ROUTE06 Launches "The Day One Box" for New Employees: First Collaboration with "ambie" and "Takeo" on the Theme of "Remote First"

ROUTE06 is pleased to announce the launch of "The Day One Box" for new employees. The Day One Box features a custom ROUTE06 model of ambie earphones, designed for "ambient listening," as well as a welcome ticket uniquely crafted by Takeo, a specialized paper trading company offering around 9,000 types of paper globally. In addition, the book box that wraps "The Day One Box" was produced in cooperation with Indoor, a company with a wealth of experience in the production of original goods, with particular attention paid to the experience of new employees from the time they receive the box on their first day to the time they open it.

Background of "The Day One Box" production

At ROUTE06, we believe in being a narrative organization, where each individual takes the initiative and their individual personalities and passions weave together like a story. We created "The Day One Box" to express our gratitude and welcome to newly hired employees for choosing this team, and to celebrate the first day of the new story that is about to begin.

Concept of "The Day One Box"

ROUTE06 has been a fully remote organization since its inception, with employees residing in various locations in Japan and abroad. Since in-person interactions are limited, we've included high-quality, tangible items that embody ROUTE06's values, designed to inspire excitement in our new colleagues as they start their journey. The Day One Box" will flexibly select a theme to suit the changing environment and organization, and the contents will also change. For this first edition, we have selected goods under the theme of "Remote First," and have enclosed products that support comfortable full remote work and a welcome ticket that encourages a real experience.

Contents of "The Day One Box"

ambie: An Earphone That Enhances Your Life with Ambient Sound Without Blocking Your Ears

Ryota Mihara, an engineer who has worked on earphones and head-mounted displays at Sony, spun off ambie Corporation from a new business within Sony. ambie AM-TW01, a fully wireless model released in September 2021, is a versatile on/off style for sports, business, and home use that does not block your ears or tie you down with cables. This earphone’s open-ear design makes it suitable for various situations, including sports, business, and home use. This time, the product has been specially ordered (limited production) in ROUTE06's corporate color, classic blue. While ambie has previously worked with BEAMS and Tsutaya Home Appliances, this is the first collaboration with a start-up company that does not have a brand or retail store. This is the first collaboration with a start-up company that does not have a brand or retail store.

Special ticket to a new route in your hands!

Three original tickets selected with chic colors and matte paper quality to create the impression of a "dramatic voyage" of the story that is about to begin. As a fully remote organization, it is not unusual for ROUTE06 employees, even those who have been with the company since its founding, to have never met each other in person. Therefore, we have prepared special tickets to provide opportunities for casual interaction offline according to the person's wishes. There are three types of tickets: "Welcome Lunch," a casual lunch meeting; "Welcome Office," which allows employees who live far away to come to the office whenever they want; and tickets that allow them to have dinner with a representative of ROUTE06 at any time, in the hopes that they will feel closer to the founder. These tickets were drafted from the idea of the corporate team, which is always at the entrance to welcome new employees, and were created by outlining the welcoming feelings not only from the engineers, designers, and product managers who are players, but also from the entire company.

Special book boxes that can also be used as storage interiors

The Day One Box" was inspired by an article written by ROUTE06 CEO, "The transformative power that comes from a narrative organization". Inspired by the article, "The Day One Box" was created based on the concept of "joining a company = the beginning of a story that colors one's life with the color of work. The special book box is no exception, with the selection of paper with a texture reminiscent of an old book, and the slightly grainy and detailed decoration, which were carefully selected through repeated prototyping. The box looks like a Western-style book, and after receiving it, it can be used for storage or as an interior accent. It can also be used to hide eyeglasses, cords such as chargers, and inorganic stationery on the desk, which tend to become cluttered while working remotely, and help create a clean and minimalist atmosphere in the room.

Comment

Nami Takamatsu, Director, ambie Inc.

In the development of the fully wireless model (AM-TW01) that was adopted for this project, we included the requirement to enable design changes and production in small lots. In the collaborative special order projects we have been consulted on, the number of lots has often been an issue, and we thought that by solving this problem, we would be able to propose a new way of utilizing earphones that had never existed before. This model, which was developed in a completely remote environment with the Corona disaster, was also tested with an emphasis on stress-free use in online meetings, and this request to adopt it in a completely remote team overlapped with the utilization scenario we had envisioned.
We are very happy to have been asked to work with Endo-san on this project, as we had worked with him on a previous project, and we thought the idea of a welcome box was a great initiative by President Endo, who values his team. We hope that the ROUTE06 team will be connected through ambie, and that we will be able to help you add color to your everyday life with sound.

Noriyoshi Kameda, Paper Products Division, Takeo Co., Ltd.

Since our establishment in 1899, we have contributed to the development of paper as a trading company specializing in paper through the development and supply of "fine paper," a high-grade specialty printing paper with color, texture, and rich materiality. We work with domestic and overseas paper companies to incorporate cutting-edge technology, and at the same time, we work with many top designers to create paper as a material that stimulates creativity.
The reason we asked you to speak with us this time was because you visited our exhibition. We wanted to give something warm and welcoming to new employees as a token of welcome. We are thinking of three types of tickets to be included in the welcome box, and would like to consult with you about the forms. My first thought was to surprise and impress the new employees. What the heck is this paper!" I thought to myself, "Wow! This is interesting! It's exciting!" What kind of paper would make you think so? We proposed this paper from among the approximately 9,000 types of products we handle in Japan and overseas. The paper we decided on was PRIKE-FS. It is a fine paper with a moist and unique touch. Please share your impressions of it by touching it!
Paper is a seemingly ordinary material, but we believe that it will evoke various sensations in the recipients. The material, printing, size, and of course, the welcome ticket is filled with the thoughts and feelings of ROUTE06. We hope that this ticket will be an item that encourages people to have a real experience. We are truly happy to have been able to participate in such a wonderful project. Thank you very much.

Tatsuya Yoshimura, INDOOR Co.,Ltd

When I heard about the concept of "a gift for new employees" at our first meeting, I felt a fine sense of emotion, not only because it is a gift to express gratitude, but also because it is a gift to inspire the hopes and prospects that employees will have as they work in the future, and their precious feelings. At the same time, I also felt that I had been entrusted with a very important task. In the actual manufacturing process, the most important consideration was "how to make the finished product enjoyable and of high quality. I also considered the materials and textures of the gift items to be included in the package, and took the overall atmosphere of the product as a whole, and gave first priority to creating an overall high-quality atmosphere. We examined the materials to be used, the printing method to be used, and the method of assembling each part, and constructed the product holistically.
Indore Corporation's business is "monodzukuri" (manufacturing), and we are constantly planning, manufacturing, and selling character goods, which is our specialty, as well as producing a large number and wide variety of products throughout the year. I myself have been engaged in this business for a long time now, but the joy and pleasure I feel when I turn zero into one hundred has never diminished. This is because even when it comes to color, each person has a different favorite color. Even if we simply say "blue," there are tens or hundreds of thousands of "blues" in the world. When we are able to share the color, shape, size, material, etc., and materialize the nebulous form in our minds and hearts, we always feel a sense of relief that we have managed to grasp the wishes of the client, and a sense of joy that they are pleased with our work.
We are very happy that we were able to realize the shape of the box after working with a variety of people, and we are also happy that we were able to feel again that this is what makes our work worthwhile. Finally, we would like to thank all the factories and employees who were involved in the production of this box. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.