Seymour recently visited the manufacturer to see the second thingCHARGER model. The model is a success and the team made the decision to move forward to manufacturing.

Manufacturing & shipping timetable

Important Note:
Tooling, Certification and Manufacturing are inherently complex and unpredictable. What follows is a realistic timetable that with good fortune may shorten by a few weeks and with certain (now unlikely) circumstances could extend by several months.

We listen to and consider all the ideas from our supporters. The most important of these, and its been a critical improvement, is the adjustable tips. This massive improvement has significantly increased the time to production; but  we are on track and have a fully realistic to timetable for fulfillment.

The tooling process - where we create the mold and manufacturing tools for production - is now authorized and underway.

Around about Thanksgiving we expect T-1 - the first iteration of the tool, not yet completed, but sufficiently refined to produce the first sample thingCHARGERs off the line.

There is a small chance that T1 will produce samples sufficiently refined that they can be submitted for UL certification. More usually the final finished tool is required - we expect that at the end of the year.

UL testing will take approximately 10 - 12 weeks. We should confirm UL certification by mid-late March.

After UL Certification, we anticipate production late March and shipping beginning in April.

As you know, thingCHARGER is our own invention, and from the start, we knew that to deliver the highest quality product possible, with all of the capabilities we promised, we had to find the right manufacturing partner.

We can’t understate how important this is.

Stories abound of inventors sending money off to manufacturers and getting sub-standard or dangerous goods in return. If you’ve backed other crowdfunded projects, you’ve likely encountered at least one final product that just wasn’t up to standard. Without expertise in manufacturing, the entire project could easily be put in jeopardy.

And when your product is an electrical product that plugs into the wall of your home, quality (and safety) becomes 1000x more important. We thought we had a great manufacturing partner from the get-go, but things didn’t materialize as we would have liked and the partnership wasn’t a good fit.

Today, we cracked it.

We reached a critical milestone in the development of thingCHARGER by finalizing and signing a licensing agreement with P3 International, a New York City-based privately owned manufacturer and distributor. While it took until today to get the formal agreement (so we could actually let you know about this!) a lot of work has been done with P3 over the last four months on product development and manufacturing (including designs, molds and certifications) while we worked out the legal details.

P3 is extremely enthusiastic about bringing to market the highest quality product possible without cutting corners on quality or safety. We are still leading the process of creating thingCHARGER as we originally envisioned it. P3’s 25 years of experience in manufacturing means we can combine our design with world-class execution.

Why P3? We love these guys.

They get thingCHARGER and are far more excited about creating it than any of the other potential licensees we considered. The beauty is that P3 isn’t some giant faceless corporation, so thingCHARGER really matters to them. But - with several previous products selling in the millions of units - they are large enough to handle the rapidly growing demand for thingCHARGER, which is proving so much greater than we ever imagined at this stage. Over the past 25 years, P3 has proven itself time and time again with great products and fantastic quality. We’re thrilled to be working with them.

We know you’re as eager as we are to have your thingCHARGERS in hand. Please stay tuned over the next few weeks as we will be able to share more details with you. It’s happening!

Amy, Seymour & the thingCHARGER team.