Please understand that preordering Osmose isn't possible for the moment, see here: Can I still preorder Osmose?
factory preparation:
- manufacturing of injection molds and industrial tools (completed)
first industrial Osmose series:
- complete review and quality control of the first industrial series. (completed)
final industrial adjustments:
- managing the sourcing of electronic components. (completed)
- preparation of the assembly line (completed)
- final quality checks (completed)
- final esthetic adjustments (completed)
- pilot production run/golden sample (completed)
- first dry run and thorough tests under real-world conditions (completed)
- in parallel: operator training (completed)
- production launch (completed)
- ramp-up of mass production (currently blocked)
- progressive shipments by sea from China factory to France (currently blocked)
- reception of first containers
- quality control of every single unit and first shipments to our Early Bird backers
- announcement of individual ETAs for every backer
- gradual reception, testing, and shipping of all reserved units in chronological order.
After having mastered the challenge of organizing the whole prototyping phase from a distance due to COVID-19, the conception phase of Osmose had been completed by the end of September 2020. Back in October 2020, we hoped that the situation would start to normalize, but due to the renewed lockdown in France and the borders remaining closed, we weren’t able to send our engineers to oversee the industrial production at the factory in Shanghai.
Therefore, we took the decision to set up a mirrored parallel production line locally in France. While production of the units will still take place at our industrial partner exclusively, the mirrored production line in France allows us to remotely oversee and manage all the quality-control processes despite the circumstances.
We received all the parts of the first industrially manufactured Osmoses in January 2021. We then had to work on final industrial adjustments, a phase that is crucial to ensure that all parts of the mass production product will work together seamlessly. Unfortunately, with still no possibility to send our engineers to the factory for giving real-time feedback on-site, each iteration of components needed to be shipped from China to France in order to be surveyed in person, causing several week-long delays.
In June 2021, despite the global market of electronic components still being severely disrupted. we were happy to announce that after months of negotiations and sourcing inquiries, enough components could be secured to guarantee the production of all Osmose units that had been reserved back at the end of 2019.
In August 2021, we began to work on the "final industrial Osmose series" phase - the ultimate test production that precedes the launch of the mass production. The quality control of this final step had shown that in order to guarantee an impeccable first mass production run, there would need to be minor readjustments and optimizations made in the production line.
At the end of 2021, the pilot production run was successfully completed and the first photos of the finished hardware with final esthetics were made available to our backers. At the beginning of 2022, the production of an initial batch with a small number of units underwent comprehensive real-world tests in our offices and studios. After minor adjustments, the production was finally launched at the End of February 2022.
Unfortunately, a new upsurge of COVID-19 in China, particularly in the Shanghai region, blocked our plan to gradually ramp up the number of units produced every day until the first batch of products would be ready for shipment via boat containers. Our factory has been shut down by the government authorities on March 28th 2022 and the port of Shanghai is meeting heavy congestion, most probably leading to knock-on effects around the world.
Therefore, it was with sadness that we had to inform our backers that the first deliveries of Osmose cannot be fulfilled in June 2022 as previously announced.
As of May 1st, 2022, we are still waiting for the authorization to reopen the factory. Once the impact of the situation has been fully assessed, we will be able to update our schedule accordingly and communicate a new ETA for the first container.
Shipping by container will take about two months door-to-door. We will test units one by one in France to ensure impeccable quality before we eventually start to deliver to our backers. This is necessary due to China's Zero Covid strategy that still keeps us from sending our own engineers to the factory. The results from this inspection in France will determine the planning regarding the number of instruments that can be produced every week without compromising quality.
Once we have checked all first batch units, we will be able to communicate an ETA to every backer for their specific unit for the first time.