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Connected family start-up co-creates a design and scales production of first GPS watch designed for small children
Customer
hereO
Product
Wearable GPS tracking device
Services
Sketch-to-Scale, Design for reliability, Design for manufacturing, New product introduction
Breaking new ground across intelligent technologies, telecommunications and child safety, the hereO GPS Watch is the world's smallest real-time connected GPS tracking device specifically designed for children. Flex Sketch-to-Scale® solutions enabled hereO to optimize design, engineering, procurement and production capabilities in support of their 2017 global launch.
Business objective
On a fateful day at the San Diego Zoo in 2011, an idea was born when a child went briefly missing. Daniel Ivesha, co-founder of hereO, pursued his idea and developed a wearable location-sharing device that connects parents and children for safety and peace of mind.
Lacking expertise in high-volume production, hereO was uncertain how—both technologically and operationally—to optimize their supply chain and mass produce their device for consumers worldwide. "We needed to scale up and fast. Not only was our existing manufacturer not capable of handling the type of scale we needed, but we were also just too involved with the day-to-day production processes which demanded scarce resources and detracted from what we did best: design, development, and deployment of a world-class connected-family IoT ecosystem." says Jonathan Meister, VP Strategic Partnerships at hereO.
hereO benefited greatly from the Flex Sketch-to-Scale offering. We have teams from Flex supporting us with design, mechanical engineering and production, as well as supply chain and procurement. It's an impressive spectrum of services, and we're very fortunate to have Flex as a partner.- Jonathan Meister, VP Strategic Partnerships at hereO
Solution
Flex accepted the challenge, enabling hereO to maximize the benefits of Sketch-to-Scale solutions. By optimizing the design of the GPS Watch for manufacturing, Flex helped hereO scale production from 1,000 to 100,000 units. In the process, Flex improved the water and shock resistance of the device while dramatically reducing manufacturing costs and speeding turnaround times.
Result
Through the industry's only Sketch-to-Scale solution, Flex rapidly streamlined hereO's supply chain and scaled production to meet global demand. The partnership freed up time and resources for hereO to focus on the global expansion of the world's first GPS Watch designed specifically for small children.
