{Startup watch: Karkhana.io} An aim to digitise the Indian manufacturing industry

This on-demand B2B manufacturing platform aims to digitise and streamline the manufacturing industry in India

It’s high time the fragmented Indian manufacturing industry techs up to meet Industry 4.0 demands head on.

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Karkhana.io, an on-demand B2B manufacturing platform, is solving systemic issues in B2B manufacturing and bringing speed through an intuitive digital on-demand manufacturing platform.

The Tech Panda spoke to Sonam Motwani, Founder and CEO of Karkhana.io, about how they aim to digitise the Indian manufacturing industry.

Digitisation is a scarcity in most manufacturing shop floors owing to the lack of technical infrastructure and skilled resources. Making the suppliers go digital with the karkhana.io platform unlocks massive business potential

“Digitisation is a scarcity in most manufacturing shop floors owing to the lack of technical infrastructure and skilled resources. Making the suppliers go digital with the karkhana.io platform unlocks massive business potential,” she says.

For one, suppliers get access to demand from multiple industries and geographies that are compatible with their competency, helping with better capacity utilisation and de-risking of business.

“Our proprietary tools help them manage all order activity in one place: manufacturing specs, quality, and commercial documents, project updates, billing, and logistics,” she adds.

On the customers’ end, to make procurement simpler and faster for OEMs, the company is taking a full-stack approach.

“Our digital platform indexes specific manufacturing competencies and the associated capacity for every supplier in our ecosystem. By plugging into the platform, the customer (OEM) gets access to practically infinite capacity for any manufacturing process. This gives them the advantage to scale their production to any volume instantly,” she further explains.

What They Do

The platform facilitates organising design files, manufacturing specs, quotations, inspection reports, and live order tracking till delivery with photos of every stage. No more need for a daily phone call or email to the suppliers to check on the status.

Also, the performance on the platform is backed by the reliability of an expert team on the ground that takes end-to-end responsibility for the success of the customer’s project from raw material to delivery.

By plugging into the platform, the customer (OEM) gets access to practically infinite capacity for any manufacturing process. This gives them the advantage to scale their production to any volume instantly

Karkhana.io has built a digital platform for custom-parts manufacturing. Customers are at the front end of the product platform. Through the platform, they upload all the project details and files, create RFQ, and can track the status of the project.

“In the back end, our engineers receive the data. They provide the quotation and then they get the product manufactured from suppliers,” says Motwani.

A one-stop solution for small and large manufacturing enterprises and for startups that provides tools to manage multiple manufacturing projects and a seamless manufacturing experience, the startup is developing a large network of vendors to provide services including CNC machining, 3D printing services, sheet metal fabrication, injection molding, and vacuum casting.

The technology used for building product platform are node.js, react.js, and frappe framework.

Features

The company is an integral part of manufacturing projects in diverse industries such as electric mobility, consumer health-tech, FMCG and industrials among others.

The platform offers unique features such as:

Instant creation of “Request for Quotation (RFQ)” and Status Update

Customers can create RFQs on the platform and track how much time it will take to receive the quotation. This feature saves customers from the tedium of making and sending RFQs via emails and following up with suppliers.

Design for Manufacturability (DfM) Feedback

This feature provides complete feedback on the manufacturability of the design, and saves the customer the hassle of making design changes during manufacturing. Users can inspect the design through the unique 3D viewer.

Order Management

This provides step-by-step access to order updates with pictures, quality report, material test report, dispatch and delivery schedule of every component on the dashboard.

Parts Management

A library of all the parts and orders. Users can place orders at the click of a button.

Inspiration & Origin

Motwani started her career with P&G and worked on solving engineering problems across multiple business units. It was during this time that she witnessed some of the challenges underlying in the manufacturing industry in India.

“If you want to procure a custom part or product, it is extremely tedious and time consuming to find the right manufacturing supplier. There is no easy way to figure out which manufacturing process to go for, where to manufacture and what’s a fair price to pay. Manufacturing is a highly unorganised industry and I wanted to change that,” she says.

If you want to procure a custom part or product, it is extremely tedious and time consuming to find the right manufacturing supplier. There is no easy way to figure out which manufacturing process to go for, where to manufacture and what’s a fair price to pay

Today, Karkhana.io has successfully grown the number of clients and suppliers in its platform by more than five fold compared to what it had during the beginning.

“During these four years, our team has also grown from a team of four people to a team of 46 people,” she says proudly.

Growth Story

Karkhana.io has in-house competencies for design and manufacturing counsel, project management, and supply chain management. Also, its digital platform provides several features to customers and suppliers.

“These things give us an edge over others. As of now, we don’t have direct competitors,” says Motwani.

In 2020, the company raised US$1.5 million in the seed round led by Vertex Ventures SEA and India. Their growth stats stand at a 150+ clients, 450+ suppliers, and a team size of 46.

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She reveals the company’s plans for the future.

“We are focusing on five emerging sectors – aerospace/defence, robotics, IoT, healthcare, and mobility. These sectors are in their nascent stage, and Karkhana.io can be their supply chain partner,” she concludes.