Consumer Product Development
Spotlight
Company: TekSmart Fitness LLC
Industry: Fitness and Wellness
HQ: Golden Valley, Minnesota, USA
Webpage: www.thecontour.com
TekSmart Fitness LLC is committed to developing and marketing innovative, reliable products to improve their customer’s quality of life, physical fi tness and wellbeing through the use of electromuscle stimulation and Nutraceuticals. As a company, and as individuals, they value integrity, personal excellence, and mutual respect
Product/Project Highlights
Curvassure™ Butt Toning System Controller
Client: TekSmart Fitness, LLC
- FDA approved Contour electronic muscle stimulator
- Delivers over 200 glute contractions in just 30 minutes
- 26 pre-set digital program
Situation:
As the pace of everyday life increases at an alarming rate, many people fi nd it diffi cult to fi nd time to exercise to counteract the high calorie diets many have adopted. As a result, over 35% of Americans are considered overweight or obese. This obesity problem has given rise to heart disease and diabetes to an almost epidemic level. Ken Sherman, a former bodybuilder and owner of TekSmart Fitness, wanted to develop a product that would allow people to work out while they are performing other tasks. Using Swiss technology, Ken’s idea was a belt fi tted with small electrodes the user would wear. The electrodes would stimulate the gluteal muscles simulating a workout.
Curvassure™ Butt Toning System Controller
Client: TekSmart Fitness, LLC
Process:
Already having the technology for the belt component and a controller developed by another design fi rm, Ken Sherman approached the Solid Design Solutions (Solid) Team for help developing an updated and improved controller. Ken Sherman and Solid’s electrical engineers and industrial designers began to identify functional, aesthetic, and manufacturing requirements. Working within these requirements, the Solid Team developed numerous concepts. Once a preferred concept was chosen, a detailed 3D model was created of all the product components were designed in detail using 3D computer modeling software. This allowed us to discuss the strategic design and manufacturability trade-offs with the TekSmart Fitness Team and our manufacturing partners. The resulting detailed designs enabled us to estimate the complete manufactured cost of the product. After the 3D model had been approved, prototypes were made for assessment and testing. We continued to refine the design until the functionality, aesthetic, and manufacturing requirements were met before we moved on to finalize the design. During the final design phase, the design was prepared for mass production and released to our overseas manufacturing partners. Manufactured samples were carefully inspected, and the parts were revised and tuned to fi t and function properly. We collaborated with our domestic contract manufacturer to refi ne their final assembly fixtures and processes. Assembled samples were put through rigorous testing to ensure robustness. Final reviews, re-testing, and a final quality check were performed, and assembly and user instructions were created.
Solution:
The result of the development process was a very sleek,contemporary looking, and compact controller, with an intuitive user interface that was economical to manufacture utilizing tool-less assembly. The Curvassure™ Butt Toning System, an FDA approved electronic muscle stimulator, is safe and extremely effective for strengthening and toning your gluteal muscles without traditional exercise. This device has the ability to simulate approximately 200 gluteal toning, strengthening, and lifting contractions in just 30 minutes with little to no effort on the part of the user.
