enliven the space, a company that is developing a fully reusable rocket, has introduced a new tool that allows hardware companies to track the design, testing and integration of parts. The new tool Fusionit targets an unattractive but essential aspect of the hardware workflow.
It’s a solution that was born out of “pervasive pain in the industry,” said Andy Lapsa, CEO of Stoke, in a recent interview. The current status quo of parts tracking is marked by cumbersome and balkanized solutions based on reams of paperwork and spreadsheets. Many of the existing tools are not optimized “for boots on the ground” but for finance or procurement teams, or even the C-suite, Lapsa explained.
Rather, Fusion is designed to streamline simple inventory transactions and part organization, and will continue to track parts throughout their useful life—as they are integrated into larger assemblies and undergoing testing. In an extreme example, such as hardware failures, Fusion will help teams connect anomalous data to the exact serial numbers of the parties involved.
Image Credit: Stoke Space
“If you think about the aerospace industry in general, there is a need and a desire to be able to understand the part pedigree of every part number and serial number found in an assembly,” Lapsa said. “So you not only understand the setup, but you also understand the history of all those parts that go back forever.”
While Lapsa clarified that Fusion is the result of an internal organic need for better parts management (designing a fully reusable rocket is tricky, after all), turning it into a salable product was a decision the Stoke team made from the start. principle. It’s a notable example of a rocket startup generating avenues of revenue while its vehicle is still in development.
Fusion offers particular relevance to startups. Many existing tools are designed for production cycles, not the fast-moving research and development environment that many hardware startups find themselves in, Lapsa added. In these environments, speed and accuracy are paramount.
Brent Bradbury, Stoke’s head of software, echoed these comments.
“The parts are changing, the people are changing, the processes are changing,” he said. “This allows us to capture all of that as it happens without a lot of extra work.”
