Traditional manufacturing goes digital

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The roads diverged for IIT Roorkee graduates Yash Rane, Ravi Ranjan and Devang Saini when Rane, who had joined a German automotive company as Purchase Manager, was exasperated by the lack of structure and decided to up the ante in the manufacturing space with the use of technology.

In 2014, they decided to set up Chizel, a Bengaluru-based manufacturing-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform helping B2B companies simplify sourcing of custom parts and bringing cost saving with a reduced inventory. The start-up helps B2B companies manufacture and procure plastic and metal parts.

“While we were in the big industries, we realised that a lot of things are being done traditionally. It was frustrating to keep following people to get the job done. That was when I realised that technology can play a very crucial role in bringing transparency in the supply chain. It was what motivated us to quit the job and start this company,” says Rane.

Yash Rane and Ravi Ranjan, manage business growth and finances while Devang heads the product side.

“The main advantages that we bring to our customers are the one-store shop, where they get all the manufacturing processes under one roof. and the cost advantage because multiple suppliers are available on this platform.

How it works

Chizel, says the founder, sits between the buyer and the seller and monitors the entire process so both the parties get the benefits. “If an engineering company wants to manufacture something, they have their own supply network, which is limited to their current geography. The purchase manager makes several calls to suppliers, sends them designs on Gmail and try and understand whether they can manufacture the parts or not. It’s still very disconnected. What we are doing is digitalising the entire process. So, if a customer wants to make something, he comes online and uploads the designs he wants to manufacture.”

On the backend, when the requirements come to the Chizel team, they identify the top suppliers across India who can manufacture those parts. “This selection is what our algorithm does. Rather than making it a one market place, we tell them these are the top suppliers who can do the job. We send them the target price, which is a little discounted from what the customer gives us. This is the margin that we make,” he says.

Evolution

Today, there are at least 25 different manufacturing processes. When Chizel started, they were involved with only one process —3D printing, but over the years it has expanded into all other processes. “Our customer has evolved from just using this platform to prototype to using it for full-scale manufacturing while our supplier network has evolved from just 3D printing machine shops to now doing processes like machining and sheet metal.”

The company started in 2014, as a 3D printing company. It was at the end of 2018 that they decided to become a cloud-based manufacturing platform. “We wanted to bring customisation in the world of e-commerce using 3D printing. We have evolved from a B2C to a B2B company,” Rane says. The major challenges in this line of work says Rane, have been related to the adoption of technology -- there is a need to take a lot of initiatives just for that and a dearth of working capital -- as the payment cycles are extremely long.