The epidemic has damaged the entire manufacturing supply chain, Return to normal is unlikely until at least 2024 Due to several challenges, including the ongoing US-China tech war. according to a According to a recent survey by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), The survey surveyed more than 150 equipment manufacturing companies and 179 equipment manufacturing executives. 98% of the respondents still face supply chain problems, and more than half of the respondents are facing the problem of deteriorating supply chain conditions. labor shortage and Access source middleware.
Today, a family named Computer Aided DesignThe company, which operates a business-to-business (B2B) marketplace for manufacturing, said it has raised $89 million in Series C funding, bringing its total capital to $164 million, to scale its business and help those making equipment.
Existing investors Globis Capital Partners, DCM Ventures, Global Brain, World Innovation Lab, JAFCO, and Minerva Growth Partners, along with four new investors SMBC Venture Capital and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital participated in the Series C round.
CADDi did not provide an after-the-fact valuation, but said it was an increase from previous funding rounds. In 2021, its Series B valuation is estimated at $450 million, TechCrunch said, citing sources familiar with the deal.
Since its last funding round, its global headcount has more than doubled, from 250 to 590, and the startup launched a new platform last June called CADDi Drawer, an AI-powered Cloud service for managing drawing data.
CADi was co-founded in 2017 by Yushiro Kato (CEO), a former consultant at McKinsey & Company, and Aki Kobashi (CTO), a former engineer at Lockheed Martin and Apple. The startup now offers two solutions: CADDi Manufacturing, a parts sourcing platform, and CADDi Drawer.
CADDi handles mid-batch production and Multi-variety, small batch production manufacturer, also known as Made to order, where the manufacturer produces the product after the order is confirmed. But the problem is that due to production constraints, consumers cannot get the best pricing from manufacturers who produce in small and medium volumes.
The CAADi manufacturing platform eliminates some procurement work and aggregates orders to help find similar materials, processes and suitable delivery schedules, the company said. It enables customers to get the best price, 99.83 percent on-time delivery and 99.96 percent yield, Kato said in an email interview. It also reduces the procurement cost of manufacturers by nearly 20%.
CADDi Drawer provides access to “all procurement data” and details impacting Quality, Cost and Delivery (QCD); its platform also enables users to save significant time and costs while allowing manufacturers to improve QCD by creating more drawings. Since April, the CADDi Drawer team has worked with the AI team to process this information.
“Due to difficulties in accessing (drawings), drawings are often recreated or simply not found, which means that the key to improving QCD (a KPI for manufacturing professionals) is never unlocked,” Kato said. “So more drawings don’t provide more improvements, but it’s almost as if the data was never saved and people are forced to start from scratch every time.”
CADDi claims that it works with CADDi Manufacturing, which is 70% of Japan’s top 20 industrial equipment manufacturers by revenue. CADDi Drawer’s clients include Tokyo Electron and Ebara.
The company will use the proceeds to enhance CADi Manufacturing and CADDi Drawing, and expand its workforce in the United States, with the goal of achieving $10 billion in CADi Manufacturing revenue and $1 billion in CADDi Drawer revenue by 2030.
Kato said that some pain points in the U.S. procurement industry are similar to those in Japan, not only the labor shortage in manufacturing, but also the many ongoing mergers and acquisitions. But Kato pointed out that the factories were not well integrated because of different systems and standards.
“We can expand our business to the U.S. using the knowledge and technology we have developed since our establishment, mainly in Japan and various manufacturing industries,” Kato said.
The Japan-based company recently opened an office in the U.S. and a supplier operation in Mexico to cater to U.S. customers. In Asia, CADDi has offices in Vietnam and Thailand.
