To kick-off the EU project, HCI gave several demonstrations at different places in Europe to showcase 4FOLD to a wider audience. HCI demonstrations were held in Radicatel, France; Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Hamburg and Mainz, Germany; Wolfurt, Austria; Istanbul, Turkey; and Haifa, Israel. Furthermore, HCI sent a bundle from Venlo, the Netherlands by train to Busto, Italy as a showcase the use of 4FOLD by train. HCI also participated in the Intermodal in Rotterdam, the largest container exhibition in the world. At HCI’s booth, HCI spoke with many new and current prospects. Several parties tested and used 4FOLD in this project. To support the usage of the 4FOLD containers and folding demonstrations, HCI also created live documents in the form of manuals, on how to operate the container, as well as how to maintain and repair the containers. HCI also created a spare parts list.
Furthermore, HCI has developed and started implementing an international training program to certify several depots worldwide to become a ‘certified 4FOLD depot’. This means certification means after the depot has completed training from HCI, can independently (un)fold, operate, maintain 4FOLDs. More than 50 depots have been officially certified in the world, and are able to fold or unfold the 4FOLD without any issues within 10 minutes.
Several containers have been produced during the EU project. HCI was able to further improve the production process with the factory, as well as updates to the container design where necessary.
The first batches of containers have been used in the various demonstration project to and from Europe. HCI created an updated marketing and communication strategy, which are both being implemented at this time. One of the focus points of the marketing strategy is the use of sales agents in locations where HCI has little or no presence. At this time HCI has about 5 agents in different parts of the world and this number is growing. On the manufacturing side HCI has implemented further updates to bring the labour costs down for the building of containers, one of the key objectives of the project. This is done through design updates as well as the increased use of jigs and moulds in the factory.
The second and third trial runs are generally positive and the trials have concluded more successful round trips. The HCI container will be used in a global market and the end users are mainly large and reputable shipping companies. These end users (and the container lease companies) will try to avoid (a temporary) confiscation of a (leased) container because of patent or copy right infringement. HCI will keep a register of all unique container numbers (BIC codes) built under a HCI license. A new patent was filed in September 2018. This patent further enhances the IP protection of the 4FOLD foldable container in key countries around the world and is important for the ‘one road, one belt’ initiative, the rail connection between China and Europe. HCI is still working on a number of certifications for the railways, specifically for China and Russia. These are long running procedures, but HCI is confident that these certifications should be finalized soon. Part of these certifications will be necessary to make it possible to use 4FOLD on the new “Silk route” to Europe from China. This route is expected to show a strong growth in volume. HCI regularly attends trade shows where the results of the project are shown and new leads are generated based on these results.
