Fictiv is increasing its presence in China due to the uncertainties of Beijing's "zero COVID" policy.
San Francisco-based Fictiv runs a platform that aims to simplify the hardware procurement process. China is probably the best place to procure high-end parts for medical equipment, surgical devices, and rockets. Fictiv set up an office there to be close to its suppliers. The team grew to 60 people in five years in Guangzhou.
Dave Evans, the founder and CEO of Fictiv, said that the China manufacturing base is not going away despite challenges. Shenzhen is the center of the world for manufacturing and was once a fishing village. It will take a long time for other third ecosystems to catch up to Apple and its contract manufacturer, he said.
Digital sources are useful in times of crisis. The conventional way, according to Evans, is a manual process that relies on face-to-face encounters: In China, you will need to find a shifu who will sit back, sip some tea, and then slowly tell you from his 30 years of work. Fictiv uses artificial intelligence to replace human interaction by allowing product developers to run simulations on 3D designs and get quotes and estimates for manufacturing.
Fictiv emphasizes the importance of on-the-ground teams in its destinations despite its focus on digital. Evans used to travel to China every quarter or so but hasn't been since the COVID outbreak. Foreign hardware makers used to flood the world's largest electronic trading market. Foreigners are a rare sight.
The value we have in combining software, technology and all the artificial intelligence that we built with boots on the ground next to our manufacturing partners has built a really compelling offering for all customers because they can't fly to China.
China is still an important part of Fictiv. How is your business going to change when there is a big event? I would ask the founders if they are building a really resilient supply chain. Evans wanted to know.
Thanks to a large population, relatively low costs, and increasing talent, Fictiv recently opened an office in India, which is very strong and getting stronger by the month.
China is home to a third of the firm's global network of manufacturing partners. Fictiv's suppliers are from India and the U.S. It has a team of over 300 people.
Nine years after it was launched, Fictiv is branching out. Early-stage product development is the company's selling point. It works with companies that want to get from 10 to 1000 units.
Everyone involved in the product development process can use the company's new service. The service's profit margin is built into the manufacturing model, but it does not charge an annual membership fee. The quality control person can make further comments after the supply chain specialist comes in and estimates the lead time and target price. The price will be approved by the manager before the buyer buys it.
The idea is to capture the conversation and quality control process of product development in an integrated platform instead of having them scattered across emails and spreadsheets.
It's almost like a 3x improvement on productivity for engineers who have a team. Evans said that the software helps design firms organize a lot of their workflows and gives them an easier way of filling and tracking all the different projects.
As supply chain issues mount, Fictiv helps companies get from prototype to manufacturing
All Rights Reserved © 2024
