Choo Choo...

Freight Forwarding

You are on this side of the ocean and your Open Source Hardware project is manufactured on the other side of the ocean. For a minimal amount of product, UPS/FedEx is ideal but you are now at the stage where you are manufacturing hundreds or thousands of product. How do you get it to market on this side of the world?

Freight forwarders are the ones who step up to the plate and help get your great invention to market.

A freight forwarder (aka forwarder or forwarding agent) is a person or company that organizes shipments to get large orders from the manufacturer to market. Forwarders will contract with a carrier to facilitate the movement of product. A freight forwarder is not typically a carrier but is an expert in supply chain management. Looked at in a different way, a freight forwarder is a "travel agent" for the cargo industry or a third-party (non-asset-based) logistics provider. A forwarder will contract with asset-based carriers to move cargo. The cargo can be moved by ship, plane, trucks and/or railroads. Cargo normally moves along via a combination of them.

Boiling that down to plain English:
The freight forwarder can ship:
- by air (fast and expensive)
- by boat (slow and cheaper)
- deals with custom issues

There are multiple freight forwarders out there and a good Google search will get them for you. Here are some reputable companies that do a good job of moving the goods from Asia to Canada.

Freight Net    (Freight Net. You can select different geographic regions with lots of selection within)

Eztrans Logistics (Mississauga Ontario)
Fast Freight Forwarding (Toronto Ontario)
Continental Connections (Mississauga Ontario)
Global PackNShip (Surrey BC)

Once you have your Open Source Hardware invention, do what you do best, keep inventing. Let someone else take care of the details who specialize in this. Your time is more valuable. Let the "travel agent" deal with this journey.

Happy inventing!

Vertical Lines + Numbers =

Barcodes

Yes, if you want to sell your product and not give it away to your mom and relatives, you are going to need a barcode. Barcodes are needed when your distributor or store that sells your product requires it. There is no law that says your must have a barcode on a product. However for stores, it is efficient for them to track each product they sell with a unique code.


Getting one is not actually that challenging. The cost can range quite a bit though and this depends on you and how many are needed.

If you are going to be cranking out items, it would be best to get your own. However, as this article is tailored more towards the inventor who needs one-offs, there are a number of companies that will sell you barcodes.

A few companies that will do this are:
- Simply Barcodes: http://www.simplybarcodes.net
- Buy a Barcode: http://www.buyabarcode.com
- Barcodes talk: http://www.barcodestalk.com



The BBB (Better Business Bureau) have given the above good marks. A good Google search will get you many more companies that can be used.

Barcodes can be printed using most computer printers. The simplest way to print a barcode is to use a barcode font. Also, print it in black and white on white paper. Do not use coloured ink or coloured paper. The printing with colour will reduce the contrast between the bars and spaces.  With the awesome invention you have, hopefully your goal is to have the barcode printed during the printing of the product's packaging. For this, you will have to obtain a barcode film master from a vendor that specializes in this.

The size is normally 1.469" wide X 1.02" high. The minimum recommended size is 80% of that or 1.175" wide X .816" high. The maximum recommended size is 200% of normal or 2.938" wide X 2.04" high.


The organisation that makes this all possible is GS1. GS1 is an international not-for-profit association with member organisations in over 100 countries. GS1 is dedicated to the design and implementation of global standards and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply and demand chains globally and across sectors. The GS1 system of standards is the most widely used supply chain standards system in the world. GS1's main activity is the development of the GS1 System, a series of standards designed to improve supply chain management.

You can read more exciting info about GS1 at their site. Saying that, the focus for you is to concentrate on following your passion and getting that Open Source Hardware invention out there for all to enjoy!

2012 Reboot

Hello World



Time goes by quickly. It is already 2012. With today being January 1, this is the traditional Reboot day for all.



A lot has changed over the past year. My consulting gig has turned out to be a full time job. I was working so much that I missed Spring, Summer and Fall. It really makes you wonder why. My purpose for being here is not for that. So, with 2012, I look forward to rebooting.



This year, I am opening my own niche company. I will be focusing on the Open Hardware area. I excel in customer service, personal interactions and have an eye for detail. I am not a walking techno-brain so I will leave the inventing up to other people. My strength is in bringing inventions to life. You, the inventor, create and leave the rest up to me. I will get your product manufactured and brought to market. As an inventor, you do what you do best - invent and put your passion into that. After that, I take over and we are off to the races.



I am so excited about this year. I will be blogging about my experience. How does one go about doing this? I am a 40-something, happily married with no kids person, presently pulling in good coin at a job that is fine. I am going to chuck it to work on something that I feel will add to my life experience as well as others. There is so much out there and it is time to go after what I want instead of playing the safe route. Even if I don't "win" and have to go back to the consulting gig, I did not fail. I will be a much stronger, different person after this experience.



I like the following as it talked to me (hopefully you too). It came from an interview Steve Jobs gave:

http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2011/11/30/must-watch-46-seconds-of-steve-jobs-on-changing-the-world/

"When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls too much, try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money.

That's a very limited life. Life can be MUCH BROADER. Once you discover one simple fact.

Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it. You can influence it. You can build your own things that other people can use.

Once you learn that, you will never be the same again."

Happy Reboot 2012. I am rebooting and I wish you success in your reboot!