Dave Evans Of Fictiv On The Exciting Developments In US High Tech Manufacturing
An Interview With David Leichner
Constantly seeking to learn — Being a part of an inclusive community inspires manufacturers to learn from their peers and do better. At Fictiv, our engineers get inspiration by seeing their team members grow and evolve. With the ever changing technology in manufacturing, there is always something new to pick up and adapt to. I love to see individuals with a passion to learn and being pushed out of their comfort zone. That is the only way we will see improvement in high tech manufacturing.
The global shortage of computer chip manufacturing has highlighted the urgency for the US to have a robust High Tech Manufacturing sector. As a result, the Biden administration has signed a bill to boost chip manufacturing in the US. In addition to computer chips, what other exciting advancements and innovations are US companies making in High Tech manufacturing? What is coming out in the near future? What would it take for the US to become a High Tech Manufacturing powerhouse? To address these questions we are talking to leaders of High Tech Manufacturing industries. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dave Evans.
Dave Evans is the CEO and Co-Founder of Digital Manufacturing Ecosystem company, Fictiv. Since its founding in 2013, Fictiv has manufactured more than 20 million parts for early-stage companies and large enterprises alike, driving innovation with agility from prototype to production and ensuring supply chain predictability and success for customers in industries from automotive and robotics to healthcare and aerospace.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started in manufacturing?
I graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and was the first hire at Ford’s Silicon Valley Innovation Lab, under Ford’s Global Research and Advanced Engineering Division. I led Hardware Engineering on OpenXC, an open source software and hardware platform featuring custom applications and pluggable modules. I also designed, prototyped, and sourced hardware builds at the Lab and led the mechanical engineering senior design course for Ford in the Stanford University Affiliates project — which I feel built a powerful foundation for my Fictiv vision.
I want to live in a world where ideas can become products with speed and ease, without fear of failure. I want to put world-class manufacturing and supply chain capabilities in the hands of engineering innovators, without constraints. And, I felt during my days at Ford there had to be a better way, a better process, and I knew the solution: digital manufacturing.
So in 2013, I co-founded Fictiv, what we call the operating system for custom manufacturing, with my brother Nate. We founded the company with the goal of helping teams accelerate new product development and unlock new innovations. Fictiv aims to simplify tasks that companies typically perform in manufacturing operations through a single, easy-to-use platform, enabling customers to spend less time sourcing parts and more time on design and innovation. To date, Fictiv has received a total of $192 million in funding, most recently $100 million during a Series E funding round in May 2022.
Fictiv’s ultimate goal is to accelerate innovation, new product development, and deliver high-quality products faster to our customers. Our digital manufacturing platform provides industry-leading visibility for engineering teams and supply chain managers, offering transparency to their order at any time in the manufacturing process. Our platform centralizes data into a single location so it’s easier for engineering and supply chain teams to share feedback, view production status, and manage production.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
One of the most interesting — and challenging — things to happen to me, and most people in recent years, was the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. With industries in disarray, the supply chain completely disrupted, people sheltering in place at home and feeling intense uncertainty about what was going to happen next, the Fictiv leadership team made an employee-focused choice most companies didn’t act upon right away: we decided to go fully remote for two years. Without the stress and unpredictability of their health, safety, and job status, our employees were able to plan their lives accordingly and focus on their work, which I believe led to a more productive and energized team. After a while we realized we could continue being a remote-first company while maintaining a very successful business and hire the best candidates based on their talent and skills, not their location or asking them to uproot their lives and move to the Bay Area. I believe the morale at Fictiv is one of the main keys to our success. And as a digital manufacturing company which offers a cloud-based service to our customers, most of what we do is “remote” in a greater sense, and so it was a seamless maneuver that had actually had a net positive effect on our operations.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I have been really inspired in my career by this quote from Bill Walsh, head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and formally the Stanford Cardinal, from his book “The Score Takes Care of Itself”:
“I directed our focus less to the prize of victory than to the process of improving — obsessing, perhaps, about the quality of our execution and the content of our thinking; that is, our actions and attitude. I knew if I did that, winning would take care of itself.”
I really believe that if in life you focus on the right actions and attitudes, then the score truly will take care of itself.
Ok wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview about High Tech Manufacturing. Can you tell our readers about the most interesting projects you are working on now? How do you think this will help people?
Our most recent service developments have been in injection molding. You can see the latest news here and here. One of our most impressive time-to-market achievements and also an example of how our injection molding services are helping people is our work with TransMed7, a developer of ground-breaking medical devices. When we started working with them, they wanted to build advanced biopsy diagnostic devices, leveraging technology that accurately retrieves multiple pieces of tissue with a single insertion, a very noninvasive procedure which benefits patients greatly.
Fictiv provided the manufacturing solution that unlocked an entirely new go-to-market model for TransMed7. The company could now maintain an extremely lean and agile organization by utilizing the capabilities of our global manufacturing network and the guided expertise of our team. In the end, we enabled TransMed7 to save millions of dollars in infrastructure and overhead, along with dramatically reducing the development time of bringing five new medical devices to market, whereas with their previous manufacturing processes it would have taken 10 years, and we were able to bring it down to just two.
In addition to what you are working on, what other exciting advancements and innovations are US companies making in High Tech manufacturing?
In the past few years we have seen a significant shift towards digitization in manufacturing. Fictiv’s 2022 State of Manufacturing Report, which surveyed over 230 industry leaders, revealed that 90% of manufacturing leaders are using or implementing digital manufacturing technologies yet 97% of leaders are concerned about digital security. The main goals of these innovations is supply chain visibility and increasing customer satisfaction.
The report also shows that 82% of companies are evaluating technology solutions to increase company-wide operational efficiency for new product development.
From your vantage point as an insider, what exciting developments will be coming out in the near future?
At Fictiv, we’re seeing incredible innovation and resilience across the board in the manufacturing industry and believe that 2023 will be a year of true manufacturing transformation, with the rewards of greater agility, speed to market, and supply chain resilience. Technological innovation is pushing the industry forward every day and Fictiv continues to grow with and push these innovations. I am so excited to see what’s in store for the manufacturing industry in the next year. I also predict we will see more focus on ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) in the manufacturing industry. Each year, climate change becomes more of a growing concern as companies set their net-zero goals. I look forward to seeing the plans other companies adopt and to see Fictiv’s commitment to ESG make a difference in the industry as well.
Additionally, supply chain issues will persist into the new year as we are continuing to experience delays from COVID-19 and other complications, but the CHIPS Act will greatly impact US production in a positive way and I am really looking forward to seeing it implemented. The legislation is a direct response to the semiconductor supply chain issues magnified by the pandemic — the goal is to ensure that American companies have access to the advanced chips necessary to innovate in key fields like artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and 5G. And while the chip shortage is easing in some sectors, plenty of companies are still struggling to get the silicon they need. Additionally, increasing the stateside manufacturing base creates more supply chain options for everyone, non-US countries included. More options make for a more robust and resilient supply chain through increased geographic diversity, simplified logistics, and reduced risk. Lastly, with new investments in the space we will most definitely see a new wave of creation and innovative products which is something else I am eager to see play out and be a part of.
What are the three things that most excite you about the state of US High Tech Manufacturing? Why?
- Recently government-sponsored investments in American manufacturing will be very important to innovation in the supply chain industry. As a former lead mechanical engineer at Ford Motor Company, I am excited for and confident that the recent CHIPS and Science Act gives automakers hope that the semiconductor industry will be able to keep up with the surging demand of the auto industry by providing $39 billion in manufacturing incentives — including $2 billion for the legacy chips used in automobiles. With the new Act, automakers will hopefully be able to add back the 13 million vehicles initially cut from their factory schedules at the beginning of 2021 due to high demand and low supply.
- Disruptive tech is another area that greatly excites me. Technologies such as additive manufacturing and advanced robotics are revolutionizing US manufacturing, with potential to increase productivity levels significantly and also reduce costs, making the US a more cost-competitive and attractive location for high-tech manufacturing companies.
- Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, there will be more of a focus on clean energy. Many of the proposed strategies in the act focus on helping the US manufacturing industry shift to cleaner sources of energy in an effort to slow the effects of climate change. I am excited to see the impact of this bill play out and look forward to a greener future in manufacturing.
What are the three things that concern you about US High Tech Manufacturing? What would you suggest needs to be done to address those concerns?
- I think there can be too much focus on the physical infrastructure required to support high-tech manufacturing in the US and not enough focus on cloud-based options that automate workflows and connect and support existing physical infrastructure. It’s important to remember that it’s not always about building new facilities and sites, but connecting what already exists.
- My second concern is about the shortage of a skilled workforce to support the high demand and to operate new US manufacturing facilities. This has been an issue in the US for the last several years. We are way behind China in this regard and we need more investment in manufacturing technical education. Influx of automation and advanced tech in the industry will increase demand for workers skilled in programming for robotics and automation. By 2028, it’s estimated by analysts that ~2.4M manufacturing jobs will be unfulfilled due to the skills mismatch, a $1T yearly opportunity cost.
- Lastly, the increase in geopolitical tensions will put pressure on US companies to shift portions of their supply chain to the US. While this can be good, this can also present a challenge that could put go-to-market timelines at risk.
Based on your opinion or experience, what would it take for the US to become a High Tech Manufacturing powerhouse?
I think the US is already on track to becoming a high-tech manufacturing powerhouse following the implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act this year. That was a major win for supply chain teams as more than $50 billion will go to semiconductor research and manufacturing. This piece of legislation is a direct response to the semiconductor shortage issue magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic — the goal is to ensure that American companies have access to the advanced chips necessary for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and 5G. Even though the CHIPS Act was a huge step forward, the US still lags behind in manufacturing due to hardships caused by the pandemic.
In order to improve manufacturing, we need simplified logistics and reduced supply chain risk. The CHIPS Act will be a boon to American innovation, giving manufacturing companies the infrastructure support needed to develop products and bringing them to market Additionally, Fictiv recently completed a successful audit for System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type II compliance, the only company in the digital manufacturing industry to meet this standard. In today’s digital world, cybersecurity is a chief concern for our customers. Our 2022 State of Manufacturing Report found that 97% of business leaders are concerned about IP security amid the rise of digital manufacturing.
Lastly, in 2023 I hope to see more investments in manufacturing education. In the midst of a labor shortage, the manufacturing industry is seeing a major workforce challenge to have enough skilled talent in manufacturing operations. At Fictiv, we are committed to furthering the development of young engineers who will one day be the future of manufacturing.
As you know, there are not that many women in High Tech Manufacturing. Can you advise what is needed to engage more women in these industries?
At Fictiv, we hold regular discussions where industry-leading women share insights and success stories with our employees. From the feedback I’ve received, our female employees, whether they’re just starting out or are seasoned professionals, are uplifted by these presentations. We hope to continue to motivate our female employees, and all women in manufacturing and technology, as there is a great pool of talent out there and I’m excited to see high-tech industries becoming more diverse and inclusive. Three of our eight Executive Leadership Team members are female and they take the time to mentor younger women in our industry.
Male-dominated attitudes and work cultures are changing and at Fictiv, everyone is on equal footing and we are committed to diverse hiring. In addition to competency and experience, I believe having a wide range of employee backgrounds brings new perspectives, cultures, and mindsets, ultimately making our company smarter and stronger.
Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In High Tech Manufacturing?
Here are the 5 values we celebrate at Fictiv that I believe are key to career success:
- Service mentality — Today, with the abundance of roadblocks in the supply chain, those in manufacturing must be dedicated to finding solutions to these problems and strive to make everyone’s experience as easy and enjoyable as possible. In our industry, the main goal is to serve, which can sometimes be forgotten. Make sure to keep this at the forefront of your mind in all you do.
- Creator spirit — Technology is continually evolving and manufacturers are getting more and more inspired to create. At Fictiv, we appreciate the creator spirit and fresh ideas. These builders are the ones who will make a change and make things happen.
- Compassion for others — Above all, inclusivity is the key to a strong and capable team in high tech manufacturing. Being a part of a community and thriving off of the success of other members while working side by side, is inspiring and will only move your team forward as a whole unit.
- Constantly seeking to learn — Being a part of an inclusive community inspires manufacturers to learn from their peers and do better. At Fictiv, our engineers get inspiration by seeing their team members grow and evolve. With the ever changing technology in manufacturing, there is always something new to pick up and adapt to. I love to see individuals with a passion to learn and being pushed out of their comfort zone. That is the only way we will see improvement in high tech manufacturing.
- Grit — We see those who are eager to learn and constantly improve in their craft. With this evolution, it is also important to have grit. Times can get tough in this industry that is always changing and facing challenges. Being resilient, persistent, passionate and able to face adversity is the cornerstone of being successful in high tech manufacturing.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I am very passionate about the movement towards a sustainable nation, and I am proud of the strides our country has made in recent years but there is still a long way to go. The rise of technology innovation is leading to a more sustainable future in many ways. Part of my vision for a digital manufacturing company was the hope that it would influence sustainable standards in the industry. In Fictiv’s 2022 State of Manufacturing report, 63% of companies surveyed stated that product sustainability is increasingly important. We have taken steps towards this goal with our carbon neutral shipping program and our vetting process for our manufacturing partners, and I am excited about the possibilities for the future to make an even greater impact.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Thank you so much for the time you spent doing this interview. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success.
About The Interviewer: David Leichner is a veteran of the Israeli high-tech industry with significant experience in the areas of cyber and security, enterprise software and communications. At Cybellum, a leading provider of Product Security Lifecycle Management, David is responsible for creating and executing the marketing strategy and managing the global marketing team that forms the foundation for Cybellum’s product and market penetration. Prior to Cybellum, David was CMO at SQream and VP Sales and Marketing at endpoint protection vendor, Cynet. David is the Chairman of the Friends of Israel and Member of the Board of Trustees of the Jerusalem Technology College. He holds a BA in Information Systems Management and an MBA in International Business from the City University of New York.
