By enabling companies to focus on their core competencies
Hardware startups need to make sure that their products reach the market, and this includes ensuring that the necessary parts and materials are available to produce their products. This often involves working closely with suppliers, who can help startup companies navigate the complicated supply chains that exist in the industry.
The collapse of global trade during the pandemic led to long shipping times for products, as factories and warehouses struggled to get components and products to stores on time. This extra lag time added a significant amount of stress for both customers and store owners, who were already dealing with higher prices due to shortages.
Many in the technology industry seem to believe that some of the supply-chain crisis is on its way to being resolved, though a number of skeptics maintain that it is all just a fluff and no real progress has been made. From his booth at CES this year, partner at venture capital firm Greycroft Greg Brockman joked that “all of this is behind us,” but countered with an anecdote about how he recently acquired a piece of hardware used in artificial intelligence research. While it’s clear there are still many challenges to be overcome before truly groundbreaking AI can be created, most startup and tech industry veterans appear optimistic about where things are headed.
When Dave Evans talks about the future of hardware manufacturing, he has a clear vision in mind. The days of traditional product design and assembly are slowly vanishing, as startups and manufacturers alike explore new ways to create products. Fictiv is at the forefront of this change, helping startups build products from start to finish without ever having to leave their offices. This reduction in manufacturing costs is only going to continue as technology advances and more factories relocate overseas where labor is cheaper. As industry leaders like Fictiv scramble to stay ahead of the curve, it’s clear that hardware production isn’t going away anytime soon – it’s just changing shape
Early-stage startups need to focus on getting people to care about their product. However, if they don’t have any relationships with suppliers, it’s difficult to get them onboard. Evans noted that you have to be the right size for your suppliers in order for them to want to work with you. Being too small or too big will ultimately prohibit you from developing a strong relationship and moving forward in your entrepreneurship journey.
In order to succeed as a business, it is important to identify and work with reliable suppliers who can provide consistent and cost-effective products or services. However, this was not always the case in the past when companies lacked the financial resources to support large supplier deals. In fact, many smaller businesses were afraid of working with larger suppliers for fear of dealing with a company that could not or would not meet their requirements. This was particularly true during the days of Ford Motor Company when smaller suppliers could only generate annual sales of around $10 million. As a result, Ford avoided working with these suppliers altogether because they knew there was too much risk
The supply chain crisis is still very much a reality for many businesses. However, Evans believes that it is slowly becoming less of an issue as companies become more efficient and better understand the importance of collaborating with their suppliers.
The author of the text is saying that despite the pandemic being a big hit, supply-chain resiliency itself has been a conversation among his peers for a very long time. This proves that supply chain resilience is not something new and that it will continue to be an issue in the future.
For most of us, the big change during the pandemic was that we couldn’t always get the things we wanted. But for those who work in the supply chain, disruptions started showing up much earlier – in our everyday lives.
In the weeks and months before the pandemic took hold, businesses had to focus on a few key things: ensuring their employees were well-protected and receiving necessary vaccinations, managing shipping processes so that products could reach their destinations on time, and keeping tabs on finances in order to prepare for any potential shocks. All of this was manageable– until the pandemic hit. Suddenly, disruptions appearing out of nowhere challenged not only these businesses’ practical abilities but also their managerial abilities. As one chief supply chain officer put it, “before [the pandemic] it was just a function issue; now it’s become something that affects me as an individual.” For many businesses wracked with this unexpected challenge–whether they responded well or not–it was a wake-up call that revealed just how much they had neglected some critical functions within their organization.
Since its inception, Fictiv has strived to create aunique experience for its customers. By offering the ability to design and fabricatephysical products from scratch, Fictiv has become an indispensableresource for anyone looking
Many companies are starting to reevaluate their supply-chain strategies in order to modernize and meet the demands of customers. Because Amazon has made such a large impact on the industry, other companies are struggling to keep up with their new standards. This is causing some businesses to rethink their whole business model, which is a positive change for the industry as a whole.
Hardware startups can think about de-risking their products and supply chains by taking a resiliency approach. This means attacking potential issues head on and mitigating damage as quickly as possible. By doing so, hardware startups can keep their products viable in even the most challenging circumstances.
