Tag: SmokTech

Sanitary Solution

Credit: Feelm
After a brief shutdown of all operations, vapor hardware manufacturers in China are now operating at more than 80 percent of pre pandemic production.
By Timothy S. Donahue
It’s not the same as it was this time last year. However, vapor hardware manufacturers in China that produce products for the world market are back in service after a brief hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Mostly based in Shenzhen, the e-cigarette capital of the world, companies say that they are working hard at implementing new standards and processes in order to keep employees and customers safe.
They are also playing catch-up in collecting data for premarket tobacco product authorizations (PMTA) in the U.S. market. “The coronavirus is indeed having an impact on the PMTA process,” says Welford Ou, CEO of Smoktech, a major manufacturer. “For example, the behavioral investigations have been stopped, and it is also taking more time for us to prepare all the products for the PMTA.” As of this writing, PMTA applications are due to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 12.
Smoore Technologies, the parent to Vaporesso and Feelm, says it “took strong and comprehensive measures” in advance of the virus’ outbreak. “We set up disease prevention and control teams in each of our facilities before the Chinese Spring Festival holiday. Dating back to the 20th of January, Feelm teams started to collect information, investigate employees’ conditions, prepare epidemic prevention supplies and disinfect public areas,” said Sofia Luo, marketing director for Feelm. “Before getting back on track, Feelm handed out a Covid-19 prevention and control booklet to each employee, providing scientific support to enhance health security.”
All Smoore facilities are now back up to at least 85 percent of pre-pandemic production, according to Luo. She says Feelm is already shipping goods to the U.S. and has been since the middle of February. “Smoore and its subsidiaries have enough key materials inventory, and all of our supply chain has recovered and is back in production,” she said. When asked whether there was a supply shortage, Luo replied, “In general, the impact of supply shortage is under control.”
Smoktech is getting back to its normal operations and more workers are expected to be hired as the virus outbreak is brought under control, according to Ou, who added that the company is awaiting the return of some workers from Wuhan (located in the Hubei province and the epicenter of the pandemic) where the quarantine was officially lifted on April 8.
“The sales are doing well even with the Spring Festival and a long time staying at home for virus control,” says Ou. “Our challenge is to get more skilled workers in [a] short amount of time to meet the growing demand. My concern for the world market is [that] hopefully they will embrace vaping and see it is better and safer than smoking cigarettes.”
Smoore took early action in order to prevent a massive global disruption in the vapor and e-cigarette market, according to Luo. She said that the company started to communicate frequently with its clients at the early stages of the pandemic. “We reminded customers to pay great attention to the epidemic. With the development of Covid-19 worldwide, most of our customers have been prepared (in terms of staff safety and inventory),” Luo stated. “The [virus] was a black swan event of great magnitude.” A “black swan” event refers to an unforeseen occurrence that typically has extreme consequences; in contrast, a “gray rhino” event is an obvious yet ignored threat.
Luo says that, although Covid-19 is spreading all over the world, the demand for e-cigarettes hasn’t changed. “Vapor stores in many countries remain open. And we know some brands are increasing the online sales and e commerce service,” she said. “We forecast [that] the 2020 industry will be the same size or a slight increase compared with 2019. And after PMTA, [the industry] will get a big increase.”
When it comes to issues like the limitation of freight and whether the virus could be on packaging, Feelm says the information from official sources are that there’s no limitation of freight, and the World Health Organization (WHO) confirms coronaviruses do not survive for extended periods on objects such as letters or packages and that it’s safe for people to receive packages from China.
Luo says Feelm will continue to stay updated on related information and adds that the company will spare no efforts to guarantee each product is clean and safe in all aspects from purchasing raw materials to exporting goods. Feelm products have been approved by several international quality and safety systems, according to Luo. “As a leading company in the automatization area, Feelm has the strength to embrace health and security first,” she says. “Disease prevention and control is our responsibility. Feelm is well prepared to protect employees’ safety to recover production and to win the battle.”
At its factories, Smoore and its other entities’ staff are well-equipped with protection products such as masks, gloves and other safety equipment, according to Luo. “Disinfection in public areas is proceeded twice a day. Exclusive dust bins for used face masks are placed throughout the facilities,” explains Luo. “All these measures lay a solid foundation to protect Feelm and all Smoore employees’ safety. This allows for the greatest possibility for full production recovery.”

THE NEW NORMAL
United we stand, together we win. Since the outbreak of Covid-19 at the end of last year, the Chinese government has implemented a series of powerful measures that have effectively controlled the spread of the virus, according to Sofia Luo, marketing director for Feelm, a major atomizer company based in Shenzhen, China.
“At present, production recovery has become the top priority. Allied with government regulations and a corporate plan, Feelm employees started to work online at the beginning of February. Now, all facilities serving Feelm clients are getting back on track,” explains Luo. “Thanks to Feelm’s advantages with having a strong supply chain and the ability to deal with emergencies, Covid-19 has had little impact on production. Once getting back to work, the production capacity will recover soon.”
In order to ensure the prevention of a recurrence of the virus within the company, Feelm has implemented an eight-step policy to enhance protocols and address health and security concerns for its employees. According to Luo, the first step requires all employees to register their current health status and any other conditions they may have.
“They must also inform us of the dates they are returning/returned to Shenzhen, the people they have met, etc.,” she says. “They must archive related documents setting up an exceptional first line of defense. Step two: any employees returning to Shenzhen from other places must isolate themselves at home for 14 days. They must work from home or online if applicable, according to Luo. Only if without any suspected symptoms like fever and coughing, are they permitted to return to the office. All employees must wear a face mask at [the] factory.”
Step three is all factories must have epidemic prevention supplies ready, according to Luo. Employees must wear a face mask while going out and have their temperature taken before stepping into the factory. They must also wash their hands after touching anything and always have disinfectants at hand.
Step four involves having strict Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) access control systems in place. Employees must wear identification badges and have their temperature taken twice a day. “Anyone whose body temperature is over 37.3 degrees Celsius should stay at home for medical observation,” says Luo. “Protecting yourself is protecting others.”
Luo explains that step five is one of the most vital steps. She says the company actively disinfects all public areas in factories twice a day. “Office areas are disinfected once a day after work. Public space and dormitories are also once a day,” she says. “Production area disinfection is arranged by departments.”
Step six involves maintaining the cleanliness in production workshops. “Enter the air shower room after disinfection, no more than six persons at one time. [The] distance between two workstations should be wider than one meter,” says Luo. “Reduce the number of employees at one production line. Add extra production lines if necessary. Spare no efforts to guarantee production safety.”
The final two steps are more lifestyle changes, according to Luo. Step seven centers on employees keeping a one-meter distance from each other while dining. “Dining out is temporarily prohibited. Keep [a] one-meter distance while queueing (getting in line) and dining. Wash hands before and after dinners,” Luo explains. “[A] disposable tableware policy has also been adopted. We also disinfect tables and chairs after using three times a day. Eat at ease, work at ease.”
Step eight asks for Feelm employees to avoid crowds while commuting. “Walk, ride or drive to work. Try to avoid public transport, if possible,” she says. “If you must, avoid touching anything. Clean phones and keys with wet tissue or medical alcohol often.”

Timothy S. Donahue
April 26, 2020
China Manufacturers Normalizing After Closures

Vapor hardware manufacturers in China that produce products for the world market are back in service after a brief hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Mostly based Shenzhen, the e-cigarette capital of the world, companies say that they are implementing new standards and processes in order to keep employees and customers safe.
Several companies are also intensifying their data-collection efforts for premarket tobacco product authorizations (PMTAs) in the U.S., the world’s largest market for vapor products. “The coronavirus is indeed having an impact on the PMTA process,” says Welford Ou, CEO for SmokTech, a major manufacturer. “For example, the behavioral investigations have been stopped, and it [is] also taking more time for us to prepare all the products for the PMTA.” As of this writing, PMTA applications are due to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 12.
Smoore Technologies, the parent to Vaporesso and Feelm, says it “took strong and comprehensive measures” in advance of the virus’ outbreak. “We set up disease prevention and control teams in each of our facilities before the Chinese Spring Festival holiday. Dating back to the 20 of January, Feelm teams started to collect information, investigate employee’s conditions, prepare epidemic prevention supplies and disinfect public areas,” said Sofia Luo, marketing director for Feelm. “Before getting back on track, Feelm handed out a Covid-19 prevention and control booklet to each employee, providing scientific support to enhance health security.”
All Smoore facilities are now back up to at least 85 percent of pre-pandemic production, according to Luo. She says Feelm is already shipping goods to the U.S. and has been since the middle of February. “Smoore and its subsidiaries have enough key materials inventory, and all of our supply chain has recovered and is back in production,” she said. When asked whether there was a supply shortage, Luo replied, “In general, the impact of supply shortage is under control.”
SmokTech is getting back to its normal operations, and more workers are expected to be hired as the virus outbreak is brought under control, according to Ou, who added that the company is awaiting the return of some workers from Wuhan (located in the Hubei province and the epicenter of the pandemic) where residents were quarantined until March 25.
“The sales are doing well even with the Spring Festival and a long time staying at home for virus control,” says Ou. “Our challenge is to get more skilled workers in [a] short amount of time to meet the growing demand. My concern for the world market is [that] hopefully they will embrace vaping and see it is better and safer than smoking cigarettes.”

Timothy S. Donahue
March 25, 2020
Certified Concern
Chinese manufacturers say UL certification proves that their vapor hardware is safe.
By Timothy S. Donahue
It’s a positive for the vapor industry. However, it’s also meaningless in the U.S., the world’s largest vapor market. Numerous vapor hardware manufacturers have produced Underwriters Laboratory (UL)-certified devices, but under current regulatory guidelines in the U.S., the safer products are often not allowed to be marketed. The exception to the rule is if the certified device had been marketed before Aug. 8, 2016, the cutoff date for new vapor products set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Several major Chinese manufacturers, including Aspire, Innokin, Joyetech, KangerTech, SmokTech and Vaporesso, have or will soon have UL-certified devices that were on the market before the FDA deadline; however, the hardware was certified after the deadline, and manufacturers have shied away from adding the UL logo because that could be construed by the FDA as altering the device. While the EU has allowed vapor products to innovate, the FDA has not permitted any new devices to be marketed in the U.S. since the Aug. 8, 2016, cutoff date. Vapor Voice recently visited with some of China’s leading vapor manufacturers in Shenzhen to discuss their efforts to get UL certified.
Joyetech has been an innovator in adopting UL standards. It was the first organization to receive a UL 8139 certification for its eGo AIO device, according to UL. Joshua Church, chief compliance officer of Joyetech, said that the UL standards are an important element to quality standards in the vapor industry. “UL compliance isn’t easy. It has taken a lot of time, money and effort to push products through the certification process,” he says. “Joyetech has been a leader in helping create and confirm these guidelines. Joyetech has its own ISO-certified labs and reinvests 50 percent of its profits back into R&D. Joyetech has its own UL-certified testing lab (or witness test data lab).”
Through UL’s witness test data program, tests may be conducted at customer or third-party test facilities under the supervision of UL personnel. Currently, Joyetech is the only manufacturer in China other than UL with a witness test lab. SmokTech’s lab, however, is nearly complete.
Welfer Ou, CEO of SmokTech, says his company’s products are used by more than 80 million vapers around the world, and choosing to get products UL certified was just a way to show customers that SmokTech is dedicated to making industry-changing innovations under the highest standards of safety and quality.
“We had our Novo pod system UL certified very quickly after the UL guidelines were confirmed,” says Ou. “We have spent a lot of time and money in equipment to be able to complete the required testing under UL standards. The FDA has stated that a PMTA [premarket tobacco product application] recommendation could involve UL 8139 certification, and we are working on having all of our models receive UL certification.”
George Xia, co-founder and vice president of Innokin, says consumer safety and producing quality products are a part of Innokin’s ethos. However, the vapor market is changing very fast, and competition is getting fiercer. Xia says he sees having devices UL certified as a way for a company to set itself above the competition.
“The Kroma-A and Zenith kit were the world’s first variable output mod certified UL 8139,” says Xia. “It is one of the best-selling mods internationally. We have been paving our own trail in R&D, and Innokin will continue to work closely with UL on the certification of existing and future devices. We are committed to constantly improving our manufacturing and quality control [QC] standards that are already some of the best in the industry. Innokin devices are always focusing on safety and durability. It has become a part of our core culture, and our customers enjoy these qualities.”
A global safety consulting and certification company, UL collaborates with a diverse array of stakeholders to create standards that generate level playing fields to help develop new pathways for innovation. The organization’s UL 8139 guidelines evaluate the safety of the electrical, heating, battery and charging systems while also addressing fire safety concerns raised by North American fire officials. The new UL standard has been published with the acceptance of the American National Standard Institute and Canada Standards.
UL 8139 requirements include determining if lithium cells are operating within safety windows, assessing the battery management system for both regular use and likely misuse, and evaluating compatibility among interconnected systems. The UL 8139 requirements also consider wide environmental parameters and conditions, tests for reasonably expected mechanical stress in use/misuse and requires devices to direct venting away from the inhaler.
UL 8139 standards were written specifically for electronic nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS) and are part of the larger UL 1642 standard that covers a wide array of lithium-ion products. To qualify for UL 8139, the battery cells must be internalized, meaning that the standard 18650 e-cigarette battery can never be certified or listed under the UL standard if it’s changeable or not inside a battery pack. However, it can receive a UL “Recognized Component Mark” or “RU.” This quality mark can be applied to components that are affiliated with a UL-listed product.
Currently, KangerTech does not have a UL-certified device. This will change soon, however, according to Danny Zhu, founder and chairman of KangerTech. “We are working on getting some of our products UL certified,” he says. “It isn’t about being first; it is about doing things the right way the first time. We are also now actively working on breakthrough technology that focuses on some common issues such as leakage. In a few months, KangerTech will have new products that will address the concerns of the consumer. This will improve the customer experience. That is most important to KangerTech. This technology will be applied to both open and closed systems and will, for the first time in the industry, combine the battery and cartomizer to make the system work better.”
Eve Wang, the director of sales and marketing for Vaporesso, said that UL is certifying e-cigarettes to enhance consumer safety, and that’s one of the same goals Vaporesso has. “At Vaporesso, we have a real drive to give people a vaping lifestyle that is not only safe but up to our high standards,” she says. “First and foremost, we built up a panel of experts to study and understand the requirements of the UL certification. Then, we had the team look at our existing product portfolio to ascertain that we definitely shared the same vision. Even with our early stage products, like the Tarot Nano, we had the same mindset. We sent out the device to UL for testing, and based on the feedback we received, we made small adjustments to obtain our certificate successfully. The Tarot Nano is one of our earliest and most popular devices, released in early 2016.”
Tony Lau, president of Aspire, says that battery quality is a major factor in achieving UL certification. In order to guarantee the quality of batteries in Aspire products, Lau opened his own battery factory. “Yes, we are continuing to put products through the UL 8139 certification process,” says Lau. “We will also send materials from our battery factory and other suppliers to a third-party testing facility to test the quality of materials and [see] if it meets our standards. The third-party is a global standards company. Every batch is tested for quality, size … if it is OK from a production standpoint. This is critical to maintaining high QC standards.”
Because the FDA doesn’t allow new vapor products on the market that have been introduced after its deadline, many companies are selling their improved products in other markets, such as Asia and Europe. Vaporesso states that the FDA’s rules don’t prevent the company from innovating. “We are constantly striving for new ways to bring safer, more advanced devices to the entire market, not just the U.S.,” said Wang. “So, by continuing to work closely with the FDA and making sure our premarket tobacco product application certificates are processed as smoothly as possible, we hope to be able to make all of our new innovations available for everyone as quickly as possible.”
Ou says that SmokTech’s quality control is internally controlled to maintain a high level of success. The company places a major focus on the R&D process, which needs to be strong and consistent from the single sample to mass production. “We want to be able to control the high quality expected in a Smok product,” he said. “Our biggest advantage is quality control. If the quality is bad, people can only trust you the first time. We want to be trusted repeatedly. We want to be a global brand, not just a Chinese brand.”
Wang adds that Smoore (Vaporesso’s parent company) is also putting its pod system, the Renova Zero, through the UL certification process, and more existing products with the UL certification will be released soon. “We will make UL certifications standard for our future products by making it our R&D standard,” she says.
Church said he couldn’t be more pleased with how Chinese manufacturers have embraced UL certification. “The UL standards are a way for a company to prove that their products meet a high level of safety and quality,” he says. “This isn’t just saying, ‘Oh, our products are safe.’ This is proving our products are safe.”

Timothy S. Donahue
June 25, 2019