Manufacturing
First, some numbers
To put in perspective the scale we are manufacturing, if you lined up all the Docks, it would stretch 5,500 ft: over a mile of precision machined aluminum. Over 26 miles of USB cords, 100k+ screws, 30,000+ lbs of aluminum.
And this is truly a global project. We are shipping to 94 different countries. Docks will be headed to Mauritias, New Caledonia, Turkmenistan, even inside the walls of Vatican City.
The first 10k lbs of aluminum came in a standard size extruded rectangle, the +20k behind that is an extrusion from a custom die we had made that is .03" oversize the side profile so we cut down on machine time and waste. Did we mention the aluminum is recycled?
Schedule
Barring any fit or quality issues with the first run of parts we get, we should be able to start final assembly and shipping on April 28th. Machining, assembly and shipping will certainly go through May. They will go out roughly in the order they were backed.
We are scheduled to shoot our first off-tool plastic parts for the connector mount structure on our three steel injection molds April 9th. The parts will be overnighted to us. If they look good, they will go into around-the-clock production, which should take only about a week to make all those parts.
We already have the silicone feet and switch pads, they look really good:
On the machining end, we have been running at a throttled down pace until we have those first internal production parts and know they fit correctly. There is no room for error when you are doing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of machining and at this scale. In this run of ~500 we are doing now, we are also mitigating quality issues and optimizing the toolpaths. When we know everything works and fits perfectly, we will crank it up to 2500-5000 docks per week - as fast the shop can go.
I will not be machining all the docks by hand like in the video (about a hundred folks asked, I'm sure you're all disappointed). However, they are getting the same amount of love from giant state-of-the-art horizontal CNC's all connected together with a robotic cell loading system.
We have ten custom fixturing plates (called tombstones) that hold 30 docks on 4 sides. The tombstones are loaded up with aluminum billet and put in queue to automatically go into an open machine when the tombstone in front is finished. Parts run 23 hours per day. It would be tough anyone to do it better/faster than this - these are the McLaren F1's of CNC machines and I'm told Apple uses the exact same ones.
All this machining and anodizing is going down in Sherwood, Oregon, home of Hopkins Elementary - the public school my grandparents founded during the Great Depression.
Thanks again,
Casey
12,521
Backers
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Funding period
Dec 13, 2011 -
Feb 11, 2012
(60 days)
- First created · 25 backed
- Has not connected Facebook
- Website: elevationlab.com
Pledge $59 or more
3726 backers
Get your own Elevation Dock in glass bead blasted finish (like on Apple unibody Macs). These will later retail for $90 if the project gets funded. CNC'd from solid aircraft aluminum, low friction connection, USB out. [US shipping included, add $20 for international]
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $79 or more
4179 backers
Get the Elevation Dock+ in glass bead blasted finish. The Dock+ adds shielded Line Level audio out plus USB power adapter. These will later retail for $120. [US shipping included, add $20 for international]
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $85 or more
1956 backers
Get the Elevation Dock+ in anodized Matte Black finish. The Dock+ adds shielded Line Level audio out plus USB power adapter. [Shipping included, add $20 for international]
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $118 or more
1918 backers
**Newly Added** Back Multiple Rewards: Select this level, add the total of the rewards you want, and enter that as pledge amount. For example, if you want two Matte Black Dock+ and one SunOrange Ltd Edition Dock+, you would enter $320 in the pledge amount (85+85+150=320). We will email you when funding is complete to reconfirm your order exactly. [USA shipping included, add just one $20 charge total for international shipping]
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $150 or more
196 backers
Get a special LimeGreen or SunOrange anodized Elevation Dock+ with lasered serial numbers. These beautiful finishes subtly change color at different angles and are exclusive only to KickStarter backers in this limited run. [We'll get your color choice when the project ends. Includes USA shipping, add $20 for international]
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $250 or more
229 backers
MultiPak: Get one limited edition LimeGreen Dock+ and 2x standard Elevation Docks for yourself or to give to friends and family to step up their docking experiences. [We'll get color choices from you when the project ends. Includes USA shipping, add $50 for international]
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $500 or more
178 backers
ProPak: Get 2x Matte Black Dock+, 2x standard Docks, plus both the limited edition LimeGreen and SunOrange Docks. Outfit everybody with the best dock made for the iPhone. [Includes USA shipping, add $50 for international]
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $2,000 or more
5 backers
**New** Reseller Pack - Get 15 standard Docks and 15 Dock+, both in bead blasted finish and in premium retail packaging. Tremendous discount from retail. [Insured USA shipping included. International shipping arranged by buyer]
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $5,000 or more
13 backers
**New** Distributer Pack - Get 100 standard Docks in bead blasted finish and in premium retail packaging. You will have these long before any other vendor. Retail is $90. [Insured USA shipping included. International shipping arranged by buyer]
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $10,000 or more
8 backers
**New** Distributer Pack+. Get 70 standard Elevation Docks, 62 Dock+ in bead blasted finish, and 25 Dock+ in Matte Black. All in premium retail packaging. Tremendous discount from retail. Email if you would like to customize this or do a higher level. [Free insured USA shipping. International shipping arranged by buyer]
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012
Comments
Creator Thomas Bauer on July 24, 2012
iI have not received my 4 Docks yet. Can you send me an update as to when they will be shipped
Creator Qwickset on April 26, 2012
Is the answer known to the "How much aluminum will be needed to fulfill backer orders" question yet?
Creator scott gurtman on April 25, 2012
Where is my elevation?
Creator Murad Ahmed on April 25, 2012
Can I just ask if you would be able to get tracked shipping?
Creator Rian on April 24, 2012
I just sent an message to update my shipping address. Could you check it?
Creator Gustavo Pagiossi on April 24, 2012
Where is my elevation?
Creator Angela Brown on April 17, 2012
Are you still going to send out an email about the size of the charge port? I ordered the glass bead blasted dock and the matte black dock+. My husband and I both have Otter box cases for our iPhones.
Creator James Seng on April 14, 2012
What happened with the customized lasering?
Creator Philip Nguyen on April 9, 2012
Who won the guessing comp?
Creator Nick Conforti on April 8, 2012
Looks great! Can't wait until we receive them should be sometime in May?
Creator David Elliott on April 6, 2012
@Don, I guess that's fine if I don't have to pay extra for shipping. It seems kind of silly to use aluminum for the device and then use such heavy packaging. I'm sure the condors won't mind getting plucked, since it's going to be extra hot down there this year.
Creator Don Rouse on April 6, 2012
I think he mentioned the packaging was going to be made out of depleted uranium and feathers plucked from a California Condor.
Creator K on April 6, 2012
Video would definitely be amazing.
Creator Benjamin Dean on April 5, 2012
What did you decide on packaging if I may ask? Something that can be recycled I hope?
Creator Keith Rains on April 5, 2012
Really a nice update! Holy Smoke, 30K pounds, that's a lotta beer cans. CNC machining is mesmerizing, a video would be sweet.
Anticipating the delivery.
Creator Or Sharir on April 5, 2012
30000 lbs of aluminium? I've totally missed the bonus question, even after taking the time to estimate the volume of the dock from the videos and the number of units from the types of rewords, looking up the density of aluminium, and taking into account the "just in case" factor, and I've only got to about 9000 lbs.
Any statistics on the distribution of guesses?
Creator Rob Cordosi on April 5, 2012
Nice job. Truly inspiring and impressive in scope and size. You make this seem so easy. Seriously looking forward to receiving my doc. Also looking forward to other great products you'll be bringing to us in the future.
Creator Ben on April 5, 2012
I'm sooooo excited to see them arrive at my door, when I rip apart the packaging and place my iphone into one of the docks! My iphone's lying on it's back charging beside my PC. Can't wait!
Creator Hugo Horta Ruivinho on April 5, 2012
Awesome update, loved to see all those photos and info that they come with... make me want the dock to arrive even more :)
Creator Dainius Blynas on April 5, 2012
Beautiful update - informing and interesting. I like what you do so far.
Creator Shawin on April 5, 2012
Hey Casey. Thanks for the updates. I think you meant "Mauritius", not 'Mauritas'.
I wonder if there is enough space in the dock to embed parts for inductive charging.
Creator dcorn078 on April 5, 2012
Great update!
Creator Josh Anderson on April 5, 2012
Awesome work, our congratulations. Mind blowing numbers on manufacturing. We're all super excited here! Thanks again!
Creator Andrew Westle on April 5, 2012
Thanks for the update Casey! Another video would be amazing!
Creator BECKY GORE on April 5, 2012
Love getting these updates. It really brings us into the process. Also shows the respect you have for your Backers and the project. Will definately back again. Thank you!
Creator Joseph Binotto on April 5, 2012
Thanks for the update.
Creator Mark Reid on April 4, 2012
Seems like a whole new spin on "Shipping in April".
Creator Allapon Hutasingh on April 4, 2012
Glad to hear some update since last time.
Totally understand amount of works that you have been through.
PS. Hope to have elevation dock on my desk on May!!
Creator Kelvin Tong on April 4, 2012
Great to see everything is coming along fine. Hurray!
Creator Adam Selby on April 4, 2012
Thanks for the update. Who won the survey question?
Creator chris watts on April 4, 2012
Greeting s from down under,
thanks for this update.
seems like you guys have been extremely busy and looks like you have done a great deal of work.
cant wait until my little bugger rocks up in the mail
all the very best
regards
chris watts
,elbourne,
australia
Creator countermind on April 4, 2012
Any way to come visit the shop or studio? I live in Washougal near Vancouver; it would be cool to see it first hand.
Creator Craig Jessup on April 4, 2012
Creepy. This update went live just as I'd opened Kickstarter to check on the status of this project!
Really interesting to see photos of the actual production process; this is one of the things I was really hoping would be a common theme as a result of backing development of a piece of hardware, and you've not disappointed!
I agree with the others - a video of the process would be an intriguing watch! :)
Creator Jiaming Xu on April 4, 2012
I will move to someplace else in May. Can I change my shipping address?
Creator Paul Gutman on April 4, 2012
Would love to see a video of the piece going through the line some day. This is amazing stuff--I'm so glad to be a part of it.
Creator Brian Wilson on April 4, 2012
Good to see an update! The pictures almost make me feel like I'm there! Maybe some videos? Anyways. I really like the way things are coming and I'm looking forward to having the best dock as well as the bragging rights for having it ;) haha good job Casey!
Creator Trever Pehrson on April 4, 2012
Casey,
I am getting extremely stoked to see this project move forward and the path it ha taken to get here! Thanks for keeping all of us posted. One questions though is it to late to change my order? I order just the brushed aluminum finish but after seeing the later etch I would really like to upgrade to the green or black finish with the Oregon ducks logo etched on it. Please let me know if this is possible. Thanks again!
Creator John Williams on April 4, 2012
So, assuming that you're one of the later backers, end of May is when we might expect the dock to arrive, correct?
Creator Toby Armitt on April 4, 2012
This is pretty exciting! It's cool to hear about the whole process. Can't wait to get mine in the mail!
Thank you
Creator Luke Petschauer on April 4, 2012
Let me be the third Luke in a row to say: looks great, can't wait!
Creator Anthony Warn on April 4, 2012
Nice work Casey. Like you straightforward update. Sounds like you've got this little project under control. Also love the link back to your community through the school ... I hope they are coping with much of the madness going on in education at the moment.
Creator Luke Abell on April 4, 2012
Can't wait!
Creator Luke Arduini on April 4, 2012
best kickstarter