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Keep in Touch in a London Taxi

Vodafone logoIf you think we’re only about solenoids and electromagnetic subassemblies here at Magnet Schultz Ltd, think again. Here’s proof. It has to be one of our more unusual contracts.

Our good friends at Kingston-based design agency Hothouse Product Development Partners secured a project to develop a mobile phone charging system to be installed in a fleet of Vodafone branded London Taxis. We’ve worked successfully with Hothouse before, so the folk at the agency knew of our prototyping skills and medium-volume manufacturing capability. That’s why they chose us to manufacture the Vodafone Taxi unit.

The Vodafone Taxi project offers a real benefit to mobile phone users travelling around our capital city. The design brief was to deliver a charging system that would suit a majority of mobile phone handsets. Most of us consider a mobile phone an essential business tool, and many will have also noticed that it’s the preferred method of communication for teenagers. While phone battery life continues to improve, the rise of the Smartphone sees us using handsets for more than just making calls or sending texts, and some apps are pretty power hungry. Now, for the duration of a journey in a Vodafone London taxi, executives, shoppers and FaceBooking teenagers alike will be able to give their trusty techo-companions a welcome battery boost to get them through the day.

Our part in the project was to take the production specifications from Hothouse and develop assembly and test processes that would facilitate volume manufacturing output. Flexibility was at the core of our endeavours. Due to the nature of the ‘roll-out’ programme, our production system had to be able to contend with fast ramp-up and short-term notice of output changes. Nothing new for us there, but it’s good to get customer recognition for our “sound organisational and electromechanical engineering skills,” as the Hothouse folks kindly put it. We’re delighted to report that the result was the timely manufacture of a total of 1,000 units in all.

For us here at Magnet Schultz Ltd, this rewarding piece of business indicates the breadth of our engineering skill set. So when you think Magnet Schultz Ltd, don’t just think solenoids: there’s so much more we can do. If that’s got you pondering, simply give us a call or email our team of experts to discuss your requirements.

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