Development that began with the words, 'Something with such a high cost of goods sold will never sell.'
It happened when I visited a partner factory in Kawasaki with the blueprints.
When I spread out the mechanical design drawings for the TILLET W-GEAR, the craftsman looked at them in silence for a while. Then he said:
“With a design this complex, the mold costs will be substantial. Plus, the cost of goods sold will be high. Will this actually sell?”
A mold is a fundamental tool in manufacturing, used to form parts by pouring molten resin into a cavity. The more complex the design, the higher the cost of creating that mold.
I did everything I could to keep costs down. Even so, the cost of goods sold remained high enough to worry the craftsman. That is because I did not compromise on quality.
“If you sell a truly good product at the right price in the right place, the message will surely get across.”
Perhaps I was also saying that to myself as I spoke.
What is the TILLET W-GEAR?
The TILLET W-GEAR is a multi-functional professional beauty device released in 2020.
We condensed professional technology used in beauty clinics and salons into a single unit. At the time, it featured the most functions in the industry.
・Electroporation (penetration of beauty ingredients using special electrical pulse waveforms)
・Iontophoresis (ingredient penetration utilizing the properties of ionic charges)
・EMS (approaching muscles with electrical stimulation via weak currents)
・Red LED irradiation (620–632nm visible light)
・Vibration (8,000 vibrations per minute)
・Fine-tuning function for output levels 1–10
We designed it so that all these functions could be switched using detachable attachments. It can handle both facial care and scalp care. It is all-in-one. That was the concept.
Currently, the TILLET SMART-GEAR has further evolved these functions, but the W-GEAR paved the way for bringing 'professional tools to the general public.'
The 'difficulty' of detachable attachments
There was another reason the craftsman was worried when he saw the blueprints.
It was the design of the detachable attachments.
“This requires precision far beyond the millimeter level.”
He was right. In beauty devices, detachable attachments are one of the parts most prone to malfunctions.
Every time they are attached and detached, slight deviations occur. If those deviations accumulate, it leads to poor contact or operational failures. I reworked the mold design many times with the craftsmen in Kawasaki to achieve sub-millimeter precision.
We made efforts to keep costs down. However, we could not compromise on precision. Ease of use is also part of quality.
The most difficult part was the electrical aspect.
As much as the mechanical design, or perhaps even more so, the electrical control design was a struggle.
Electroporation—a technology that uses special electrical pulse waveforms to deliver beauty ingredients deep into the skin. Academic papers had already shown that it was effective. The problem was "reproducing" that effect.
The electrical waveform, intensity, and timing. Even the slightest difference in these minute values completely changes the degree of penetration. We collaborated with a company in Kawasaki City and repeatedly conducted penetration measurement tests through a third-party organization. The day after we thought, "This value will work," the results would change again. It was a cycle of that.
Honestly, I have lost count of how many times we adjusted it.
However, because of that accumulation, we were able to reach values that we can confidently say "truly work." The fact that TILLET's electroporation is based on academic papers and has produced results in third-party penetration measurement tests—that is the backing for our technology. Speaking in numbers, not names. That is the Toku Create way.
Regarding terms like "patented" and "hyper-something"
I will speak a bit more candidly. I do not want to criticize any specific manufacturer. However, this is information that may help you in your decision-making.
When looking at catalogs and advertisements for beauty devices, eye-catching words are lined up.
"Proprietary waveform with patent pending," "Hyper-something technology," "Innovative so-and-so wave."
From the perspective of someone who does electrical design in-house, I will tell you frankly.
Many of these refer to the types of electrical pulse waveforms. There are countless variations of waveforms. Filing a patent for one of them as "our company's proprietary waveform" is not technically that difficult.
I believe what is important is not the name of the waveform, but whether "that waveform produces effects with academic backing" and "whether there are test results from a third-party organization."
The reason TILLET repeatedly conducted third-party penetration measurement tests based on academic papers was to "speak in numbers, not words." Reliable results over impressive names. That is our standard for judgment.
The COVID-19 pandemic spread the TILLET W-GEAR
Despite the concerns of the craftsmen, the W-GEAR spread in a way we had not anticipated.
We chose beauty salons as our sales channel. Not aesthetic salons, but beauty salons. It was an unusual choice at the time. But I was convinced of this. Customers who come to beauty salons have a high sensitivity to beauty. There must be a need for them to use the same tools that professionals actually use.
That intuition was correct.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, people saw professional hairstylists actually using it and bought it, thinking, "I want to use it too." Customers who used it told their friends. That word-of-mouth spread quietly, but steadily.
It was not through advertising, but through genuine experiences that spread from person to person.
An answer to the craftsmen of Kawasaki
To the craftsmen who worriedly told me, 'You can't sell something with such a high cost,' I can now speak with pride.
It sold. It sold thanks to Kawasaki manufacturing.
If you deliver truly good products at the right price and in the right place, they will surely resonate.
That conviction will never change.
Next time preview
Next time, I plan to write about 'The future of beauty devices as envisioned by the Made in Kawasaki brand.'
I will talk about the potential of domestic manufacturing and what we are planning to challenge next.
Please follow us so you don't miss it.
Yu Watanabe, Executive Director, WQC Create Co., Ltd.
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