These are the steps to build a beach chair... apparently.
If you’re ever curious about how to manufacture a beach chair, ask me. I’d be happy to confuse the shit out of you. It starts with a commercial real estate guy (me) trying to figure out how to build a supply chain that does not exist.
Fast forward... we have serious progress to report. Below are pictures of the steel molds. The armrests, towel bar, and base are the pieces of our chair built from ocean plastics. We've created each mold, basically a really expensive cookie cutter, to form these chair components from the melted ocean plastics.
We raised $30k through Kickstarter. These chair component cookie cutters, $50k. Told you, expensive.
Next up, raw material, or the building blocks of the chair - aluminum, stainless steel, ocean plastic. Once we have all the raw material and the molding is complete, we will create mass production samples or a final prototype. These prototypes need to be the shining examples at the factory to ensure perfect replication. Basically... ‘this is what is looks like, don’t screw it up people.’
As you read this, molds are being finalized. Fingers crossed, the final samples/prototypes will follow soon after. All this must be said and done by January 25th, the start of the Chinese New Year. During this time, our manufacturers shut down the factory for an entire month of vacation! So you can imagine how high the pressure is to get these last final steps just right.
Once the prototype arrives in New Jersey, the testing begins. This involves me sitting in the chair and trying to fold it. Carry it. Bend it. Beat it up a bit to ensure it's the quality we expect. All while my wife makes faces at me. You know, the one face that basically tells me ‘they better of got it right...'
Anyway, I digress. Once we have a FINAL prototype approval, the example we are proud of, next up is production. Finally!
Christmas is coming and so is the Chinese New Year. The goal always has been and remains to build a chair of ocean plastics. Not as easy as it sounds, but we’re getting there. If anyone knows SC, Santa, Saint Nick, Mr. Claus, The Big Guy... Please put in a good word for us.
We'll take all the help we can get this holiday season.