This customer was sourcing from another manufacturer for over 2 years prior to finding Kenvox. During this time, they had a negative experience, wasting a lot of money and time on the design, prototyping, tooling/molds, and mass production. After several back to back delays, the customer realized this manufacturer would not be a good fit. During their search for a new vendor, the customer found Kenvox and immediately decided to move the project to us.

At first, our customer asked to get die-casting molds made for the metal parts followed by anodizing to get a color similar to the iPad. The cost for all the molds came out to 70,000USD. After further review of the project and potential order quantity, Kenvox suggested to switch to CNC machining to save on cost. We then refunded the full 70,000USD to the customer.

This case contains a Bluetooth 3.0 keyboard, a lithium-ion battery, plastic parts, metal parts, silicone parts, packaging, etc. Once you insert the iPad into the dock, it functions like a laptop. It also a support stand for the iPad, which makes it more convenient to use.

This product has a total of 29 different parts, including plastic, metal, silicone, leather, PCB, cables, etc.

The customer had high expectations for the hinge of the case, requiring it to self-lock and other special functions. Since it is a 4 piece hinge that controls the turning, it was difficult to make a different hinge with the same functions. 10 different hinges were tested until we found a solution that satisfied the requirement.

The thickness for the aluminum plate was too thick eliminating stamping as a viable option. CNC machining would be cost prohibitive as an alternative. Kenvox suggested to remove the rib and pillar features on the plate reducing the thickness to 2mm, similar to a different project produced at Kenvox.

The 12 screw holes can be seen from the inner face and was visually unpleasant. The suggestion was made to use a piece of adhesive cloth from the inside to cover the holes greatly improving the aethetics.