Challenge
Traditional tire boots, used to “lock” a car with parking violations, cannot be removed quickly or easily. The process takes several hours and often results in confrontational situations. The SmartBoot eliminates these problems by allowing owners to quickly pay fines via credit card and unlock the boot using remote access codes. Unfortunately, 1 in 4 of the existing boots were failing. The design problems were exacerbated by exposure to dirty, icy conditions and tampering. A2 was brought in to solve these problems and design a product that delivered on the promise of the system.

Solution
A2 started from the ground up, not only fixing the existing product’s problems, but re-thinking it’s concept, design, manufacture and assembly. The existing locking mechanism was based on precision parts that called for meticulous assembly and would fail in the varied conditions in which the product is used. The A2 design team developed a new method of releasing the boot, and simpler, more robust components that work every time.

 

Benefit
By redesigning the SmartBoot’s locking mechanism, the failure rate was reduced from 1 in 4 to 1 in 100 and the product delivers on its promises to consumers and municipalities. The new design has reduced the cost of the boot by over 60%, with production savings for the next year of almost $500,000. Consumer satisfaction is easily be documented as drivers are on their way in five minutes as opposed to an hour. Paylock is achieving substantial sales results with municipalities signing on at a rapid pace.