Munich Startup: What does your startup do? What problem do you solve?
Numi Solutions: Numi is a supply chain software, which solves the short-term firefighting problem in the supply chainThis means that if there are external disruptions on the demand or supply side, the question arises as to what impact this will have on my supply chain. For example, if my risk of going out of stock increases, I won't be able to deliver customer orders, or I have to postpone production orders. We solve these problems with Numi by extracting transactional data from existing systems and enriching it with externally available data, such as CRM systems for a better market signal or supplier data to get more accurate predictions about when goods will arrive.
This combination then forms the basis on which Numi issues daily recommendations for action. For example, do I need to create an express purchase order to avoid stockouts, or do I need to increase my selling price to mitigate demand somewhat? The user can then validate this recommendation via our software and feed it directly back into the ERP system.
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
Numi Solutions: Most supply chain software providers focus on creating medium-term plans, such as demand or supply plans. We, on the other hand, strive to optimize daily supply chain decisions using linked data and algorithms, and then automate them.
Numi helps with forward-looking supply chain planning
For this purpose, we also integrate external events into our tool. For example, we have connected a Salesforce application, which allows us to identify projects in advance and estimate the likelihood of them coming to fruition. This allows us to pre-provision specific products for each machine. Another example is the connection to our customers' IoT devices. This allows us to read the location of each machine, how many hours it has run, and so on. This allows us to anticipate maintenance requirements, for example, and then proactively make suggestions about which products need to be stocked. This way, we integrate data from within the company and from external sources into supply management and create recommendations.
For the user, this means they receive up-to-date recommendations from our system as soon as they log in. For example, if a stockout occurs in the future because the delivery time for a product has been drastically extended. Or in the case of inventory reduction, for example, if the ERP system estimates a delivery time of two months, but we expect it to take only one. We then give the user the opportunity to simulate this and feed the results back into their ERP system. This makes Numi an intelligent add-on to ERP systems for optimizing the supply chain – all with as little manual effort as possible for the user.
Munich Startup: What is your founding story?
Numi Solutions: We both met at the supply chain management consultancy Barkawi Management Consultants in Munich. We spent six years optimizing supply chains and saw how each other worked on joint projects. We noticed that the major supply chain technology providers only cover the medium- to long-term planning horizon. But when it comes to making faster, agile decisions, users always resort to ERP transactions and Excel. We both thought there had to be a smarter solution.
Focus on medium-sized companies with low implementation effort
What was also a factor was that these large providers are often not economically viable for small and medium-sized businesses, or their time to value is very long. Therefore, from the very beginning, we wanted to focus on low implementation costs and target medium-sized companies.
We now also work with various management consultancies that focus on supply chain management. They particularly benefit from the simulation capabilities of our software, which represents enormous added value for the consultancies.
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Numi Solutions: Our biggest challenge, like most B2B companies, is sales. Especially when it comes to big decisions involving multiple stakeholders from supply chain management, it can take a long time. We've experienced everything from a demo appointment followed immediately by a contract signing to waiting three-quarters of a year before the final signature. And as a bootstrapped startup, we had to acquire our first customers quickly so we could finance Numi from our revenue. Fortunately, we're now at the point where we have enough run rate so we're not dependent on external financing. Now we also have a bit more time to further develop the tool according to our own ideas and those of our customers.
“We have actually only had positive experiences”
Munich Startup: Where would you like to be in one year, where in five years?
Numi Solutions: We've just redesigned our software architecture again, laying the foundation for further scaling. This will allow us to focus on customer acquisition in the coming year. We also have many more ideas for our product development. In five years, we want to have built a sustainable and profitable company where our team enjoys working.
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Numi Solutions: We've actually had only positive experiences. There are plenty of opportunities for young entrepreneurs and young founders. It all started with us, Exist Founder's Grant, which is about the Technical University of Munich This gave us a lot of confidence in the beginning to develop the product we wanted to develop. Then we were in the TUM Venture Labs for software and AI, and here too, the support, especially from Antoine Leboyer, was excellent, allowing us to immediately connect with the right contacts. The SAP Accelerator SAP.iO has given us good input, especially on the product side. And now we are in Plant1.
“The ecosystem here is great”
The ecosystem here in general is fantastic. It feels like everyone knows everyone, and it's easy to network. You can meet people in the hallway or just for coffee. It's incredibly easy to find people who can help you, and you can quickly connect with them. It's fun, and we're glad we've set up our office here at Werk1.
Munich Startup: Outsource or do it yourself?
Numi Solutions: We outsource administrative tasks, such as payroll and accounting. We handle tasks like product development, sales and marketing, and customer communication ourselves. This allows us to focus on the tasks that drive our progress and do what we're good at: optimizing supply chains. And so far, that's been working quite well.
