|
|
HISTORY of TIME TIMER
The History of TIME TIMER
Over 20 years ago, Jan Rogers, the mother of an independent, inquisitive 4 year old, sought a solution to her daughter’s natural curiosity about time. Nicknamed the "how much longer kid," young Loran found the concept of time to be both a challenge and a frustration. Her innate need to beat the clock in athletics as well as household tasks was combined with annoyance at not being able to understand the passage of time.
The common analog clock was beyond her comprehension. Teaching clocks were cleverly labelled, but often cluttered with information. Though meant to target children of her age, they were too difficult for a child that didn’t even remember which way the "hands" were travelling. 
This led to exploring the market for other timing devices that might enable Loran to understand time more clearly. Jan found the options limited to digital clocks and timers and the standard mechanical kitchen timer. The digital products appeared as just changing numbers, with no way to see time as a measurement. The kitchen timer was ineffective because it was difficult to "see" the time elapse in a consistent direction and the bell at the end of a time segment always came as a surprising termination.
Jan knew there must be a better idea and that better idea might have to come from her. The vision she had was that if a child could “see” time as a measurement and begin to understand its duration, he/she would have a basic concept of time. This concept led to the design of the Time Timer with its patented red disk. As the time elapsed the red disk would disappear, creating a graphic image of the passage of time.
The evolution of the manufacturing process for the Time Timer began in about 1993. Jan found her way through this unknown territory by following leads and making hundreds of phone calls. She found that she could get a lot of information by being completely ignorant about what she was doing — dumb questions and good instincts were the building blocks of her company
The first manufacturer of the Time Timer made the initial production run in his basement. This seemed like a pretty easy thing to do, so Jan took over the manufacturing process after about a year. The original timers were made of saw cut, foam core plastic and the face was applied with double-faced tape. The original red disk was attached to the minute hand of a clock movement. Only about 200 of this model were sold over the first 2 years.
In order to produce a timer with a more professional look, Jan went in search of an industrial engineer and plastics fabrication company. More phone calls and tracking down leads. With patent in hand and a confidence in the worth and marketability of the product, the next big step was taken. A small plastics company agreed to take on the project and the original Time Timer moulds were made. For about 3 years, Jan and an assistant received the parts and built each Time Timer by hand. This process kept costs down, but began to falter in keeping up with demand.
It became clear that production would have to be passed on to a larger company, which would fabricate, assemble and ship the timers. It was far more costly, but demand could be met and the inefficiencies created by the existing work place were solved. Over the approximate 20 years of the existence of the Time Timer, the evolution of the market focus has expanded from pre-school/early childhood, to a growing adult market. One of the strongest markets continues to be education K-12. The special needs (ADD, ADHD, AUTISM, etc) segment is boosted by the fields of occupational and physical therapies. Sports, meeting management and professional organizers are the latest areas in the global expansion of Time Timer sales.
This expansion includes Maati's Market as a South African supplier. |
|
|