May 21, 2024

186: How Bringing Clean Water to Africa Led to Digitizing the Electronics Industry with Andrew Scheuermann, Co-Founder and CEO of Arch Systems

56 minutes

As new technologies emerge, so do new solutions and new possibilities. The electronics manufacturing world is going through a digital revolution right now, and companies like Arch Systems are at the pinnacle of it.

We welcomed Andrew Scheuermann, Co-Founder and CEO of Arch Systems, to the show to hear about the brilliant backstory behind the company. Before Arch Systems became a thing, Andrew and his Co-Founder were on a mission to solve the problem of broken wells in a number of African countries. Funding new wells is one thing, but without maintenance, they often fail. Using new technology and data insights, this project spiraled into a larger solution that became what Arch Systems is today.

We hear Andrew’s story and his thoughts on balancing non-profit and for-profit ventures to help each other, what the early days of the startup were like, and how technology is paving the way for faster and more effective solutions in electronics manufacturing.

In this episode, find out:

What Arch Systems does and how it started with a clear mission
Why Andrew decided to start working with water wells in some African countries
Andrew explains what the problem was with the wells and how it all came down to maintenance
How Andrew and his co-founder came up with a solution
The challenges of using a solution across so many sites
How Andrew balanced the for-profit and non-profit aspects of his project
How electronics manufacturing became a focus
The early days of finding product-market fit and struggling as an early startup
How leveraging data in Arch Systems could benefit manufacturing companies
The challenges of handling so much data
How the right data can help you make predictive maintenance decisions
How automation can help to fill the gaps in a workforce

Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!

Tweetable Quotes:

“If you can solve somebody's problem, it doesn't matter how different or similar you think you are, you can be the best team in the world.”
“All machines break. It's not a question of if, it's just when. And the more you use it, the more it's going to break. There might have been a defect, it might break earlier, it might just be based on usage. And so they would break, but the problem was painfully simple, there was no maintenance.”
“What's stuck with me is just being about the people and their problem. Not what you think it is, but what they think it is.”

Links & mentions:

Arch Systems, building expert data solutions that objectively observe and optimize manufacturing processes, driving decision intelligence for electronics manufacturers
WellDone International, a non-profit organization working to improve global access to clean water and other basic services essential to human health, productivity, and well-being
Amandine Lounge, serving a range of international cocktails in Los Altos, CA

Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.

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By Chris Luecke

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