Haeyven: Working towards a long and lasting relationship

About Haeyven

Haeyven is the creator of an award-winning, innovative fitness device, the Antagonist. This device enables bi-directional training. The origins of the Antagonist are with two Germans Matthias Weiß and Chris Humberger.

Matthias and Chris sold RP3 Rowing’s rowing machine. As a result, they were familiar with the flywheel used for these rowing machines. The idea arose to do ‘something’ with these flywheels with bi-directional training in mind. After three months of trying, the gentlemen got back to Jan Lammers of RP3 Rowing. The ideas the German gentlemen had, they could not get off the ground. When their ideas came to Jan Lammers, Jan was immediately inspired to do something with them. So he sat down at the drawing table.

From these drawings, an initial steel structure was made. This first construction consisted of nothing more than a few pieces of steel, some arms and flywheels with the right functions. The elaborated idea by Jan Lammers felt right to the Germans. The trio decided to go ahead together and set up a new BV. From this situation, a new prototype was built.

The issue

From the moment the first prototype was built, other issues arose. The data in the antagonist had to be represented. There was considerably less data available for this than for rowing machines, for example. For this, the demand arose for a suitable interface that was accurate in the lower range. A party that could help create this direct interface was sought. Haeyven already had connections with MoveLab. They named Beeliners as a suitable party. Together, choices were made in what this interface should then look like and what functions should be present.

With all parties, we then looked at the product. Because the interface had to be innovative, it also caused some stress. After all, the interface had to be able to distribute electricity. In addition, it would be equipped with a unique swap function and had to be able to connect to Apple Watch.

The idea was to use the generated power to charge the corresponding tablet, instead of storing the power in powerbanks. For this, the right connection had to be considered. This is because the current micro USB is unable to swap between being a charging channel or a data channel. When crossing between these functions, the micro USB always chooses the one it did last. It was therefore decided to replace the micro USB with a USB-C connector. A bold choice at the time, but it worked out well in the end. Swapping between functions should be possible according to the USB-C protocol. However, this took a lot of time and effort to get done. Meanwhile, it works as planned.

Collaboration with Beeliners

From the ground up, Haeyven left Beeliners free to create a suitable interface. No restrictions were imposed, except for the dimensions of the device. Otherwise, the entire machine would have to be modified.

Beeliners came up with a prototype and from there further testing was done. Then parts turned out not to work completely, so new modifications had to be made. In the end, the whole process took a lot of time and effort. Over time, there were updates to keep the interface up to date. Collaboration was experienced as very pleasant. There was a lot of contact between the Beeliners and Haeyven engineers. From the start, we worked with sprints. Initially, delivery should take place four weeks after the assignment. However, the interface is currently being continuously adapted to keep up with market demands.

The result

The first prototype proved to be a reasonable success. Haeyven chose to exhibit this version of the Antagonist at the fitness fair in Cologne. There, the Antagonist won the award for the most innovative new fitness device.

From the fair, potential customers were sought. This has so far led to five concrete orders around the world. Of these, the first orders are currently in place. From now on, it remains to be seen how the Antagonist will do on the market.

What the customer has to say

Jan Lammers: “It is very important to have a supplier who has a feeling for your product and knows what your company stands for. The basis for creating a good cooperation with few words. We have found the party in Beeliners that meets this requirement. Haeyven goes for long-term and sustainable partnerships. That ensures that more projects are currently underway in cooperation with Beeliners.

We consciously chose to make Antagonist sales-dependent. This can only be done on the basis of good faith. However, this means that sufficient knowledge must be present. Beeliners is a supplier with specific knowledge and that is very important in our case.

Meanwhile, the next project is also already under construction. This is the rowing machine ‘Aqua’. Instead of working from the flywheel, this takes a different approach.”