Zero to 10,000: Arch Systems’ Strategy for Scaling Connected Devices in Enterprise Manufacturing
Scaling connected devices in enterprise manufacturing isn’t just a technical challenge – it’s an organizational marathon. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Andrew Scheuermann revealed how Arch Systems grew from a modular IoT platform to connecting over 10,000 machines across 100+ factories worldwide.
The Failed Platform Play
Initially, Arch Systems tried building a generic IoT platform for developers. “All of them would say, ‘I want to build my own AI models,'” Andrew recalls. “But they didn’t necessarily have the capacity, they didn’t have the team… talent is so hard to come by.”
This created a fundamental mismatch. Enterprise customers wanted to build their own solutions but lacked the capabilities to do so. Pilot programs stalled, and growth was limited.
The Vertical Pivot
The breakthrough came when they abandoned the horizontal platform approach for a vertical-specific solution. “When we finally got that focused on a vertical specific solution, we built the whole thing right,” Andrew explains. “We built the analytics and the intelligence and were able to start providing awesome optimizations inside of our customers.”
The Strategic Partnership That Changed Everything
Rather than trying to scale device by device, Arch Systems made a bold bet on a strategic partnership. “We worked early on with Flex,” Andrew shares. “We almost did free work for them for a long time and they essentially gave us access to all of their factories worldwide.”
This partnership provided three crucial elements for scaling:
- Access to diverse machine types
- Real-world data at scale
- Enterprise-grade validation
The ‘Cores’ Approach to Scaling
Arch Systems developed what Andrew calls “cores” – combinations of machine connections and pre-built analytics. “Today we focus on surface mount technology and injection molding,” he explains, but their vision extends much further. “In the next three to five years we’ll be in far more than two of these core processes… CNC machines… semiconductor, packaging, paint shops.”
Navigating Technical Complexity
The technical challenge wasn’t just about connecting devices – it was about understanding them deeply. Andrew explains their dual approach: “My Co-Founder comes from a physics background, I come from a chemistry background. So we actually love talking about first principles versus pattern matching and the power of both of them and the limitations of both of them.”
This combination of theoretical understanding and practical pattern recognition helps them scale efficiently across different machine types and manufacturing processes.
The Enterprise Scaling Playbook
To scale within enterprises, Arch Systems developed sophisticated stakeholder management strategies. “In our sales, we have pretty sophisticated playbooks to be able to identify in a given customer who are the digitization champions,” Andrew explains. “Finding your initial champion to run the pilot, working with them to spider across the organization and build a collection of stakeholders.”
Future-Proofing the Solution
Their latest innovation, Action Manager, represents their vision for scaling intelligence, not just connectivity. Andrew describes it as “an intelligent system that helps automatically alert on the conditions happening in the factory, send it to the right people and lets you build these knowledge playbooks where the factory experts have a place to put all their knowledge.”
Key Lessons for B2B IoT Founders
Arch Systems’ scaling journey offers several crucial insights:
- Vertical focus enables faster scaling than horizontal platforms
- Strategic partnerships can provide exponential growth opportunities
- Combine technical depth with stakeholder management
- Build reusable “cores” rather than one-off solutions
- Focus on intelligence, not just connectivity
For B2B founders looking to scale connected devices in enterprise environments, the path isn’t just about having great technology. It’s about building a complete solution that addresses both technical and organizational challenges. As Arch Systems demonstrates, sometimes the fastest way to scale is to slow down, focus on a specific vertical, and build deep partnerships that enable exponential growth.