WorkClout is creating the future of software for packaging manufacturers

A new company called WorkClout wants to make folding carton convertors ditch their supply chain software -- and hop onto their solution. They’ve created a new, simple-to-use cutting-edge manufacturing information software (MIS) built specifically for the printing and packaging industry, which has helped their folding carton convertor customers fulfill 3x more orders.

WorkClout was designed to take out everything existing wrong with MIS/ERP solutions-- that is, complexity. One thing Workclout does well is making everything extremely user-friendly and creating implementation times that are less than a month. Key features of WorkClout include: Estimation, Order management, Job scheduling, Floor reporting, Real-time communication, Production, Shipment handling, Integrations with Quickbooks, and Business analytics.

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WorkClout gives folding carton operation managers access to information when and where they need it by making it available on mobile, web and tablet.
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Arjun Patel, Richard Girges, and Bryan Trang are the creators of WorkClout. While Arjun was in college, he helped his dad’s packaging manufacturing company optimize the supply chain resulting in the company scaling to multi-million dollars in revenue with more than 150% growth. The manufacturing process was very manual, which left room for high error and low margins. Arjun always wondered how to scale the insights he discovered to all of manufacturing. It wouldn’t be until a few years later, after spending a few years working for technology companies and running a previous startup with Richard and Bryan, did his answer come to fruition.

Their goal is to build the operating system for folding carton manufacturers all over the world.

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“ Packaging manufacturing is a lot more complicated than meets the eye. Today, most companies manage this complex process by phone, email, paper, excel, and fax. Each step has high room for error. Making the small margins even worse because of a lack of automation which result in not nearly optimal OEE. Operations Managers need great record keeping in one centralized database, be able to automate mundane tasks, and visualize downtime, bottlenecks, and lean wastes.”

I asked Patel why the name WorkClout, he responded

“We believe that the best manufacturers build a reputation of trust and authority (Clout), through the quality of their work (Work). Our mission at WorkClout is to make sure manufacturers have the best tools to succeed by keeping their focus on what they do best: manufacturing quality products.”

There are solutions that manufacturers use today, However, when Patel looked into other MIS software services and interviewed packaging manufacturers using those services, it seemed that there was something truly broken. Many said implementation took up to 2 years, and the cost was astronomical.

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WorkClout says they’re on a mission to change the status quo of existing software solutions for packaging manufacturing.

“Current manufacturing software for packaging manufacturers are severely outdated. Companies are frustrated at how complicated the software is to use and how much time it takes to implement (6 months - 2 years). The the time to value is too long and price is way too high to justify. Why should software that is supposed to be helping you make your life easier be complex, have long implementation times, be super expensive, and still lack basic features like scheduling or accounting” explained Patel.

One thing the WorkClout team wanted to get right was making it accessible and easy to use. We talked to their existing folding carton customers and asked what they thought of the WorkClout software.

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“It really is the central nervous system of our operations; implementation was the most seamless thing I’ve ever seen - 1.5 weeks we completely switched over. Can you imagine having 100 of our employees being reliant on paper, excel, and legacy software for 20 years and in 1 week be comfortable and fully adopting a brand new way of doing things, it is truly remarkable”, said Henry Mann of Packaging Five.

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The WorkClout team didn’t just start thinking about this problem out of the blue and are no strangers to optimizing manufacturing however. Arjun Patel is the son of a packaging manufacture, he’s seen all the challenges manufacturers deal with firsthand. He started his career out consulting and advising manufacturers, helping them implement lean manufacturing and lean six sigma best practices. Bryan Trang has over a decade leading product and design, Bryan has helped companies like Transdev, Genentech, Tesla, and more optimize logistics experience for end-users. And Richard Girges has over 15 years experience of building the most sophisticated software for Disney, Omaze, Steelhouse and many more. Combining their expertise of manufacturing, they’re revolutionizing the way packaging convertors optimize for growth. One of the biggest fears they noticed with packaging convertors is the entriching emerging markets stealing market share from them.

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“We want convertors to be able to aggressively compete with emerging competitors and the easiest way possible to do so is to utilize technology to get an edge even when prices are being undercut in the market, big name brands that need packaging still care about quality.”, exclaimed Girges.

Girges thinks about this every time they build a new feature on the WorkClout system, he makes sure the system is doing all the complex work, so convertors experience simplicity. The real innovation that WorkClout brings to the industry is that they want their customers to succeed, making the complex simple and the simple unique.

“Their program is a completely new experience than what we’ve seen before, we think this is the future.” - Zachary Benitez, Nebula Packaging

Bryan Trang dedicates a good portion of his days making sure the design is as human centric as possible, from the office employees to the plant floor workers. The complicated part of the process is understanding how a deskless workforce interacts with the product. One thing Trang has done countless times is actually get his hands dirty by visiting every WorkClout customer and helping them run jobs. That goes to show you the dedication to customer experience this team really values when building out the software. One thing WorkClout has been focusing on relentlessly is optimizing packaging manufacturer’s output efficiency, in order for them to increase capacity without investing in more expensive machinery.

One WorkClout customer in particular, Ultimate Paper Box, processed a 25% increase in job tickets completed week over week, 1 month after implementation, which equated to an increase in significant month over month revenue.

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Today, WorkClout is growing 100% month over month, getting customers from the US, Mexico, Greece, India, China, and many more countries around the world. Patel says this is just the first step for the team, they plan on optimizing and growing every folding carton manufacturer with their software and they’re just getting started.

If you're a packaging converter, you owe it to yourself to check out the latest technology in the industry, even if you're using another system: www.workclout.com.