A H e m i s p H e r e s s u p p l e me n t :
TECH
THEABILITYTOBE INNOVATIVE ISDRIVINGCHANGETHROUGHOUTEVERY
AREAOFTECHNOLOGY, FROMTHECOMPANYWHOWANTS TOTRANSFORM
MANUFACTURING, TOTHERETAILERWITHAPROPENSITYFORFORWARD-THINKING
“MASSCUSTOMIZATIONWILLBE
the focusof thenextdecade in
manufacturing,”saysRobert
Honeycutt, co-founderofATLATL
Software. “Youhaveall thebenefits
ofmassproduction—it’seasyand
efficient—butwithbespokeproducts.”
AndATLATLshouldknow; the
company isat the forefrontofmass
customization thanks to its innovative
software,whichprovidesa3D
virtualized tool toeasilymanufacture
andsell complexconfigurableproducts.
“Our software canbeapplied to
anyengineered-to-orderproduct,
includingeverything from fences
and swing sets tomechanical valves
and things thatmake theworld
go round,” saysHoneycutt. First
established in2012, the company
sawanopportunity to transform the
manufacturingprocess, andwent
on toestablish the sales resource
planning software category. “Wehad
an idea thatused this customizable
technologyand the firstproduct,
calledErectaStep,wasborn. There
areonly5parts to it, butyou’re
able tobolt them together likea
Lego set andmakeany size
platformyouwant,” saysHoneycutt.
“We’rechanging thebuying
experience forourcustomers, aswell
as themanufacturingprocess inour
factories.We took the technology
ofvideogamesandvirtual reality
andapplied itagainstanengineering
background, tocreatevisuals thatcan
beshown tocustomersonan iPad.”
Theautomateddrawingsalsohelp
eliminatenon-value-addedpartsof the
entiremanufacturingprocess—meaning
moreefficientsalespeopleand
ultimately leading to increasedrevenue
forcompanies.Honeycuttsays, “It’snot
about reducingproductsteps, it’sabout
eliminating thementirely. Typically,
salespeoplereceivequotes from the
engineers topassalong toclients.And
thereareusually twoor threerevision
cycles in that—it’saveryarchaic
method formostcompanies.Whatour
solutiondoes iseliminate thatwhole
processbyempowering thesales
personwithan iPad, andgiving them
thepotential tocustomizeandamenda
customer’sproduct thereand then.”
ConsideringATLATLhasseen
500%growth in thepast fiveyears,
itseems theneed forcustomization
withinmanufacturinghashuge
potential.Anothercompany thatuses
custom-engineeredsolutions isHPI.
Goinghi-tech
WORDS BY
RACHAELMOON
