SuperHouse #27: Visit to the Sonoff factory
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- čas přidán 18. 12. 2017
- UPDATE: I've been asked by several people how they can get in touch with factories so they can go on tours. Please DON'T DO THIS unless you are serious about doing business with that company. Factories are not amusement parks, and the staff who work in them are busy doing their jobs. If you want to manufacture a product and you seriously want to do business with a factory, then it's easy to arrange a tour. But don't do it just because you want to have a look! That wastes their time.
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ITEAD, makers of the super-popular Sonoff home automation devices, very generously allowed me to visit their head office, their factory, and their warehouse so that I could see how the Sonoff is made.
Come with me on a quick trip to China to learn a little about the amazing city of Shenzhen, see its enormous electronics markets, and go inside the Sonoff factory to watch them progress from a bare PCB to a finished product.
ITEAD: www.itead.cc
SuperHouse:
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Jonathan Oxer:
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This video was actually much more interesting than i expected.
10:10 The reversed clip makes the guy walking in the background hilarious. lol
I love that bit so much. I was trying to show a logical flow of left to right down the production line, but I only had footage walking the wrong way past the oven so I reversed it. The full length clip looks even funnier because he keeps walking, and it looks like he's dancing
One of the best videos I have seen about Shenzhen and a good video about electronics production. Now all you need is a wireless microphone!
One of the best videos on how one of the worlds most interesting "startup" cities was built, grown (regardless of domain or vertical) and matured, that I have ever seen.
The trip through the market was fantastic and an excellent illustration of how the hub of commerce has flourished. It reminds me of the early silicon valley days and early startups that flourished in other digital cities in Canada, Italy, France and Brazil.
I'm glad to hear that many hi-tech modes of transportation are being used there like electric mopeds and taxis. It doesn't surprise me but I thought their use was not yet widespread.
Very impressive. Thanks for sharing!
It gives me some level of comfort to know these switches aren’t made in sweat shops or anything. Actually looks reasonably nice condition wise. The Chinese are a very hard working and intelligent people.
that what they want u to think
Expensive chinese stuffs are not that bad
it looks nice because you've never done a single job over and over and over and over again till the end of time
watch yCkwXKRRHHs this will change your mind
I've been in some similar Korean and Polish factories, similar, sure it's mind numbing but many of the people don't mind the work.
It's really about how good the management are and how they treat the workers, rather than the working environment.
That was awesome!
Thanks for doing that.
Fun to see how they are made, but very insightful to learn about Shenzhen and see the conditions they work in.
Did you see the stools they sit on? Makes me feel like a slothful king in my leather office chair.
What an amazing place.
Thanks again!
Good to see everyone in the factory wearing their safety flip-flops.
13:00 Factory workers in assemble line have leash, something like wired smart band connected to desk.
Great to see the home of the mighty Sonoff. Excellent detail. The only thing missing for me was letting those two female staff members you'd assembled at the end to speak for themselves, as they clearly had things to say.
Thanks for sharing this. I had bought 6 Sonoff switches to use as light switches throughout my house, and I feel better about using them after watching this video. They look well made.
Amazing, think you For having us see this!
I Never thought there‘s that much Handcrafted.
This was incredible to watch. Thank you for making it! It's incredible to see all the work that goes into these little sonoffs! I'm so thankful for all those workers!!
Thanks for making this video. Amaze to see how they are made. I am using sonoff since 8 months after seeing your video and its really working so well
thankyou for sharing this. Very interesting to see and amazing to see how much actual manual labour is involved in the production!
I bought a bunch of Sonoffs a few months back having seeing your first video on them. It's fascinating to see the manufacturing process, it's clearly well organised. The UK socket looked very well put together, I feel another Sonoff order coming on :)
Good to see where these come from! I’ve got to get some soon!
Thanks for sharing. It was really good to see the facilities and the attention to detail and quality that seems to be prevalent. I can now with confidence keep on using Sonoff gear as my weapon of choice. :)
Really enjoyed the opening bit about the city before the tour. Very cool!
This was amazing - thanks so much for uploading. I was in Shenzhen in Feb '14 and this brought back so many memories. It truly is an incredible place. Also fascinating to see how my $5 Sonoff Basic gets created!
Really nice tour. Didn’t know that they are so aware of their QC. I’m now more confident to use their products
Michael Bernhardt there isa scen in the videos shows the automation visual check for board defects.
Amazing to see... and consider all that done for $5-6!!!
Keep in mind it’s retail Price, so it‘ll be done for 1$ or less 😉
your thinking with an american mind. the Chinese don;t typically make huge margins on their products when they are this cheap. its reason they can't reduce price too much when selling on ebay with best offers etc. You get it already cheap because often they are being sold directly from the manufacturer like these Sonoffs, so it may cost them maybe 3-4$ to make and they sell it to us for 5-6$.
Thank you for doing this Video, I have gotten into home automation and really like the Itead/sonoff product line. I have them in my home and have set them up in other homes too. Keep up the great work / videos / projects.
Great tour, great Video, really interesting to see! Thanks a lot!
Tanks for showing this :) I am impressed with this factory. Looks like this is actually a high quality stuff!
Great tour. Thanks for a lot of amazing videos
The best video I have ever seen on this area of China and the Markets. Well Done Sir!
Thanks Jonathan for the wonderful presentation and Sonoff factory trip in China. :)
Great video Jon. Well one mate! Very comprehensive and well covered.
Thanks Karl! And thanks for being talent ;-)
haha I did notice all the shots :-)
This video is dedication. Very well done. On behalf of everybody - Thanks!
great tour. Thank you.
Excellent. Thanks Jon. A real eyeopener to the electronics industry. What an amazing market
Awesome Video :) Thank you very much for the impressions of the factory! I love the Sonoff components and built a lot of cool stuff using these parts. Sonoff is a real game changer in the diy smart home community
Great job Jonathan. Very interesting.
Good to watch the video which introduces the manufacturing process. By the way, I have three Sonoff smart switches in my farm.
great tour, thanks!
fantastic video thank. These things are so simple but amazing!
Very enjoyable tour video and city history too. I need to leave woodworking and start messing with electronics more!
Someone has to make those test jigs!
Awesome Vid! Many thanks!
Thanks, cool to see where and how they are made, I've got around twenty s20 right know and more are on the way.
I need to make myself a jig! Great video. Having got many Sonoffs this was fascinating to watch.
Great video once again! Made me feel a lot more confident placing them into ceiling spaces for control. Also confidence that the Ce mark isn't fake. Just wish they could come up with a way of not having to use a neutral on the light switches as UK uses live /sw live. So a bit of re wire has to be done.
Excellent and informative. Well done!
I only wanted to get some info on a gas detector that would work with a Sonoff RF bridge... and ended up watching a mini documentary about the most important tech city in the world. Well done m8
So envious!
Very nice job on this video. Thank you.
Great background video, really liked it. No wonder my Sonoffs work absolutely reliable. Was really surprised to see they all wear gloves and ESD protection - wow.
Well, most of them wear the proper ESD wristbands. Some of the guys are wearing these wireless ones which are just as effective as not wearing any at all
I'll visit that place and never done windows shopping. Thanks for the interesting and informative video.
10 on 10. Would watch again.
thanks so much for this video. I have been to Shenzen many times, but appr. 10 years ago. We visitedone of my semiconductor customers there, a huge lighting company also famous for their Zigbee products. But unfortunately so far I missed the chance to visit iTead. However I am using Sonoffs since they came out and I love the product.
So agina well done and keep up the good work.
thanks for showing us that Jonathan! Pretty neat!
Great info, thanks for posting
Great tour! Really enjoyed seeing behind the scenes. It's interesting to see barefoot workers in a factory setting.
I can't help but say what a stereotype it has become in today's world of someone saying, "What, was it made in china?". Usually not meant in a kind way but with all the sonoffs I've received, they are very high quality for a decent price. I can't complain once! Great job ITEAD and thank you for the tour of the factory. It was very interesting to see first hand.
Special Note, This was not intended to be derogatory toward any race, country or ethic. I am completely unbiased. :)
Cool, good to know how and where those sonoffs are made. Thanks!
"Factories are not amusement parks,"
Judging from the footage, they are full of happy workers doing safe work they really enjoy..
12:58 That man sitting there waiting for the boards to come down the conveyor... talk about depressing.
13:03 Yes, e very neat safety feature. Notice also that he's doing the cutting *outside* the box.
13:25 the man is soldering with a fan that just blows the fumes through the factory. Very healthy.
This video shows the hidden cost of low-budget manufacturing.
Great video. Thanks
thanks for this tour, you sold me on them, ordered a bunch and will be reflashing them withTasmota
Thanks for sharing 😀👍
Thx for a great vid. Haven't had a Superhouse fix in a while. Got my first basic sonoff last week and am lovin' it. No to get some more ans start hacking.
great JOB !
Great video! Amazing that with all those workers and all that equipment that they can sell the basic unit for around $US 5
Wow. Kudo's Jon!. I'm only 8 mins in - Have only just got to ITead, but *that* is the best introduction to Shenzhen that I have ever seen (and I have seeen a few). You hit all the nails right on the head, and hit all the marks too! +1 Like, and I'm not even half way through. Now, Im going to watch the rest of it and I'm hoping you asked them why on earth they only seem to sell their light socket/switch in an E27 screw, and not in a B22 Bayonet like we use in Australia. Ive had to buy a bunch of adapters, but that is less than ideal. Its great to see one company (Itead) spring up on the back of another (Espressif) like that - Only in Shenzhen. For anyone else interested in Shenzhen I highly recommend searching for "Strange Parts" and his video on how he built his own Apple Iphone from bits and pieces. You could only do that in Shenzhen.
Thanks Todd! My plan was to get interviews on camera, but it turned out to be too difficult with the language barrier. I got lots of great info chatting to Yoyo and Vivi during the tour but it wasn't in a form that was suitable to put in the episode. One interesting thing they said is that most of their sales are to Europe and inside China, with much smaller sales to the USA, Australia, etc. So their focus has been on things like getting UK certification on the S20 smart plug, because that's where their market is. However, they are actively working on AU certification right now for the Sonoff Basic and some other products, so we'll probably see more products from them in future that suit our needs. Maybe even bayonet fittings.
I'm sure my purchases count as sales to China. Ebay is a wonderful thing :) Good to hear they are looking at AU certification though. Thanks :)
Pity about the language barrier, would have been interesting to see interviews from the design office.
Indeed, Jonathan, how is your Mandarin coming along :)
Could you tell me what the difference is between the UK s20 and the s26, all i can see is one is called a smart plug and one a smart socket, yet they both seem do do the same thing.
Thanks.
Great job, thanks
Great insight. Thanks for a video a bit from left field.
Great video!
thanks a lot for this video... I'll appreciate more my sonoff...very interestig ¡¡ from Mexico...¡¡
Thanks for this.. was pretty awesome..
This video is very interesting. I always wonder how do they do that sonoff basic. Thank you so much =)
It's interesting to see this process in dept. I've created electronics testing equipment like seen at the 14:30 mark. Only testing one panel at the time (programming and functional testing.) This is slightly faster. One reason for this setup will be the operator cost as we produce in Europe.
great video！！
Such a cool city. Great tour! Are we going to see anything more from your time there?
I have heaps of footage from other factories and places in Shenzhen, but I probably won't do another SuperHouse episode about it unless I go back again. I only did this one because the Sonoff is so popular for DIY home automation. I've taken video inside injection molding factories, CNC factories, and other places as well, but it's not as relevant to this channel.
SuperHouseTV how could you go in? Is it allowed to go into the factories? I am planning to go to china and would like to visit also some Chinese factories. Can you tell us how can you do that?
SuperHouseTV can you point me to where would you upload those other videos? I'm interested on watching all of it. Thanks!!
If you have product designs and you need a factory to make them, you can contact factories and ask if you can go and see them. But remember that these are businesses that need to make money, so it's important that you only do this with factories which could become your manufacturing partner. Many factories are tired of people just coming to look at them as if they're a tourist attraction, because it's a big disruption for them to have an English-speaking person meet with you, do a presentation about the company, and take you on a tour. They're usually very happy to meet with you if you're a serious customer, but not if you just want to have a look because it seems interesting. To find a factory, one good way is to look for products or services on a site like AliExpress, and then contact them to ask if you can visit. For example, product cases usually have customisation like sizes, colours, printing, and cut-outs. If you find a case supplier on AliExpress that makes something nearly what you want, you can contact them and tell them what you're looking for, and tell them you'll be coming to China and would like to visit them. Usually they'll be very happy if you visit.
On this particular trip I went along with a group of people on a thing called the Shenzhen Innovation Tour, which was to take people along to China for the first time and show them how to contact Chinese suppliers and do business with them: www.hardworx.io. Even though I've been to China before, I knew a few people going on the trip so I went along too. One of my friends who went on the trip is a film-maker, and he's releasing a series of videos about it. They're much better made than my crappy videos so you should check out his series. Part 1: czcams.com/video/-FGCHMQV69Q/video.html Part 2: czcams.com/video/-FGCHMQV69Q/video.html
Intelligent videos thanks!
Very cool!!!!!
Awesome!
Hey Jon, this was a great watch! Thanks for sharing your tour! I was a bit sad that you didn't have a Q&A part. Did you get the chance to ask them inside questions? I'd be interested how they are thinking about e.g. Tasmota or where they are headed. You can't get schematics for new products and devices like the B1 do not offer easy access to the serial pins. Wouldn't surprise me if at some point you can't reflash these modules.
I hoped to do an interview on camera, but it didn't work out because of the language barrier. I got lots of good information but not in a way that would have worked on video. I didn't ask those specific questions unfortunately :-(
After watched this vdo I am feeling confident that is not cheap cheap backyard products.
I have never understood about how this part of China developed. This seems like a trip I’d love to visit
like some other Shenzhen dude says... Stay Awesome !
I almost managed to meet up with Winston and C-Milk while I was there, but the timing didn't work out for us
Sonoff taking it to the next level!
I believe they may have gotten Australian certification now for at least some of their products. I saw some for sale yesterday and they had quoted the certification information.
VIVA SONOFF. VIVA SuperHouseTV. Congratulation. São Paulo. Brasil.
Great video, thanks! BTW did you get an insight into the upcoming Sonoff products as well? I'm really waiting for a DIN rail mounted, 4gang, 16A version with power consumption monitoring option :) Something like a DIN rail version of sonoff POW
Always thought those QC stickers were a load of garbage, but it seems like they actually do a lot of testing before putting the sticker on.
Thank you
As another commenter said, very insightful, thank you
Huaqiangbei is the electronics mega-market in Shenzhen. Pronounced Qua-some-bey. Short ride via subway from the HK border (Luohu Port). Just follow the crowd out of the subway station. Its a five minute walk to SEG. Most floors at SEG are by category: parts, products, repairs, etc It can take days to visit all the shops of interest. Oddly enough price lists are slow to be made. Do be aware of pick-pockets and scams. When returning be aware that signs saying Subway really mean underground walk-way - look for the subway logo. Most shop staff know enough English to know what you want. The actual factories are outside the city and not so easy to find.
Loved the video.
They flashed the chip quickly.
** Do you think they are directly programming the memory chipas they do it very quickly? **
This may be easier than using the ftdi and all the lead issues with different locations etc of the connectors.
I appreciated your tasmotiser video which I used.I also like to backup everything.
I had a hard time due to the amount of pressure required holding the Dupont lead male pins onto the holes to make a reasonable connection. It was ok with the sonoff basic, but the s26 uk plug was a real pain which I aborted. I damaged the pads a little.
Is there a way of using OTA to backup a sonoff mini as the DIY only allows writing the firmware.
thank you
Interesting stuff! I definitely learned more about Shenzhen.
It is hard to hear you at some points. If you projected more, focusing on getting power from your chest, it would be easier to be heard over everything. Also, a lapel mic could work wonders.
I never realized that Shenzhen was designated as a capitalist zone in China... that certainly explains why it's so important
Like man. Regards from Brazil
Very nice blogs! Do you know if one can telnet to the sonoff and controll it by sending strings or commands via telnet? Thanks!
Hi Thanks for great video. Do you know if any of their products will work in the South African plug. We have a round pin for earth . Great video
Hi Jonathan, this video is one of my favorites so far but I have a question as you mention before in another video sonoffs devices haven't been approved to be commercialized in Australia, did you ask them if they are planning to do this soon.
@SuperHouseTV Didnt you ask them on manufacture : why they don't produce 2nd version of most models where Tasmota preinstalled from original? If they know that very many people flash alternative firmware, why not to do that on the manufacture?
I stumbled across this product, it’s great. So many people selling this on eBay. What would you think is the best price I can get if I buy direct? It’s so difficult to figure out how I can purchase this product not to mention shipping is so confusing. 😫 great video!! Thanks for the info!
The city that the open market built.
Wow how do they produce enough of these? Is this the only factory that makes these devices or is it just one of many? It just doesn't seem like that small factory could produce enough to keep the supply up. Great video.
Really amazing. Thanks for the video. Can you explain how the sonoff pairing with the app works? I do not understand the part where the app actually detects the sonoff that is ready to be paired. How can this be done?
When the Sonoff starts up in pairing mode, it creates its own WiFi network with a unique name. Your phone needs to connect to that WiFi network (not your own network) to begin setup. After that, the Sonoff is given the details of your own network, and it turns off its own network and connects to your house. Then your phone switches back to your house network, and from then on all communication goes through your normal WiFi.
Haha funny that the production floor is quieter than the office!
Its my dream to start a manufacturing house like this one, one day it will happen!!
Hi Jonathan, I supposed you have many more sonoffs than I with 2 basics, 2 pow and 2 th16. Just suffered complete power supply failures on both pow and was wondered if you tackled repair of sonoff ps ( esp8266 works on vcc supply direct but not ac) thanks