Today we’d like to introduce you to Oleg Shilovitsky.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Oleg. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started OpenBOM two years ago. We serve engineers, manufacturing companies, and suppliers. Essentially, OpenBOM is for everyone who is in the business of designing and manufacturing something. That can include an electronic gadget you keep in your hand (there are many of them now), a bike, a motorcycle, a computer, a car, a huge electrical turbine or an airplane. What do they all have in common? They all require a bill of materials; they are an essential part of making things. Fundamentally, a bill of materials is the lifeblood of every manufacturing company, from a small shop to a large OEM.
I’ve been in this industry for a long time working for small companies and large software vendors and doing consulting. I also founded another software startup which was acquired some years ago.
I see tremendous changes happening in manufacturing these days. It is similar to what happened with software 10-20 years ago when everything moved to open source and the web. Now, it’s happening to manufacturing. Global markets, connectivity, and new manufacturing technologies are changing the manufacturing landscape.
Also, products are changing. Modern products are a combination of mechanical, electronic, and software parts. Product complexity is growing. You cannot develop new products in new ways using legacy software developed for manufacturers 20-30 years ago.
All this came together and led me to start OpenBOM.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We are not done by any means. It is hard to make something from 0 to 1. Building relationships with your first users, producing something they want, and keeping the ball moving forward present many challenges. This involves a complex balance which requires full dedication. I like saying that as a startup CEO you’re usually too tired to sleep. But when you fall asleep, you sleep like a baby; wake-up after two hours and cry. Everyone who tells you it’s possible to build a startup and maintain life-work balance is lying. A startup is a countdown clock all the time.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about OpenBOM – what should we know?
We develop software that helps everyone who designs and manufactures things manage data about the product (bill of materials), their related information, order parts, and communicate with contractors and suppliers.
Our unique approach is developing technology and tools that help everyone stay “on the same BOM” whilst working in complex engineering and manufacturing environments. We accomplish this by using modern cloud-based technology and real-time collaboration so that people around the globe can see everything at the same time.
You could think about it as Google spreadsheet “married” to Bill of Materials. We built it to be easy and intuitive to minimize the knowledge gap involved with starting to use it.
One the business side, our unique business model allows people to register online and grow their work by moving between different subscription level. From a commercial standpoint, we help companies get their work done without paying 1000s of dollars to traditional ERP, MRP, and supply chain systems.
Altogether our model allows us to build a global customer base and presence whilst still a small startup. You could not have been able to even think about doing similar 10-15 years ago.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Understanding of your customers. Building a team. Start making money. Technology is easy. People are hard. Don’t take me wrong, technology is important and can go wrong. But startups rarely fail because of technology compared to first other things. The highest failure rate comes from building something nobody needs.
The hardest thing is to compete with the status quo of engineers. By default, engineers are innovators at heart. But when it comes to tools, they are religiously conservative. So, it’s really about competing with a manufacturing company’s status quo.
Contact Info:
- Address: 105 Redwood Rd
- Website: www.openbom.com
- Phone: +1 (978) 760 1885
- Email: oleg@openbom.com
- Twitter: twitter.com/openbom.com
- Other: medium.com/@openbom
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