Your August Customer Update
For your convenience, below you can find the contents of the forthcoming Vestaboard Customer Update email, which will be sent in the coming days. We'll be sending one Customer Update email per month and posting more often here in the portal.
Thank you for being our customer! Because of you, Vestaboard is being brought to life and the most important and complex component -- the character unit Bit -- is now being produced at our partner factory. We are already testing and iterating to continue production on the factory-made Bits (EVT), and we're building a Vestaboard (EVT) with them next week!
The most frequently asked customer question is, "When is my exact shipping date?" We will release a schedule after the factory-produced Vestaboard units (EVT) are tested in October. More information can be found below as well as in the Customer Portal.
If you have any balance outstanding, you are not required to pay until we give you an exact shipment date though earlier payments are helpful to our planning. We are grateful for the overwhelming support and patience of our customers!
Production and shipping
Above: Every manufactured character unit "Bit" will undergo automated optical inspection (AOI) at our partner factory to ensure proper assembly and motor/sensor functionality
A Vestaboard using the manufactured Bits will be assembled in San Francisco within a week, which then enables us to authorize our partner factory to build more Vestaboards for engineering validation and testing (EVT) and DVT, leading us to mass production with confidence in quality, as well as shipping and deliveries (details to come)! Check out the recently updated production post (originally shared in April) in the portal for more info. If you're in San Francisco, come by and see this brand-new build! Reply to schedule an appointment.
Below: steel-cut tooling that is used to create the enclosed wheel containing the 64 flaps in every Bit
Customer Story: Greg of Coffeebar
Recently, we shared our customer Meredith's story. She and her family, including her kids age 10 and 13 who don't yet have cell phones, have loved their digital test prototype. Now, we're sharing with you the story of Vestaboard customer Greg Buchheister of Coffeebar:
Greg, a former champion ski racer turned coffee expert, likes to say, "Nothing that is easy is ever worth doing." Keep an eye out for that quote flashing across the Vestaboards at Coffeebar next time you stop in to their Menlo Park location!
Log into the portal to enjoy videos of Greg's Vestaboard story.
Evolution of the Bit: from concept to factory produced
Above: The factory produced Bit, all black except the characters and color flaps. No wires!
We have added a post inside the portal that walks you through the evolution of the Bit from concept to factory produced. Specifically, you can see how far we have come to realize the manufacturing of a sleek character unit since our first public demo at CES in 2018.
Your next Customer Update will include another customer story, a team story about our designed Fred and Anson of Bould Design, and more. In the meantime, we'll be posting additional portal updates to share more photos, videos and stories. Follow us on instagram @vestaboard for more news. Visit our San Francisco office to see Vestaboard by appointment. Thank you!