TechGen Startup Spotlight: PaperlessPARTS
PaperlessPARTS is an online B2B marketplace for custom manufactured products and they aim to upgrade the sourcing and quoting process in the manufacturing industry with a digital solution.
Late 2016, Jason Ray and a few friends recognized a challenge in the manufacturing industry for both buyers and suppliers- sourcing. The buyers needed to go out and find the right suppliers to make their products, while suppliers found quoting to be tedious despite its importance.They saw the overhead cost of sourcing built into the industry and were determined to bring in technology to facilitate the process.
PaperlessPARTS has been with TechGen for a while, using our platform to bring new and creative blood into their team. At the lean startup, interns are an indispensable part of the team, delivering essential work for the platform. Last week, PaperlessPARTS launched their platform, and they are looking to have more talented students join them. Here Jason, CEO at PaperlessPARTS, shares the journey of the startup and what it’s like to work in a startup environment.
What inspired you to create PaperlessPARTS?
We looked at US manufacturing and wanted to see how it could become more competitive. We realized that the machinery is becoming more automated but a lot of the other processes, like quoting, are still very antiquated, manual and bottlenecked, because for a lot of the manufacturing process, people who can accurately quote are few and far between. We saw a very big problem in the industry that we could solve.
How does PaperlessPARTS work?
The marketplace is facilitated by instant quotes, and this is what eliminates the inefficiency. Our instant quoting is built around the three core pieces of technology: 1) geometric file interrogation, where we analyze part files and specific features, 2) machine learning models where we look at how the geometric features correlate to process run times for different technologies like CNC machining and additive manufacturing, and 3) supplier customized activity-based costing, which is the process where suppliers fill out how they charge for specific production activities. The combination of these three systems results in an instant actionable quote.
How long have you been preparing for the launch?
We’ve been working on the technology behind PaperlessPARTS since November 2016. We were officially incorporated in February 2017, and we have been running at full speed ever since.
What do you think is special about interning at a startup?
I think a lot of people come into an internship and think that it will be a fun little experience. It may be that way when you work in a larger corporation, but at a startup, maybe you have 10 people on your team and 1 person makes up 10% of your workforce. And if your team has 4 or 5 people, you are talking about 20% or 30% of your workforce, so everybody has the ability to move the ball forward. So if there is a little bit more effort from everyone, it accelerates the company drastically.
What kind of skills are you looking for in your interns?
We are really looking for people who would like to tackle hard problems. Sometimes you will get a problem that’s hard to solve and the solution may be not directly apparent. We like those people who will grind their teeth and buckle down for the problem. They recognize that every problem has a solution, and just go and find it. That’s really what we are looking for. We don’t necessarily need our interns to have all the technical skills, but you definitely have to have the desire to learn, and hard work is just what follows. Besides that, communication and being receptive are also very important.
How many people are there on your team?
At the moment we have 7 people on our team, some work in our Boston offices and others work remotely. Working remotely can be a big challenge because you need to make sure everyone is on the same page, you have to figure out how you can build a good team, a good working environment and make sure you foster the right culture.
What are some of the efforts you made to foster the culture and build the team?
We gathered everyone for several team-building events this summer. We went to Escape the Room and we got the team together for dinner a couple of times. We kind of bond through building something together. I like it a lot more than large companies because you can see what’s happening every day.
How did you find out about TechGen?
We just came across the platform one day and started exploring it.TechGen is really facilitating our whole hiring process.
What is your experience using TechGen?
It took us some time to figure out the whole process, but as soon as we got it squared away, everything becomes very easy. All the paperwork is super easy, it all turned out great. We’ll definitely use it again for future recruiting. Getting support from TechGen makes it possible for us to get really awesome people like Dana.
What do you like about Boston?
Boston is a cool city and it’s manageable; you can get to know it in a matter of months. You can just ride a bike around and get a pulse on all the different neighborhoods and parts of the city. And there’s definitely a great startup culture here and in Cambridge. It really helps a lot for startups like ours to grow.
