GOAT Tools - Gear Of All Trades

September Update
over 2 years ago – Thu, Sep 30, 2021 at 01:11:52 AM

Good day to all you Makers, Creators, and DIYers!

Patent Update:

Okay, so one of the reasons this update is so late in the month is I was hoping to have the patent in hand and get a photograph of it with the prototypes. Unfortunately, it is not here yet, but it is approved! Issue fees have been paid! Now it is just a waiting game, which leads us to the rest of this post.

Manufacturing Update:

The part you all are really curious about. We are narrowing down the time frame for each part of the process from our manufacturer. A little background: All but one of our quotes from manufactures in 2020 had lead times under 90 days. After interviewing, researching, and receiving samples from these manufacturers we decided to skip over all of them and reached out directly to a company that already had experience manufacturing multi-tools. Their lead time was 9-12 months. Drastically different, but having some of their previous products in hand, we knew they had the quality we required and the knowledge of the industry (Hardgoods > stainless steel forming/casting/machining > hand tools > multi-tools > plier-based multi-tools). We built-in buffer time in hopes of delivering early - but it appears initial product launch times are a lot like converting Celcius to Fahrenheit. ~Double it and add 30. So below is the updated timeline, and as much as we regret being behind our original timeline, we are happier in our confidence you will be getting more than what you paid for!

1. Source manufacturer with proper quality standards and capability (this took 15 months of endless networking, meetings, and interviews).

2. Manufacturer engineers review our prototypes.

3. We confirm the engineering drawings.

4. Manufacturer submits design revisions to maximize quality and process efficiency.

5. Revisions are reviewed by our engineers, modifications are sent back. Rinse and repeat. (GOAT Tools knows what you want in a tool, our manufacturer knows the best way to create it! It's a very important balance.)
6:  Drawing confirmation
7: Quotation confirmation. Some of the improvements we have made as well as the global economy has increased our costs. Don't worry, you all pre-ordered, no price changes for you! The increases are also still within necessary margins so we won't go bankrupt.

*This is where we are now*

8: Prototype making including shaping molds (around 2 months)
9: Tooling creation and Tooling samples (after prototypes confirmation, around 2 months)
10: 200pcs Test run production (after tooling sample confirmation, around 2 months subject to the production schedule)
11: Mass production  (after test run confirmation, around 3 months subject to the production schedule)

Your support and patience are infinitely appreciated! We will continue to provide updates as we venture through this process together. Would any of you be interested in reading about the 5-year saga that got us this far? Broken up amongst the following updates.

Respectfully,
Michael O'Donnell
GOAT Tools

August Update!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Aug 24, 2021 at 05:21:23 AM

Good day to all you Makers, Creators, and DIYers!

Patent Update:

Our Patent lawyers submitted for an interview with the examiner. There was an issue we previously mentioned where the examiner only reviewed the first 12 claims on the application and missed the amendments which include 22 claims.

The Utility Patent Application for our modular pivot system is a whopping 250 pages! For such a seemingly simple element, it's exponentially more complicated when describing it and having it legally protected!

The best news so far: The USPTO changed the status last week to "Notice of Allowance Mailed -- Application Received in Office of Publications". This is one of the final steps in this multi-year process and looks like it's going to be granted! 

Manufacturing Update:

This is the section that affects when you all get the multi-tools that you are patiently waiting for! Our last update included notice that things will be delayed a few months. We have received a lot of requests for further clarification on this. While we cannot give exact dates yet, which we know is what you all want more than anything, we can provide some insight into the process. (Skipping the first 4 years of research & development - this update would be a novel if we included all of that.)

1. Source manufacturer with proper quality standards and capability (this took 15 months of endless networking, meetings, and interviews).

2.  Manufacturer engineers review our prototypes. 

3.  We confirm the engineering drawings.

4. Manufacturer submits design revisions to maximize quality and process efficiency.

5.  Revisions are reviewed by our engineers, modifications are sent back. Rinse and repeat. (GOAT Tools knows what you want in a tool, our manufacturer knows the best way to create it! It's a very important balance.)

*This is where we are now*

6.  Manufacturer makes samples for approval before launching the molds.

7.  Launch the molds after the engineer samples are approved by GOAT Tools.

8.  Manufacturer makes samples with molds, sends mold samples for approval.

9.  Pilot run and send samples for approval.

10. Mass production.

Your support and patience are infinitely appreciated! We will continue to provide updates as we venture through this process together. 

Respectfully,
Michael O'Donnell
GOAT Tools

July Update: Fighting for Patent
almost 3 years ago – Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 12:25:04 AM

Happy Summer to all you Makers, Creators, and DIYers! (As well as winter to our friends in the Southern realm of the world!)

Legal Stuff
We received a review of our patent for the modular pivot system! Unfortunately, the Patent Examiner at the USPTO did not read any of the amendments that were submitted with the Utility Patent application. Said examiner suggested changes that were already made, and submitted as amendments. The good thing is we've already encountered this opinion when the World Intellectual Property Organization reviewed our patent filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, and the necessary changes were made. The unfortunate part is the legal team now has to schedule a phone interview with the examiner to politely request he read the entire application...

Manufacturing
As we are working with our manufacturer to get all of the molds, dies, and production equipment made their engineers have run into a few obstacles. Some minor design changes are being made to fit the capabilities of their machinery. The manufacturer is expecting these alterations to delay us a few months since we now have to coordinate our GOAT Tools design team with their manufacturing engineers to ensure we maintain all the original functionality, but they are able to produce it with reasonably efficient methods.

We are working on getting the fulfillment logistics (domestic & international) arranged during this time so ensure we are ready to go as soon as these start coming off the production line. The next few updates may not be very exciting either as we wait for the plethora of tooling to be completed.

Respectfully,
Michael O'Donnell
GOAT Tools

BackerKit surveys are coming!
almost 3 years ago – Wed, Jun 09, 2021 at 09:18:58 PM

Quick update! Our trademark was officially granted by the USPTO! Our utility patent on the modular pivot is still pending. However, several of the claims were already recognized as having Novelty, Inventive Step, and Industrial applicability (patent requirements) in a preliminary search report by the International Searching Authority of the Patent Cooperation Treaty. 

Soon, you’ll receive an email from us with a special link to your BackerKit survey. It’s important to respond to your survey as quickly as you can since we need this information to fulfill your rewards.

You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey. When you receive the email with the survey, click the survey link to respond. Answer the questions about your reward preferences, provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you like. You don’t have access to this survey link yet, but it will be available soon via email!

After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before we close the surveys and get our final counts.

If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://goat-tools.backerkit.com/.

If you used your Facebook credentials to log in to your Kickstarter account, the BackerKit survey is sent to the email address you use for your Facebook account. If you have another email address that you prefer to use, please contact support at https://goat-tools.backerkit.com/faq.

We are working behind the scenes lining up all of the logistics for the fulfillment, warehousing, and shipping! More exciting updates to come once we start getting samples in and having all the tooling made!

Respectfully,

The GOAT Tools Team

Thank you! Here are the next steps.
almost 3 years ago – Mon, May 17, 2021 at 10:24:50 PM

Thank you for making our project a reality! A lot has been going on in the background the last couple of weeks so I want to apologize for the temporary lack of updates. 

For those who missed the live campaign, or were unable to correct payment issues within the Kickstarter window: We transferred everything over to Indiegogo to take new orders! We are also working on setting up pre-orders through Backerkit which will be the most streamlined option. Although we just barely fell short of our final stretch goal of $200k on Kickstarter for the Can/Bottle Opener add-on, we surpassed that amount on Indiegogo shortly thereafter and we will be making the tool! Anyone who backed on Kickstarter will have the option to add it to their order when we send out the Backerkit survey.

We have to confirm all of your orders and where we need to ship them. We’ll send out a BackerKit survey to collect this information.

We’ll give you a heads-up before we send the survey so that you can watch for it. You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to answer your survey. The invitation email contains a link to your personal survey. It is important to submit your responses as quickly as you can since we need this information to process your rewards.

If you need to change your survey responses, purchase add-on items, or update your shipping information, you can click the link in your survey email again or request your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page. (This page will only start working after we send the surveys out.)

If you prefer, you can contact me directly and give me your information, but answering your survey helps us get your rewards out to you faster. BackerKit helps us save lots of time by streamlining the survey process, automating data organization, and providing us with pledge management software to make it easy to process your pledge reward shipments.

If you used your Facebook credentials to log in to your Kickstarter account, the BackerKit survey link is sent to the email address you use for your Facebook account. If you have another email address that you prefer to use, please contact me.

Again, thanks for all your support. We can’t wait to send you your GOAT Multi-tools, and more excited to see all the community modifications.

Sincerely,

The GOAT Tools Team