Boson Ventures PortCo AI-NC launches revolutionary new tool for manufacturing

AI is reshaping every industry, and manufacturing is no exception. AI-NC, a company we invested in 2 years ago, is leading the way. Early this year, AI-NC officially launched its revolutionary software tool Manufact

Try Manufact yourself: https://app.manufact.au/

Manufact fundamentally changes how manufacturers estimate costs and engineers design parts, making the entire process smarter, faster, and more collaborative. As an early investor in AI-NC, we are extremely excited to see this milestone progress and look forward to the profound impact our portfolio company will bring to the multi-trillion dollar opportunities therein.

Within one month of launch, Manufact has successfully processed 148 design cases, gaining recognition and support from various partners including CNC machine tool manufacturers (such as world-leading manufacturer ANCA), industrial design companies (such as CALIBER DESIGN), innovative defence contract manufacturers (name withheld), and traditional processing manufacturers (such as TOTAL PRECISION). This cross-industry recognition fully demonstrates Manufact's wide applicability across the manufacturing ecosystem.

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Manufact: AI Empowerment Makes Manufacturing Simpler and More Efficient

The launch of Manufact marks an important step for AI-NC in the field of manufacturing digital transformation. This tool's core objective is to solve the three most important pain points in manufacturing: inaccurate cost estimation, high design complexity, and long production cycles.

Manufact helps engineers optimise component structures and simplify manufacturing processes at the design stage, thereby significantly reducing costs, shortening delivery times, and improving product quality predominantly by shortening iteration times and reducing back-and-forth between manufacturers and procurers

Manufact's Core Values:

1. Intelligent Cost Estimation: Manufact uses proprietary algorithms to generate accurate cost estimates in real-time based on factors such as part geometry, material selection, and processing difficulty. This not only helps manufacturers better control budgets but also allows engineers to clearly understand the true cost, both in time and in dollar terms of their decisions.
2. Design Optimization Suggestions: through analysing geometric features of parts (such as tight tolerances and complex structures), Manufact suggests optimizations to help engineers simplify designs, reduce unnecessary processing steps and specialized tool usage, thereby lowering production costs.
3. Collaborative Workflow: Manufact provides a platform that enables engineers, manufacturers, and suppliers to work closely together from the early design stage, ensuring the manufacturability and cost-effectiveness of design solutions while reducing the risk of later modifications and rework.

Why is Manufact So Important?

In traditional manufacturing processes, the complexity of parts and design details often bring a series of problems:

• Cost Increase: Complex geometries and tight tolerances require more processing steps, specialized tools, and high-precision measuring equipment, all of which directly drive up costs. Often, engineers lack this information during design and rely entirely on experience to make judgments.
• Extended Production Cycles: Complex parts require more time for processing and assembly, leading to longer delivery times. In the current design-to-production process, it takes an average of 1 month to go back and forth between design and production to modify errors or high-cost design elements. Avoiding high-cost, high-error design factors at the design stage can significantly reduce the overall production process.
• Increased Manufacturing Failure Risk: Minor oversights in design can lead to manufacturing failures, further increasing cost and time pressures.

Manufact solves these problems by helping clients achieve:

• Cost Reduction: Simplify design, reduce processing steps and specialised tool usage. Manufact is the gatekeeper enforcing quality designs leave the studio.
• Faster Production: Optimise design, shorten processing and assembly time. Manufact provides the information a manufacturer needs to get your job done, with low risk and an upfront, accurate understanding of what the job will entail… in minutes not weeks or months.
• Improved Success Rate: Reduce manufacturing failure risk, ensure first-time success.

Technical Challenges and AI-NC's Unique Advantages

Developing an AI application like Manufact is no easy feat. It requires a deep understanding of the intricacies, costs, and complexities of modern manufacturing; a thorough grasp of computational geometry; and extensive practical experience in machining. For us, investing in AI-NC was an obvious choice, as each of these essential skill sets is represented by its three founders.

AI-NC's core team not only masters cutting-edge AI technologies such as machine learning and computer vision but also has years of manufacturing expertise. They deeply understand the pain points and needs in manufacturing processes. This unique cross-domain capability has led them to create a tool like Manufact to truly solve practical problems.

AI-NC's Vision and Future

AI-NC's mission is to drive the digital transformation of manufacturing through technological innovation. The launch of Manufact is just the beginning of this journey. In the future, AI-NC plans to further expand its product functionality, covering more manufacturing processes such as turning, laser cutting, sheet metal forming, and more.

They will also continue integrating with existing incumbent CAD/CAM solutions to accelerate and facilitate the institutional changes coming to manufacturers worldwide.

As an investor in AI-NC, we have full confidence in the team's technical capabilities and execution ability. The successful launch of Manufact not only validates AI-NC's technical prowess but also demonstrates its potential for enormous impact in manufacturing. We look forward to AI-NC continuing to lead industry transformation and create more value for customers.

About Us:

Boson Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology innovation, committed to supporting entrepreneurial teams that change the world through technology. We look forward to working hand in hand with more outstanding startups and visionary investors to jointly promote industry progress and development.

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