HEY QI AERISTA FANS!  

Here comes our regular project update, which will focus on the latest brewer developments. Updates regarding our featured tea selections will be sent in a separate post.

Manufacturing Update

Brewer

We have visited our manufacturer's factory this past week to review the latest production samples and discuss on mass production plans. Tens of production samples have been assembled to undergo rounds of internal testing. 

One of the important metrics is product weight, which we aim to limit to 1.8 kg (4 lb) for better logistics management. Based on our production sample, the pot and base each weighs 0.95 kg (2.1 lb) and 0.56 kg (1.2 lb), respectively. So the total weight comes to 1.5 kg (3.3 lb), which is well below our limit.

Next week we expect to receive a new round of production samples, which will include full color finishing that resembles our final product. We are also preparing our production samples and paperwork to external labs for safety certification.  

PCBA

After rigorous testing, we have verified our PCBA hardware design for the go ahead with trial production. Our PCBA manufacturer then rolled out tens of PCBAs for our next batch of brewer samples on their automatic assembly line. 

We are also conducting various in-brewer PCBA tests in our PCBA manufacturer's in-house lab to verify our design meets the relevant safety certification requirements. 

App

Android app debugging is almost done while iOS app still needs a bit more debugging work as more bugs turned up this week. Both should be done by next week.

Timeline 

 Here's our scheduled timeline leading to brewer production and shipment. 

 - End of Jan - Submission of brewer samples to external labs for safety certification 

 - Early Feb - Second batch of production-version samples ready 

 - Mid Feb - Chinese New Year (all work ceases for 2-3 weeks) 

 - Early Mar - Materials preparation for mass production 

 - Early Apr - First pilot production run 

 - Late Apr - Mass production and shipment 

 Over the next 2 weeks we will see: 

 - Continued internal testing for production version brewer samples 

 - Safety certification testing at external labs 

 - Beta testing for Android app 

 - Preparation for beta testing for iOS app 

 - Work with manufacturing partners to move forward mass production plan

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Qi Aerista Tea & Smart Brewer, Created for Busy Tea Lovers!  

Cheers,  

Rick @ Qi Aerista!