
“WE HAVE STARTED THE PRODUCTION!” ☺

I have just returned from China, looking back on a very hectic week with the last adjustments of the setup. We were very challenged by new plastic materials that could not be released from customs, and challenged by a range of new tolerance issues, which always show when you ramp the production up from a few hundred to the 3800 units we are to produce for our backers. On the other hand, the material that failed in test have finally been replaced with a new material that passed, and we have approved the changes implemented due to the issues from our last visit. 

During the week, we have reviewed all the new measurement reports from the production of the 18 plastic parts - again, we have practiced the assembly - again, we have practiced and tested the QA procedures - again, we have tested the new ICEBREAKERs – again and again - and finally we have enjoyed the ICEBREAKER and a lot of cool ice cubes in China, where it is very hot right now.
By now, the first 400 ICEBREAKERS are assembled, and the production will continue the following 2 weeks, and we expect to be able to ship all units from China to Europe on August 30 where they will be distributed and sent out all over the world to you guys. Once we have the 30th finally confirmed, we will hereafter be able to update you with a distribution schedule as to when your ICEBREAKER(s) will be labelled and shipped to you.

The finish line is just ahead you guys and nobody is happier about that than we are ☺

Cheers
Kim & the icebreaker team

Status on production
almost 7 years ago – Wed, Jul 26, 2017 at 08:00:58 PM

Dear Backers

We have just received the latest news from the production site in China, and sadly it is not all the great news we had hoped for, but here is what we know now..

We are happy to say that we have resolved and implemented the final improvement of the slow filling and sensitivity to lime scale! However, we unfortunately also have to conclude that all production issues are still not in place. As a result, we did not approve production start as we had hoped we would.

Among a range of issues, I will list a few:
- Materials test:
The material that failed in test, failed the retest as well, as the sub supplier did not do as instructed. That is frustrating because it not only takes time but also money. But of course we will continue until the material passes.
- Pick-up:
Several Pilot Testers noted that sometimes the ICEBREAKER would not close after dispensing, making it unable to refill. We have now analyzed the root cause of this, and found that is due to parts out of spec in respect to how much the parts are bending. The quality specification is now updated and we expect the problem solved in the next batch.
- Colors: We have had some issues in getting the colors right. Now we have changed the method. Before we where striving for flexibility by having the production site mix the colors them selves, but now we are buying the materials pre-colored. As one result, the cool gray, as used for Test Pilots, has now become really really nice!

So to sum up the status, the production is closing up on all the open issues, and we planned a new test build the second week of august, where we once again will go to China, to hopefully, approve and push the button to continue production.

We understand the expressed frustration and we hope you know that we share it too. If you have any questions or comments - something you would like to know more about (except for the exact delivery date), please let us know in a comment or in a mail ([email protected]).

We will return as soon as we have any news.

Thank you!
/Kim & the team

July Update
almost 7 years ago – Wed, Jul 05, 2017 at 10:16:01 PM

Hi all,
Hope you guys are enjoying the summer time – and that the weather is better where you are than here in rainy Denmark.

We have just returned from the production site in China after reviewing the changes implemented after the feedback from the Test Pilot period. The majority of both the usability and the stability design have been accommodated – including an improved drop performance – see video below

As we have stated several times, we are very focused on the quality of our product and as a part of this quality control, we have made a chemical test of the plastic and silicon material used in the ICEBREAKER to verify the purity and the presence of banded substances. We are happy to say that all but one of the materials passed. One component failed and we are now in the process of testing a new material as well as removing the banded component in order to fulfil our quality demands.

Another element to our quality testing has been to perform a transportation test at a certified lab including vibration, temp cycles and drop all in order to simulate the hard treatment the product will be exposed to during the transportation from China and out into the world. Here we also encountered several issues, which have resulted in some changes in packaging. This caused, another, short delay but was a necessary precaution. We would not want to finally send you your long-awaited ICEBREAKER only for you to receive a damaged product.

With all these latest modifications in place, on July 10th we will be traveling, yet again, to China to review the final parts, and if we find them to be – which we very much believe we will – alright, the final production of ICEBREAKER for all Backers will start. We will of course keep close contact while we are in China and as soon as we have news, you guys will hear from us. Probably around the 14th of July.

Until then…

All the best,
Kim & the team