Online Ordering Is Live!

Hey there, everyone. We wanted to throw a quick post up to let you know that online ordering is live! You can order the 2011 coasters by clicking here. If you have special requests, let us know.

We’ve also had a few issues with Internet Explorer. If you’re using IE, you need to click “no” when the pop-up box asks you about displaying secure items. Our site is secure, but it’s an oddity that only occurs in IE. If you continue to have issues, we recommend using the latest editions Firefox or Chrome.

Open House – March 29, 2011

We invite you to our Open house 3-5 pm on Tuesday, March 29, 2011.  Please join us to meet our team and learn about our experiences. 

Please let us know if you can come.  RSVP at vt.woodenterprise@gmail.com.

Our Strengths: Thorough Testing

Yeah, we know it's gross.

This past week, we here at the WEI were able to take some coaster samples down to our outsourced finishing facility, to see how well our coasters could be finished on someone else’s line. The cost and time savings are innumerable, here, and the results were fantastic. However, there’s both a good and bad aspect to the finishing. Everything looks top-notch, but the finished cork, although protected, does not engrave well. By using our standard 15% power setting on the laser (unfinished cork will burn improperly or ignite if you raise the power more than this level), we got what could only be described as an ugly engraving. See the photo in this post.

Obviously, the end-result was less than desirable. So, we started working on new power settings, to standardize our engraving. After a few tests, we found that a 30% power setting was optimal, as 25% was a little too gray, 35% had too much char, and two swipes at 15% made the image a little muddy, as well as taking twice as much time.

Just another example of how we’re problem solving, to bring you the best products we can!

There’s no ‘I’ in ‘Team’…

…But unfortunately, there’s certainly one at the end of ‘WEI’.

The WEI is set up to be an experiential learning course at Virginia Tech, with an emphasis on design and innovation, teamwork, etc. In fact, our (not completely official, yet) vision statement is as follows:

The Wood Enterprise Institute strives for recognition as the leader in entrepreneurial experience within the Virginia Tech community for leadership development, group collaboration, and hands-on experience.

‘Group collaboration’ is our fancy wording for teamwork, and it’s something we sometimes have some trouble with. As we’ve been working on our business plan, we have each taken certain sections to write and correct, until it’s to the group’s satisfaction. However, everyone writes differently; everyone has their own voice and style, and it can be a problem.

Another problem is that sometimes we are split up on the mission and vision of the WEI; some people are focusing more on the learning style and experience, some are focused on profitability, and some are focused on customer service and making a product. None of these are right, and none of these are wrong. These ideas need to be combined into one single vision and mission, which we will announce in the coming weeks, as the business plan is finished.

To combat these issues, we have done a few things. For the writing style, a single student has been assigned to finish the writing, and modify it to a uniform voice. This is then passed on to our advisor, and to another individual in the department, who will correct the whole document to make sure everything looks and sounds good. After this, a student will take the text, and turn it into a professional-looking document on InDesign CS5. This is then converted into a PDF, which can be distributed to our investors, faculty, and posted on this website, for the public to see what we’re doing.

For the unification of principles concerning mission, vision, and core values, we have had some meetings to put everyone on the same page. By putting all of us in the same mindset, we hope to work better together to accomplish our goals that we have set.

With these issues in mind, we are going to work much harder on our teamwork, and eliminate the ‘I’ from ‘WEI’, so it actually operates as if it were ‘WE’.

Online Ordering

One of the aspects that we feel other WEI iterations have lacked is an online presence. With a combined presence on this site, Facebook, and Twitter, it only makes sense that we also have online ordering. And luckily, we’ve now chosen a system.

For this year, we will use Google Checkout for our Online Store. It combines a low cost alternative to Paypal (same fee structure) with strong tools for SKU development and tracking, invoicing, and eliminates the middle man in our transactions; we won’t have to interact with any sort of “request payment” button.

Though there are many options on the market for an online presence for ordering, Google Checkout seems to be the most robust, and bang for the buck, seems like it will be a great addition to the WEI. Stay tuned, and pay attention to out ordering page, for when it goes live. We’ll have a big news item here on the front page when it’s ready.

Production Problem-solving

Sometimes, here in the WEI, we’ve got to make some tough decisions concerning our products. In the case of the coasters, we have to decide on wood species, what will be engraved, shape, size, design, and a myriad of other things.

Other times, however, decisions have to be made for us. We are currently partnering for our finishing processes, where we will have lacquer sprayed onto the product.  For many reasons, this is a great opportunity. We are having this service offered to us at a discounted rate, and will have a far more professional look. On the other hand, we have to travel to Roanoke for the process, and iteeds to be done in batches.

The decision made for us here is our batch size. The finishing company is requesting we try to do as many coasters at one time as possible. This means somewhere around 1200 coasters in our first run; 300 sets. We have to decide on what status we’ll send them to the company (drilled for cork/not drilled, cork in/cork out, etc.). We also have to shoot high — 300 sets is a lot of work!

As time goes on, we’ll have lots of decisions like this. We’ll try to solve them as best we can, and keep rolling!

Our First Video

For all you folks who want to see what our laser engraver is like, here’s a sneak peak. Let us know what you think! Music is by Bonobo, “Kong”. Our final coasters will have a cork inlay that is engraved, rather than the wood being engraved, but we wanted to show folks the kind of things we could do. Stay tuned for more videos, posts, etc.