Design vs. Price

It has long been KT Group ethos to be a company with design before cost and it has been one of the major contributors to our 10 years of growth we have been privileged from support of the clients who have bought into our designs. 

Most of our clients as our competitors as well know the company utilizes manufacturing in China to stay cost effective,  and together with our primary metal manufacturing partners who are experts in field of metal manufacturing known for also working with likes of IBM, Flextronics, Samsung but to name a few giants our metal partners also manufacture enclosures and cabinets for KT Group has shaken off any question to the quality that we invest into our products which is critical to gain customers respect as well as support and with most of our clients being at least midterm relations which last anywhere from three to six years that does encourage us to further our expansion to be a dominant market leader in custom design work we manufacturer. 

One of the biggest challenges we face is hurdle of initially getting clients to fully understand what it is they receive in value of price when they compare an offer based on say a Sports Betting Terminal like Beast or Whizz in comparison to say a competitor’s model.    In a global commerce that is linked by World Wide Web we as a company deal with business owners and appointed technical management teams for their companies on a regular basis and when we work with technical savvy CTO and Technical Directors ask them cost of developing software, implementing equipment API into their software and YES there technical astute to level of knowing costs but when we deal with cost of engineering and mechanics of a metal enclosure most clients have very little knowledge in costs to manufacture a metal enclosure.  

Cost of metal manufacturing is relative to several steps that are required to manufacture a finished enclosure, broken down they include

A.      Cost to develop a unique design, more talented your designer is the higher price he or she will charge for their work.

B.      Cost to take a design and turn that design into a 3D modelling file,  more challenging enclosure the higher cost the engineer will charge as not everyone is able to

C.      Cost of BOM (Build of Materials) required

D.      Machinery required to manufacture design,  not all metal production places have necessary equipment so the more advanced equipment location has available cost increases

E.       Amount of labour required,  here it is related primarily to welding and polishing process

F.       Powder or Spray Paint finishing,  what type of painting finish can be applied at location

G.     Cost to assemble enclosure,  more complex more resources hence cost increases

H.      And even quantity of machines required to build, here it is not commonly thought of if your assembling 25 terminals contra 200 terminals in one production does the company have manpower and resources to complete job in reasonable time period say 4 weeks.

So when sales team at KT Group face buyers from different locations all over world we are prone for labelling certain autonomous regions with buyer tag of Easy to Hard because it is commonly perceived that for example Buyers from Middle East or Former Soviet Republics are price conscious buyers to extent it is opinion of KT CEO that they can in turn hurt their own business enterprises because fight for each dollar spent per machine.

In a recent example given KT was appointed by a firm looking for Sports Betting Terminals, they themselves had prepared a sports betting terminal design which they presented to our team. Design was very much what I would term a BOX enclosure which we politely undertook the job to manufacture initial 50 machines for them but we had proposed to prepare one of our own unique sports betting terminal designs which they felt was not needed.  After delivery had occurred we were called to meet with them to follow up for future orders and although initial shipment was approved both from aspect of metal manufacturing and technically that they were positive to proceed to step 2 the next order what feedback from our clients customers were that design had to be in fact redesigned as it was dull and boxy as they put it.   KT created BEAST and after the initial second order was delivered I come to point of the story our customers sales increased so much so that they not only continued to order they in fact went from buying initial 200 terminals they had in mind to deploy to more than doubling the figure to 500 because users were attracted to play on BEAST betting terminal contrary to other installed machines from other vendors.

Design has especially in past 20 or so years as technological advances in manufacturing have improved whether you buy a fashion conscious handbag label from one of the world elite designers,  or put yourself behind wheel of a Ferrari super car,  decide to take a premium holiday in an establishment known for its reputation or buy a design that steps out of mainstream and into a whole new genre it stands out and that creates emotions in us as socialholics to wanting something different and the return given outweighs cost on most occasions.

 

Digital Signage Designed By KT For GUM Moscow

On October 2014, when I was sent by KT Group for a business trip to Moscow, like always I visited the GUM. The GUM is a shopping gallery in Red Square and is considered by many as one of the most beautiful shopping centers in Europe. It was built in 19^th century, during the Soviet period it was a shopping center for government and for the past 20 years it has developed to be the most premier center for shopping in Russia.

Spending 3 hours in GUM, eating their famous ice-cream and walking around beautiful shops, I noticed that it is very difficult to find a shop that I looked for as well as other information regarding the center. It took me some time to find an information kiosk (information stand), which was located on the other side of the GUM. Another interesting observation I did was a lack of electronic equipment in open areas except one ATM covered by a wood board to hide its “modern” design.

When I came back I got this concept in my mind: “what if we can design an information kiosk terminal which can be multifunctional and interactive but in the same time be a part of the main design concept of GUM?”.    KT Group known for its bespoke design kiosk terminals, manufactured according to client wishes and in most of the cases designed to accept payments. In this particular case, the process is different since KT is the initiator of this concept.

During 3 months 2 young designers, under the supervision of KT team, developed a concept and came up with the kiosk design. To achieve this goal the team had to investigate about the history of GUM, its design, cultural aspects, visitors’ behavior and many other aspects.

As a result, KT offered a design which exactly matches the style of GUM and fits in to the harmonious atmosphere of the center. It based on a 42” 4K LG Screens on both sides, with multi touch capabilities. It also have HD camera, barcode scanner, printer and powerful Wi-Fi transmitter.

By using this kiosk terminal the visitors can easily find what they looking for and navigate to the desired shop using their mobile phone (smart way finding system), or they can send their own photos from GUM to their friends. In additional, this kiosk terminal can be used by GUM administration as an advertising kiosk, information collecting and addressed marketing.

The project designs is now ready for implementation and KT Group has finalized its preparatory work. 

 

 

Kiosk Manufacturing in China

As acting CEO of KT Group now for 10 years i have had many years to visit and gain an insightful experience into manufacturing in China,  in that time we have learned many valuable lesson on the dos and donts when collaborating with our partners and employees of KT Group that has risen to success of our company were many others have closed shop or decided to regroup and go back to domestic manufacturing.

In this short guide i shall like to share some of my experiences and stories with China,  the industrial heartland for kiosk manufacturing is still Guangzhou and especially Shenzhen although in past couple of years municipality is driving cost of living in every aspect higher each year so several plants and established firms are moving outside of city center due to cost of sqm has become unsustainable for them and i believe this will continue.

1. RESPECT IS EARNED NOT GIVEN - as saying we all know is important to consider when you work within China,  the Chinese are extremely hard working people but i have seen to many foreign companies come to China expectations high leaving demoralised they didnt achieve their target.  In many cases it is that you have to build a long term partnership the factory bosses in most cases you will not even meet in first instances when you arrive but in time they will become interested. 

2. SCHEDULES - a common issue that my firm faces is delivery timing,  most clients and i believe it is common for most industrial manufacturing sectors come unprepared or expect to have deadlines meet we in United States and Europe are very punctual as people and we expect others to be.  Be wary China work on their own schedules and no matter how tight your written contract or pledge of agreement is there is little than can be done if you the client push a Chinese supplier to agree to an unrealistic date.  I have tried first hand and the answer is always YES they will promptly agree to most schedules if pushed on this point when agreeing to schedules but reality is those schedule clashes can be avoided if a lesson is kept that if the counter person says in so many words they will try their best it most likely will not happen.  Word NO in china is not a common word there expressions and long winded excuses are their way for stating the fact.

3. QUALITY CONTROL QC is one of those matters that many will see differently but especially European and American clients expect the best,  we all love our iphones or other devices that are most likely manufactured in China.   The truth is that buyers who work in China have to invest time to seek out those institutions that can earn our respect for quality and assurances of build quality in my own experience is somewhat mixed i have myself tried too many firms i care to remember and had several sleepless nights were i have had to take matters in my own hands to resolve issues of quality finishes and lost many tens of dollars over past 10 years due to that but with time i have sourced invaluable manufacturing institutions and having built our relations we have for past few years enjoyed a period of excellence.

 
 4. VISITING CHINA Back when i began first experimenting to work in China i did so from comfort of my office desk,  thinking emailing and phone calls would suffice to ensure that i would receive my product timely and to quality i expect as a customer.  NO NO NO is short answer to that you may as well stop their and then if this is your intention the fact is that like any supply - customer business relationship being onsite cannot be replaced it is a must and especially if your working with machines that are built on demand and not a off shelf solution.   in end i became a frequent traveler to China and if anything i earned many bonus airmiles.

5. NEGOTIATION OF PRICES Pricing is one of the core reasons why people goto China to try their luck in manufacturing, it certainly was a key arguement for KT Group when we searched for someone who could manufacture our kiosk terminals.  Now again as stated before the prices China offer work with years you have been at the factory,  it is common sense the more you spend the better your able to source that competitive edge your firm is hunting and in beginning you cannot expect the supplier to drop their prices potentially to the level you want.  The other element of pricing is quality their is only so much discount the factory will be willing to give for specified specification and invariable the purchasing department at factory will be swapping high quality will inferior product in most cases simply that is way the factory can earn a balance towards covering its discounts.  Example if a factory say have a common denominator in using fans in all their products they will have sourced a supplier who can provide them with a yearly need here then they will take your required high grade fan and swap it with a low level fan of quality and potentially save 3 - 4 dollars per item and then if you multiple that by say 10,000 yearly machines they may push out then saving can be difference that is enormous.

6. TO GOOD TO BE TRUE i was brought up by my parents to always be wary of pranksters who offer something which sounds to good to be true,  and it was a lesson that when i began working in China was an important point to remind oneself.  In very early days at KT we were approached by a company who offered us extremely low pricing and we pounced on this opportunity as a hungry lioness thinking that it was our little secret weapon.  I remember that one of our first projects was to deliver 60 terminals to Kuwait and we decided to contact the factory who had offered us this incredibly low price in end result was we had to rework all kiosks at another location and it ended costing us all our profits and nearly our reputation.  Kindly reminder is that price is important but this is least important if quality, timing and workmanship are not up to scratch.

KT Group established ourselves in China with our own office and local staff,  the solution that worked for us was to have full control 24x7 at our preferred point of manufacturing and this has resulted in that our two primary metal production facilities and KT have grown to mutually benefit each other our orders are sizable today compared to 5 years ago and we have the infrastructure to support mass production both in procurement of parts which at KT we have our own purchasing department,  we also have staff onsite each day to ensure we continuously track production at each and every stage of the manufacturing process from starting at engineering drawings and right to the point of packaging and shipment.

Model Spotlight VFS Cost Effective Kiosk

KT Group specializes in design, engineering, manufacturing of custom payment kiosk terminals that can be utilized for host of different concepts but one primary key is the vend of a product that requires a machine to accept payment.

Back in 2011 a new customer based in Vietnam contacted us for exactly this purpose that it was searching for a vendor that could supply a payment kiosk terminal that could accept bill cash notes and vend a ticket which on it would allow the consumer to enact a transaction to top up their mobile prepaid time subscription with the local mobile telecommunications providers such as Viettel Mobile, Mobifone, Vinaphone, Vietnamobile, Gmobile.   The management was very clear in its instructions of what they were searching for from a vendor that at KT management we appreciate in that they gave us some specific targets.  We could list them as

1. A terminal that could be purchased for $1500 dollars complete
2. A terminal manufactured with security to protect the cash stored inside
3. A terminal that was easy to service in the field by the clients own service technicians
4. A terminal that due to volume was able to effectively be manufactured efficiently as they were after a company with ability to mass manufactured 100 plus per order
5. A terminal that could be branded so it was distinguished in retail outlets

The challenge was set quite high,   with each point we had to think through our process but points 2 through 5 were relatively simple but on point 1 it was a massive challenge as any veteran familiar to self service kiosk manufacturing is aware the budget even when producing 100 machines per order is not much while still turning a profit which any business must.

Our design and engineering team worked collectively to tackle our customer Paylink wishes and we finally evolved the model we called The VFS.  First renderings below were submitted for approval together with a indicated price.

Their did not go much time in between submission and we received the response,  the reply received was please immediately come to Ho Chi Minh City for further discussion, and a flight was booked for our then Managing Director and as well our Manufacturing Director to Vietnam, we met with the three Directors of Paylink and after a long lunch a contract was signed to begin production.

Production of the sample began and shortly afterwards the units were inspected at KT Group manufacturing facility in Shenzhen by then Technical Director and was approved on site that same day and an order of first 100 machines were enacted.

The VFS was borne like so many other of #KTKiosks from a demand and that proved a very profitable terminal for the company over next few years were several other customers of KT.

The overall reaction is of VFS model it is simplistic in design which is why from production scale it can be more cost efficient than many of KT Groups other payment kiosk terminals,  but it has ability to combine several salient features that are commonly requested, whether it is coin systems, bar code scanners or advertising monitors.

Model Spotlight Beastely A4 Print and Payment Terminal

The custom terminal design was initially developed in 2014 for a Middle Eastern client who were searching for a manufacturer of kiosk terminals that could design a solution which had several key characteristics.

Characteristics or challenge was
1. Design a machine that was elegant and aesthetically engineered to be appealing
2. Functional for a individual to be able to stand in front the user interface and be able to with ease use the different multi functionality of the machine provided in one full cycle,  example find correct document then proceed to print out a hard copy after receiving payment for the document purchased and then be able to type in the fields required and submitted it for approval and print a copy for users own records.
3. Be able to manage cash withdrawals by security firm easily therefore creating a safe work environment and also an efficient process so that labor interaction was kept to a minimum.
4. Separate payment with machine,   ensuring that support technical staff were not able to access payment safe when fielding service onsite.
5. Provide a solution that could be financially acceptable to deploy in field with budget provided.

KT Group with seat in Hong Kong specializes in providing cost effective self service custom design solutions we are a company that works on key characteristics of a machine hardware road map with ingenuity and specialist knowledge no opportunity passes without defined quality control process so that we can deliver a working solution to the clients needs.

Image of the concept we submitted for approval

Final Manufactured Sample