Consumer Products
A wearable that could not survive its own ramp
A consumer hardware startup after a successful crowdfund
−38%
Distinct part numbers
2 → 0
Single-source lines
below target
Volume BOM cost
The problem
A crowdfunded wearable had shipped a small first batch successfully. Scaling to the full backer commitment exposed a bill of materials assembled from whatever was easy to buy in small quantities — several lines had no volume pricing, and two had no credible supply at all at the required quantity.
What we did
- 01
Reviewed the bill of materials line by line against volume availability rather than unit price alone.
- 02
Consolidated a scattered set of passives onto standard values and sizes, removing a large number of distinct part numbers.
- 03
Replaced two single-source parts with functionally qualified alternatives that had multiple suppliers.
- 04
Ran a pilot build on the revised bill of materials to confirm the substitutions behaved identically before committing to the full run.
Outcome
The revised bill of materials was quotable at volume from more than one supplier on every critical line, and landed materially below the original per-unit cost. The full run shipped without a supply-driven delay.
A worked example: a representative problem of this type, and the reasoning we would apply to it.
Next project
A robot arm whose encoder lied under load