Startup Spotlight: Productive Machines
UK-based startup Productive Machines delivers software that maximises the sustainability of machining processes by reducing costs, eliminating waste, and improving productivity. The ATI Boeing Accelerator team recently caught up with CEO and Founder Erdem Ozturk to learn more about his start at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) in Sheffield, how the team is addressing sustainability challenges in aerospace, and what the year ahead looks like for the business.
Explain your product in one sentence
Productive Machines is a digital twin-based learning platform which helps machining companies reduce machining costs, eliminate waste and improve productivity.
What problem is Productive Machines solving in the aerospace industry?
Productive Machines is solving three problems in the aerospace industry: productivity, sustainability, and the skills gap.
Although we have demonstrated the impacts of using digital twins in several case studies, not all the companies in the industry are benefiting from these yet. It is common to use an experimental trial and error approach in machining process design. It results in productivity losses, errors lead to scrap parts and results in waste and, moreover, it is not an efficient use of resources.
Sustainability is high on the agenda for aerospace companies. The waste due to scrap parts and inefficient use of resources are not the things that companies can afford moving ahead. Many companies do not have in-house expertise in machining process optimisation. Our software upskills our customers’ staff.
Sustainability is high on the agenda for aerospace companies. The waste due to scrap parts and inefficient use of resources are not the things that companies can afford moving ahead.
How is Productive Machines addressing sustainability challenges in aerospace and across industries?
We help companies machine parts right the first time. We can identify potential problems in advance using digital twins and suggest changes in the process to avoid problems that may lead to a scrap part.
Competitiveness is also a factor affecting the sustainability of a company. We help companies to be more competitive by enabling them to machine parts cheaper, faster at a higher quality by employing digital twins.
You’ve been working at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) in Sheffield for more than 10 years. Tell us about your experience before launching Productive Machines and how the idea for the business was born.
In my team at the AMRC, we developed digital twins for machining processes. These had unique selling points compared to the commercial products available on the market. Unfortunately, I had witnessed that many research projects in universities were resulting only in reports and publications, however, they were not being exploited to make an impact in the industry. I didn’t want to see this happen with the digital twins that we developed and I decided to build a startup to use the digital twins to serve the machining industry — and this is how Productive Machines was born!
Productive Machines is a spinout from the University of Sheffield. What have you learned about the spinout process that you wished you had known before you started?
I learned that the spinout process is not straightforward and it can take a quite long time. I learned the required steps incrementally. It would have helped if I knew all the steps we needed to follow from the very beginning.
What are the next steps for you and the team?
Our plan is to deliver five Proof of Value projects with five early adopter companies this year and we aim to sell our first product by the end of the year. We will look to raise our first investment round from September onwards.
What advice would you give to young founders that are at the beginning of their startup journey?
My recommendation for founders is to follow social media accounts and sign up to newsletters of potential investors. This way they can be up to date with funding opportunities. The funding process can take longer than planned — starting early and having some buffer time can help founders.
Future founders may need legal support during their journey. We were glad to be introduced to good lawyers by the ATI Boeing Accelerator programme team. I recommend founders first approach their network for recommended lawyers.
How was your experience during the ATI Boeing Accelerator? What were some of the highlights?
It was a very well-organised programme. The ATI Boeing Accelerator did accelerate many things for us including the university spin-out process. We met with many helpful mentors and speakers, and great fellow startup companies. And we learned a lot!
We needed the mentorship and the funding and ATI Boeing Accelerator delivered both. Some highlights during the accelerator for us include the Boeing Week, the Live Jazz performance, the completion of the IP assignment, meeting investors during Investor Days, and of course, the Demo Day at the end of the programme.
Hear Erdem share more about Productive Machines and their next steps at the ATI Boeing Accelerator — 2021 Demo Day
Follow Productive Machines on Twitter and LinkedIn as they develop their solution for the aerospace industry.
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For more information about the programme, please contact the ATI Boeing Accelerator team:
Gabi Matic — gm@atiboeingaccelerator.com | linkedin.com/in/gabrielamatic
Wil Benton — wb@atiboeingaccelerator.com | linkedin.com/in/fatkidonfire
Ksenia Kurileva — kk@atiboeingaccelerator.com | linkedin.com/in/kseniakurileva
