CASE STUDY CUSTOMER
Solution Summary
Social enterprise Kajou selected Cardwave to load over 10,000 microSD cards with content, then package and transport them to Senegal and Burundi. This is part of Kajou’s project to bring knowledge,content and information to people without access to the internet.
Key Benefits
- Sourcing large quantity of microSD cards at short notice, during a worldwide shortage
- Excellent, secure duplication facilities
- Production of international air freight ready packaging
- Management of international shipping
- End to end service: duplication, printing, packaging, distribution
Introduction
Kajou is a social enterprise that provides information and resources to communities without access to the internet by distributing microSD cards which are read on a free to download smartphone app. Kajou was founded by not-for-profit Bibliothèques Sans Frontières.
Because every person receiving a microSD card relies on it, there is zero tolerance for card failure, and a need for delivery of cards to end users with minimal time delay. The project Cardwave delivered provided 10,000 preloaded microSD cards, fully packaged and transported to Senegal, where 63% of the population is under 25 years old.
Challenges
Kajou had been working with another company on this project. That company had experienced a number of challenges, including with volume and timelines. They referred Kajou to Cardwave during the fourth quarter of 2021, knowing that we were better equipped to fulfil all three parts of the contract: duplication, packaging and international transportation.
We needed to deliver high quality cards at a price acceptable to Kajou, which as a social enterprise organisation needs to keep its costs low.
We knew we were easily able to meet the requirements of the contract, but we faced a key challenge. We maintain stocks of flash memory cards so that we can ride the waves of supply chain disruption and meet known customer commitments. Even so, we had found during 2021 that Covid-19 caused considerable disruption to the availability of flash memory. Manufacture had been disrupted by shortages of raw materials and unavailability of personnel, and distribution had also been affected. Would we have issues sourcing the required number of microSD cards at short notice?
Solution
The company Kajou had been working with previously became involved in sourcing microSD cards, and together we obtained cards from a supplier Cardwave uses regularly, whose product quality and reliability we respect. We were able to start the duplication process without delay.
We worked with Kajou to create the master images from which cards would be duplicated, using our Secure File Transfer Portal (SFTP). Once the master images were signed off by Kajou we were able to make the 10,000 microSD cards required at speed using our state of the art duplication facilities.
The card packaging was designed by Kajou based on a template we provided. With the final design signed off, we completed the process of printing the card onto which a microSD card’s jewel case would be attached, securing the jewel case to the card, and ensuring each product was protected with a cellophane wrapper.
We needed to ensure quality control while producing final, ready to ship product at high speed. So we invested in an additional wrapping machine rather than outsource to a third party. Increasing our capacity with new machinery makes us better equipped for this kind of contract in the future.
Results
We delivered the required quantity of microSD cards, duplicated and packaged to a high standard, to Senegal in fulfilment of the contract, and Kajou was able to successfully complete another project helping people with no internet to access information and resources via their smartphones.
Kajou was very pleased with our first piece of work together, and we were happy to support them through the entire process end-to-end, including helping with the practicalities of international transportation.
We have planned our next project together, which will involve providing microSD cards to Zambia, Cameroon and Burundi and look forward to a long and productive partnership.
