Pictured: MakerVerse CEO, Markus Seibold.
Whatever side you land on in the AI debate, there is little doubt that artificial intelligence wields the power to transform the industrial landscape irrevocably. Indeed, AI has seamlessly permeated so many aspects of our daily lives – curating the content we consume, “enhancing” our communication and informing our healthcare, education, security and more.
Though current adoption among UK businesses is comparatively small, a 2022 research report commissioned by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport indicates that the overall adoption rate of AI among UK businesses is set to reach 34.8% by 20401.
Within the furniture industry specifically, AI is already making an impact when it comes to inventory management, prototype generation, monitoring of production equipment, improving efficiency, and so much more.
Though ethical questions – from security, to bias and job displacement – must be carefully considered as AI continues to evolve, its onward progress seems inevitable. The onus will be on manufacturers, therefore, to explore how it might benefit them.
With large numbers of manufacturers planning to invest in AI in the coming years, there will be increasing demand for specialist companies with an implicit understanding of how AI might meet the industry’s unique needs and challenges.
One such business is Berlin-based MakerVerse. Founded in 2022 and offering a sophisticated AI-powered fulfilment platform for on-demand manufacturing, MakerVerse’s evolution over the past two years has been immense. Today, it has a talented team of more than 50 – a large proportion of which have an engineering/manufacturing background.
“MakerVerse was founded to make manufacturing as easy as ordering on an e-commerce website,” explains CEO Markus Seibold.
“We had the early backing of industrial companies such as Siemens Energy and ZEISS. Since 2022, we’ve expanded as an on-demand manufacturing platform in all areas.
“We now offer a full range of manufacturing technologies, including 3D printing, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication and many more.
“We started with an industrial focus, but now serve companies across all industries and sizes. Our projects include prototypes for furniture or advanced components for electric vehicles. Regardless of the project, we’re focused on reliably delivering high-quality parts.”
Resolving a universal issue
Prior to co-founding MakerVerse, Markus gained extensive experience as VP of Additive Manufacturing at Siemens Energy, where he was responsible for increasing the adoption of 3D printing.
“Although I focused on heavy machinery, such as turbines, aviation, rockets and high-performance cars, my challenges were universal across all industries,” explains Markus.
“Sourcing parts was a major hassle, requiring a lot of paperwork, time, and supplier validation. We calculated that for a procurement and engineering manager, about 30% of their time was spent on paperwork. MakerVerse was created to solve this issue.”
Meeting challenges head-on
The primary benefits of AI are widely accepted to include its improvement of process efficiency, minimisation of errors, and assistance in risky or arduous tasks – all of which are immensely valuable within the manufacturing industry.
MakerVerse is passionate about removing the burden of these lengthy and often inefficient processes, giving engineers and procurement departments the time and headspace for innovation.
“Furniture manufacturers face some of the same challenges affecting the wider manufacturing industry,” says Markus. “Prices are going up, supply chain disruptions are becoming hard to avoid, and too much time is being spent on “old-school” processes instead of more impactful things.
“We want to make it easy for procurement managers and designers to focus on what matters most – innovation. We care for the rest by finding the best suppliers, organising all the shipments, and digitalising the design and purchase process.”
Introducing MakerVerse’s AI-based automatic pricing technology
One of MakerVerse’s most significant achievements to date is the recent release of its advanced AI-based automatic pricing technology for CNC quotes. This groundbreaking new feature enables precise and highly customisable auto-quotes for CNC-manufactured parts, taking into account full part specifications based on 2D drawings.
“Before, getting a CNC machining quote was always a highly manual process that took far too long,” says Markus. “Even when a company offers an “automatic” CNC quote, the result is incomplete, following only general tolerances and standards and not precisely what’s specific on the technical drawing for this specific part.
“CNC machining is furniture companies’ most popular manufacturing technology, so we wanted to disrupt the process completely.
“Our AI-powered pricing engine uses AI to extract and analyse geometric metadata from 3D files and the full product manufacturing information from 2D technical drawings.
“This feature makes it easy to get precise and customisable quotes for more than 150 materials and dozens of finishes in just a few moments. So far, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and I hope you will try it for yourself.”
Few could argue that the availability of sophisticated and dynamic features such as this will not benefit manufacturers exponentially. Indeed, AI’s impact on predictive maintenance, quality control and streamlined processes can have a profound impact on daily operation, and ultimately, profit margins.
“I’m a big believer in AI, and I’m always looking for applications that help with manufacturing,” affirms Markus. “The exciting thing is that the benefits from AI can be seen right now, and they’re not just hypotheticals for years down the road.
“AI-powered instant quotes for manufacturing technologies like CNC machining are just one benefit for the furniture manufacturing industry, as they save time while encouraging experimentation in different designs and materials.
“The other applications are exciting, too. AI-assisted demand planning eliminates much of the uncertainty surrounding the process. The same goes for supply planning, as AI is extremely effective at getting insights from structured and unstructured data across various sources.
“We’re still in the early stages, but companies that embrace AI now will fare much better than those that don’t.”
The future of AI in manufacturing
Interest in AI and an awareness of its benefits are at an all-time high within the manufacturing sphere, but research suggests that implementation is lagging behind, particularly in Europe.
MakerVerse’s 2024 report on AI in European Manufacturing suggests that lack of expertise is the biggest challenge when it comes to implementing AI, followed by high initial investment costs and data privacy/security concerns2. Though these are credible challenges, there is an overwhelming sense of optimism about AI’s potential to improve efficiency in the future. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, as they say.
The future of MakerVerse
So, what does the future hold for MakerVerse? “We want to be the Amazon of on-demand manufacturing,” says Markus. “That means we’re the one place customers need to order high-quality parts from any manufacturing method and material.
“Like Amazon, there’s something for everyone. Whether you’re in the furniture manufacturing industry and looking to strengthen your supply chain, or you’re building a highly technical device in the heavy machinery industry, you can find exactly what you need with MakerVerse.”
Given MakerVerse’s ingenuity and the impressive diversification of its services and technologies over the past two years, this is by no means an unrealistic target.
