Before It Reaches the Shelf: A Product's Invisible Journey

In a catalogue, a product is a single line: a model name, a few technical values, a photograph. Behind that line stands a journey the catalogue never shows — the distance between idea and shelf, usually measured in months. In this piece we want to describe that distance; and what happened to us the one time we tried to shorten it.

The bench: first we convince ourselves

Every new product begins its journey on our own bench. Circuit design, firmware, mechanics — all of it is tried in-house first, until it satisfies us. This stage has no fixed duration; its measure is not the calendar but the result. A product that cannot convince its maker on the bench will convince nobody in the field.

The beta field: volunteer colleagues

The field sees what the bench cannot: dust, humidity, voltage fluctuation, every installer’s personal habits of hand. So the second stage is built with colleagues we work closely with — never imposed, just “would you try it in the field as well?” The feedback flows back into the design, the revision returns to the field; the loop runs until the product has proven itself out there too. Only then is the serial-production decision made.

The high-speed sliding gate motors in our range today came down that road: rising to the 17-20 cm/s class against the 12-15 cm/s band of standard 24 V motors, these products ran for months at real entrances before reaching the shelf. The method is not our invention; every established manufacturer works this way. Our choice was not to compromise on it even at small scale.

When the road is shortened: a remote-control story

We lived through the opposite once — and are not shy about telling it. In remote controls our main line has been rolling code from the start; a preference that came with being the first team in Türkiye to produce this technology domestically. Then a strong demand arrived from the market: dealers wanted a fix code remote they could sell without needing a programming device. Demand was high, the calendar tightened — and the beta-field stage was kept shorter than it should have been.

The product worked; but in the field its range performance fell short of our target. We did not drag out the decision: we withdrew the product, carried on with the rolling code line, and only put fix code back on the shelf once the range issue had been solved at the root. Today both operating methods sit side by side in our remote range; what remains from that period is a one-sentence lesson pinned to the wall: the speed of demand cannot change the order of the process.

The shelf is not the end of the journey

There is a symmetry to this discipline. While we grant our own product months of beta field, all we ask of the installer who will fit it is one hour — reading the diagram, watching the video, running the first trial on a bench. The ratio between the two is a summary of who carries which labour: the long part of the journey is our job, the short part a shared responsibility. Looked at that way, the invisible months behind every line of the automation range become a little more visible.