Molds are go go go. A few weeks ago, the manufacturing process kicked off and a team of engineers has been designing the molds to manufacture Cuddy - and they’ve nearly finished! Meanwhile, to expedite making Cuddy’s molds, they have already ordered the steel required to make them. They’ll shortly present the mold designs to the Californian manufacturer, UPM, and our product designer, for review. The engineers can then start cutting the steel into shape as soon as everyone agrees the mold designs look good. However, due to earlier delays, the mold makers are now certain that the molds won’t be ready before January.
No Chinese assembly. A few weeks ago we told you that we were looking into manufacturing the first batch of Cuddys in China in order to get everyone their Cuddy as soon as possible. However, as we explored this option we realized it would require significant changes to our supply chain, increase freight costs, and lastly, many backers reached out and said they would prefer for their Cuddy to be assembled in the US. We want to ensure everyone receives a high-quality product that arrives safely so have decided to wait for the molds to arrive in the USA to assemble Cuddy. Assembly in the USA will give us greater oversight of the manufacturing process and the important quality control step before Cuddy is shipped.
Shipping Timeline The molds need to arrive at the factory in California before production can begin. Due to the delayed mold timeline, we are conservatively expecting them to be on the water after the Chinese new year celebrations in February. This pushes the USA-arrival date to March, at which point production could begin for shipment in March-April. We’re crushed to have to push back the timeline again, but want to remain open and transparent with our backers. The challenges we faced on this journey of taking Cuddy from prototype to production have been harder than expected.
Thank you for supporting us along the way.
The good news is that it appears the worst is behind us now that the molds are underway. Meanwhile, we are doing everything we can to ensure we’re prepared to begin assembly and to deliver a quality product to our backers as quickly as possible.
We understand our backers may be in different locations when Cuddy begins to ship. Don’t worry we will confirm everyone’s final delivery addresses before shipment.
Many thanks for your continued support, Richard.
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