Munich Startup: Who are you and what do you do? Please introduce yourselves briefly!
Markus Westermeier: We are Markus Westermeier (36), Adrian Lewis (35) and Johannes Schmalz (35), the three founders of Startups Spanflug Technologies.
In 2016, Johannes and I were doctoral colleagues at the Institute of Machine Tools and Industrial Management (iwb) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Johannes worked in the field of assembly technology and robotics. At the time, I was a group leader in the field of machine tools and production technology at the iwb. The original business idea of automating the calculation of production parts came about while I was working as managing director of a contract manufacturing company. However, I lacked the background in analyzing CAD data. This is where Johannes came in. He had studied this topic and was able to contribute his knowledge of CAD data processing. We conducted initial feasibility studies and sought support from students. One of these students from back then is Lucas Giering, now Head of Product at Spanflug. When the feasibility studies with the first prototypes worked very well, we felt confident about solving the overall problem. To realize this project, we needed support in software development, as our expertise as mechanical engineers was no longer sufficient for this complex undertaking. Through Johannes's network, we came across Adrian and began talking with him. Adrian received his doctorate in experimental particle physics from the University of Oxford in 2014. Adrian was immediately enthusiastic about our founding idea and project, so he joined our founding team. The current management team of Spanflug GmbH consists of Adrian as CTO and me as CEO.
Munich Startup: What problem does your startup solve?
Markus Westermeier: In short, we automate the procurement process for custom manufacturing parts. We achieve this through a procurement platform combined with an algorithm that can automatically process CAD files and technical drawings. This allows the entire process to be automated and accelerated for both buyers and suppliers.
Spanflug: “We see ourselves as a deeptech startup”
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
Markus Westermeier: There are now competitors who are also implementing this basic idea. However, no other startup or established company has yet managed to achieve a comparable level of automation and a comparably broad technical range in the field of CNC manufacturing. Spanflug, for example, combines the automated evaluation of CAD data and technical drawings. Establishing this connection is very important in order to truly consider all technical details, such as manufacturing tolerances, in the automated process. No one else does this in this way.
Munich Startup: What have been your three biggest challenges so far?
Markus Westermeier: The biggest challenge was definitely solving our technical problem. That's why we see ourselves as a deep-tech startup. Our technical problem is the automated prediction of manufacturing costs and the derivation of market-based bid prices for CNC manufacturing. Solving this challenge and the continuous development of our technology are what differentiate us from our competitors today.
We also invested a great deal of time in developing our business model as a platform between customers and suppliers. The legal aspects, in particular, presented a further challenge.
Spanflug is currently growing rapidly. At the end of 2020, we had 10 employees. By the end of the year, we aim to expand our team to approximately 30. We are currently looking for new employees in all areas of the company, particularly in sales and product development. Finding software developers with relevant expertise for our field is particularly difficult. However, we are making good progress and have already acquired several new team members in the last few months. We welcome applications from all areas of the company.
Onboarding and bonding as a team in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic is definitely a challenge. But we hope to return to a normal operating mode with face-to-face meetings, shared lunches, and exciting team events in the coming months.
“We definitely intend to become the market-leading platform”
Munich Startup: How are things going?
Markus Westermeier: Business is going very well. We now have a manufacturing network of around 100 partners. We have acquired over 10,000 users and more than 1,000 customers, more than half of whom are repeat customers. We are pleased that we were able to achieve strong growth last year despite the coronavirus pandemic, and the outlook for 2021 is extremely positive.
Munich Startup: How do you rate Munich as a startup location?
Markus Westermeier: Munich is definitely an attractive location, especially for startups. Sure, there are some downsides, like high rents and high personnel costs, but on the other hand, there's a very exciting ecosystem of startups, universities, and technology companies here. We believe UnternehmerTUM also makes a significant contribution here. After our founding, we received funding from the Xpreneurs incubator and have benefited greatly from it.
Munich Startup: Hidden champion or shooting star?
Markus Westermeier: Spanflug operates in the industrial sector and supplies exclusively to business customers. We don't have any products or services aimed at consumers, so we're not yet familiar to everyone. The market for customized manufacturing parts has a sales volume of €170 billion per year in the EU. We definitely intend to offer the best procurement process in this area on a permanent basis and thus become the market-leading platform.
