In the realm of manufacturing, especially in the automotive industry, time is an element that can be as valuable to an engineer?s bottom line as cost and price. Manufacturing involves a lot more than CNC machining, a 3D printing service, or injection molding. When it comes to vetting, managing, negotiating quotes, and comparing lead times across different vendors, time flies by, delaying your ability to get your project manufactured according to your ideal timeline. 
The Old Way of Manufacturing
The shared frustration among product designers and engineers has been loud and clear: it is too difficult and time-consuming to find the optimal manufacturing vendor for custom part needs.
Reaching out to local suppliers often takes weeks to months, requiring multiple individual follow-ups through phone and email. Files have to be sent back and forth, quotes have to be compared between various vendors, and then the selected vendor for the project has to be closely managed. This manual and time-consuming ordeal slows down the rate of innovation, making the process of getting parts manufactured even longer and more expensive.  The Digital Revolution in Manufacturing 
Though manufacturing is one of the largest and most critical industries in the world, the frustrations voiced by its leaders have remained the same for hundreds of years. Even as people began ordering taxis and booking hotels on their phones, the old way of communicating, negotiating, and price checking r...