Automating the Paper Trail in Manufacturing

Lonni Kieffer: When they did the math and the paper savings, just, you know, talking about how it affects their bottom line. They were like, this is, you know, this is meaningful to our company. Not only is it gonna save time, but literally tens of thousands of dollars invested in paper can, you know, be allocated elsewhere.

Jacob Miller: Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Startup Wisconsin Podcast, A show where you can learn about Wisconsin's growing tech scene through stories of startups, founders, investors, and the talented people making it all happen. Today I'm talking with Lonnie Kiefer, a co-founder and CEO of Smart Cert, a company that's digitizing the complex world of supply chain documentation.

Think about every bolt that goes into an airplane. It needs a complete birth certificate of documentation, proving where it came from, how it was made, and that it meets safety standards For decades, this has been a manual paper-based headache. Smart Cert is building a platform to automate and digitize these critical processes, and they've grown to over 3000 registered companies.

But what makes Lonnie's story interesting is the journey from Phoenix, Arizona to Green Bay, Wisconsin, going against the typical startup migration pattern to find better work-life balance and tap into Wisconsin's manufacturing expertise through their partnership with Titletown Tech. We talk about the challenges of digitizing decades old processes, the change management required when entire industries need to evolve, and why sometimes the best startups reflect the DNA of where they're built.

Rather than trying to replicate Silicon Valley. So let's jump into my conversation with Lana Keefer from Smart Cert.

Lonni Kieffer: So if you think about a bolt that ultimately ends up in an airplane, not only do they have to document what metals that bull was manufactured from, but what was the process that it was manufactured to?

What are the standards that it followed? That paperwork accumulates along the supply chain. You start to build. A birth certificate. Um, and ultimately as that bolt gets received by a Boeing or an Airbus, all of that documentation is required, um, to not only determine that it meets the standards by which the industry is regulating it towards, but that it can actually be put on an aircraft, um, and sold to someone like Delta Airlines or American Airlines.

So. That process, uh, for many, many years and still in a lot of respects, is paper-based and manual and really cumbersome. And our goal is to create a network that not only makes the exchange of that documentation better, but it also helps remove a lot of the bottlenecks, uh, and the internal, uh, manual effort.

Remove errors and automate steps for each company

Jacob Miller: in your role specifically, like what parts of the business are you, are you focused on and I guess hoping to like make improvements on and things like that.

Lonni Kieffer: Yeah, so it's funny because when you think about these workflows, it's multi-departmental. So even from the way that your suppliers send documents to the way that maybe the purchasing department requests them, the quality department has to review them.

Maybe it's the sales team that are sending them out the door. We certainly affect all aspects of the business, which usually means that this initiative is pretty big. Um, and I think where we differentiate ourselves as a software partner is the fact that we can help stand in as a project manager. Even though we work with companies big and small, you know, from the beginning to the end of the supply chain, they all have the same processes and goals.

So we've built this blueprint. So understanding what does your process look like now and defining where smart are. Comes in, um, really helps foster that transition so that you're not, you're not forced to figure out software at the same time of, you know, making that transition for everyone that's involved.

Jacob Miller: Yeah. Do you ever run into instances where, like, do you think a certain, uh, organization would be a good fit? Then you just find that there's like so much friction and so many bottlenecks. They're like, you really aren't ready yet. Like, here's what needs to happen and how do you talk about it with them?

Like, what does that look like?

Lonni Kieffer: That's a really great question. Um, and the, the conversation has changed a lot too. You know, I think as a startup you wanna embrace everyone who has the same objectives and then you very quickly realize if they're not ready, it's. It's not gonna work as well, if at all. So I think we have a lot of questions that really help us understand readiness, and it probably involves.

All decision makers on the call. Is this a priority and an objective amongst the stakeholders in the business? Um, you know, does, is it gonna push back because it's new technology that they have to manage? Usually they're happy to hear we're a SaaS platform and we can check the box there, but, um. I mean, we started with, you know, those that are really tech forward in the industry and moved into the fast followers and now it's everyone else that knows they need a better process, um, and may or may not be internally ready to do so.

Jacob Miller: On the outside looking in, like I, you know, I don't work in the industry specifically. You, you just think like, oh, it can't be, that, it's not that hard to like deliver this item to my house. Build that thing, put it here, put it there. What are, what is something that maybe like within the industry, especially specifically that you deal with that maybe seems really simple but is actually like a lot harder to execute on when you really look at it and get into it?

Lonni Kieffer: Yeah, I mean, I think it is just like I was saying, if our goal is, you know, because we're having a hard time hiring or we realize that we're spending way too much time on paperwork, um. And we really need to, to, to automate more processes. That seems fairly straightforward. Let's get rid of the paper coming in the door and the paper we're living with and going out to customers and make that digital.

But you're really at the mercy of your suppliers, so you have to actually have a conversation with them if they're sending paper. And then, like I said, that workflow affects so many different people and departments that even if, let's say quality is excited because their review of the data and the documents could be digitized and automated in a way that.

Removes a lot of the manual steps. Maybe receiving is like, oh, hold the phone. If we get digital documents in now, our whole process changes, right? And so it's almost like you have to make an agreement to come together, and you don't necessarily have to transition your entire process from receiving to what goes out the door.

And that's usually the smart place to start is. Where's the greatest opportunity, the lowest hanging fruit in that process, which departments do, does it affect, start there and then kind of crawl, walk, run your way into transitioning that workflow across departments?

Jacob Miller: Yeah. Yeah. I'm actually really curious about like the origin of.

Like building this, this platform, this product. Um, you know, maybe touch on, I'm sure there's some history there, obviously in the industry. How did it kind of like just come, come to life and fall into place?

Lonni Kieffer: Yeah, Lyndon's really good, my co-founder at answering that question 'cause he basically lived the problem.

He was in sales, um, in aerospace and electronics for first to manufacturer and then a distributor. And for him, he recognized as the front lines with customers that most of the time he was wearing a customer service hat because they were upset about something regarding the paperwork. Mm-hmm. And you know, for him, obviously it affects him personally and financially, but for the business as well.

I mean. Because this is a consistent problem, like how do you differentiate yourself? How do you strengthen your relationships and eliminate this challenge when you have renewals coming for contracts? So I think the conversation then, you know, he searched for. A solution and there wasn't any. And now, you know, six years later, we know why it's really hard, uh, to build something industry-wide.

Um, but, you know, it's, it's exciting to also approach the industry with a solution. And, you know, we've, we started so simply, let's get paper out of the box and where we are today, the conversations are. Are so meaningful and so fun to just see the light bulb moment. Like, wait, you're doing what? And that's, that's based on just the feedback we've gotten from our customers understanding.

Again, where the greatest impact will be to time and, and resources. And I think, um, Lynden has a lot to be proud of. We built a really great team that, you know, our head of technology lived in the world of accounts payable, so his familiarity with digitizing documents was also just a, a slam dunk for us.

Um. Yeah, we've, we've grown, um, and evolved in a way that I think is making the impact Lyden was hoping for.

Jacob Miller: Yeah. Yeah. Has talent been a challenge at all? Like you talked about, uh, the experience, uh, recently with that, that individual, but I was kind of curious, like if, if there's been like, ah, I, I, we haven't been able to find the right person, or it took a long time to find that right person or.

Anything like that? No.

Lonni Kieffer: We were lucky with our head of technology. He responded to a LinkedIn post, which I think is like a great story in and of itself.

Jacob Miller: Yeah.

Lonni Kieffer: Um, but you know. I think because when you're small and scrappy and scared, you almost wanna lean on the people, you know? And so he was able to hire someone that he'd worked for in a past life.

Um, I hired someone on my team that I just know was like gritty and scrappy in a way that we needed. Mm-hmm. But now we're getting to the point where we're growing to and hiring people that aren't. Necessarily within our circle of influence. Um, but you know, SaaS companies, you know, they're dime a dozen.

There's a lot of people that understand that B2B concept, but also understand the B2C piece of it because you're engaging with users as well. So I think that there's, there's a lot of talent out there. It just comes down to the culture fit. When you think about. How critical each person is. If there's only nine of you.

Jacob Miller: Yeah. Actually I have a random question about like, the culture. Is that something that you have talked about as a team? Like saying, Hey, this is the type of roles we want, the type of people in those roles, um, here's how we think as a group, um, and like how do you guys kind of like stay aligned in that, in those philosophies that you agree on?

Because I'm kind of, especially with co-founders and you know, different folks in leadership sometimes, you know, obviously there's head buddying that can happen occasionally. So how do you, how do you guys handle that? Or do you have an external partner that helps with that kind of stuff? Or is it kinda like we just kind of, we kind of been luckily, luckily being able to, uh, imagine on your own, I guess.

Yeah,

Lonni Kieffer: yeah. Uh, we had, uh, the benefit of Titletown Tech helping us in that regard. Ooh. So they have entrepreneurs and residents. We spent time with Aaron Kennedy, who's the founder of Noodles and Company. Like that was awesome. Um, but he basically was trying to help us define really the backbone of our company in a way that's gonna help create a foundation by which to hire, you know, from do you meet this criteria?

Do you solve problems the same way? Do you respect your team members in the way that aligns with our goals and objectives? That was. Really difficult, especially, you know, you have so many ideas and you really kind of gotta build it into a pretty concise working statement. Um, so I think that that took us a few months and, but it became part of the interview process.

You know, you know which questions to ask, you know, which priorities. Um, that you wanna convey. Um, better understand the experiences they have, the way they approach conflict, um, that'll help kind of guide and inform us if they're a good fit ultimately.

Jacob Miller: Yeah. Yeah. That's actually a good segue into I wanted to ask about your transition from, uh, from being in Phoenix to coming to Green Bay.

Um, it seemed, from what I can have read about your history in, in smart, uh, in the co, in Smart cer, the company, um. It seems like you guys were there for quite a while. Um, so what, what was like the thing that was like, we're gonna move to Wisconsin? Was it, you know, Titletown tech? Um, was it, you know, family?

Was it other thing? I'm just kind of curious. Obviously you, you don't have to get as personal as you want to, uh, but, uh, whatever you'd like to share with that transition.

Lonni Kieffer: Yeah, it's a, it's always a good conversation starter when you talk about the fact that you moved from Phoenix to Wisconsin because everybody does it the opposite way.

Jacob Miller: Yeah, yeah.

Lonni Kieffer: Um, but so both Lyndon and I grew up in the Midwest. Uh, so we obviously spend a lot of time as we could Phoenix, Arizona has been good to us. We were there for almost two decades. And, um. There's a lot to love about the desert. Um, and it's also like the outta sight outta mind. So if you just think about.

Leaving behind the Four Seasons in winters, as you know, it, it's nice to have good weather for a good portion of the year. Um, but you don't realize how much you Ms. Green things and, uh, water. I feel like it's just in your DNA, that that's like a peaceful part of your existence. And so we started to think, you know, as, as our kids kind of were at the age where we could make a decision to move where we wanted to go.

Being back around family, certainly check the box being back around, you know, lakes and forests and Four Seasons was part of that, but Titletown Tech was also a factor. You know, they have been with us from the start. Uh, we enjoyed our time when we did visit, and, um, thinking about where we wanted to take the company in the next few years really helped us kind of make the decision to, to move to Green Bay.

Jacob Miller: I feel like in Wisconsin, and I would say the Midwest as a whole, I feel like there's like this trend of a lot of founders having more of a family focus. Like yeah, they're building something incredible, but they don't like do it at the cost of maybe have building and growing a family. And, and when you think about like Silicon Valley and, and other places, it's very like, um.

You know, the hustle and you know, I don't have time for relationships, I don't have time for family, like, whatever that may be, which, you know, obviously innovation happens in different ways. Um, but do you feel like that's kind of like, um, a strength that, like Wisconsin the Midwest has where it's like our mindset around building businesses without sacrificing like family in relationships?

Do you, I guess, do you have any thoughts around that? Because I just feel like that's something where like, Hey, I wanna build a startup, but I also wanna have a family. Where should I do it? Like, does this make sense to me? You know?

Lonni Kieffer: Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah. I think you, you really hit it. There is. A more focused work life balance here.

I mean, it really is a personal preference and maybe there's an ebb and flow to that for sure. Yeah. Um, we needed that for our sanity. Um, there's a lot of noise, you know, in the big cities that are also distracting. So it's almost like coming to the Midwest in a small town affords you the ability to.

Reset your priorities in a way that are gonna kind of help take care of yourself and each other. Yeah.

Jacob Miller: Yeah. Was there any hesitation around like, oh, like things that you would miss? Obviously the, the, maybe it was, you know, warmer. Uh, but like you said, I also too grew up near Lake Michigan. Uh, in, in the up.

It's like, I know what you mean by like when you go, my sister lived in Phoenix for a while, so I'd go there and I'm like, where's the water? Um, but like, did you have any hesitations around, um, you know, just moving your whole startup? The leadership team of the startup basically to, to Wisconsin like, is like, you know, there's different, uh, variables there where it's like, okay, finding the local talent, like there actually we actually can meet with in real life more often than not.

Um, just, you know, anything with events within your, within your industry, things like that. Yeah. I guess were there any hesitations along any of those lines?

Lonni Kieffer: There definitely was. I mean, it, it gives you pause to make a, a decision like this. 'cause not only are, you know, you making it for yourself and your family, but it does affect a company.

And there were some advisors that were worried that you're leaving, you know, this hub. Hmm. Um, you know, what does that look like from an exposure and an opportunity perspective if you're in, you know, northern Wisconsin. Um, but to be honest. Everything that we were afraid of, including winter, um, was really unfounded or minimal.

Um. When you're part of a small community like Green Bay, you find that you have more opportunities to get more involved in a lot of the foundational networks and organizations that either are unaccessible or you're just too overwhelmed on where to spend your time in a com, in a place like Phoenix.

Mm-hmm. So I think. W we have been able to realize a lot of benefits in being part of a local, smaller community and taking advantage of the resources, the conversations that exposure. Chinatown tech plays a huge part in that as well. I mean, their level of expertise, um, the network that they've built, you know, from Wisconsin and across the globe is also, uh, advantageous for us to be closer to.

Jacob Miller: Yeah. How did the introduction to Teton Tech happen? Uh, you know, I, I, obviously there was some local ties back to the area. But what was kind of like the conversation there?

Lonni Kieffer: Yeah. So we were up, introduced to them during our seed round of financing back in 2021. Okay. Um, because of their focus on supply chain.

So it was a, it was a really nice, um, connection for us. The fact that I grew up in Wisconsin, I'd like to think helped. Um, but uh, they saw the potential, uh, the pro, they understood the problem we're solving and the potential of the kind of impact we could make in the industry. And so, uh, they were our lead investor and have been just great partners, uh, since the beginning, and especially now that we are under the roof.

Jacob Miller: Yeah. I'm actually curious around kinda like maybe the first few months with Peloton Tech and now what it looks like today. Like how has the journey with them. And how they support you? Evolved a little bit.

Lonni Kieffer: Yeah. Um, they, uh, participate in our board meetings, so they've always kind of been under the hood in a meaningful way.

Mm-hmm. See, a lot of the details have really great discussions and perspective that started out of the gate, but I think now that we are, you know, down the hall. Um, Lyndon's in the office a little more than me. We kind of divide and conquer. Yeah. But you know, Craig will walk by and ask, you know, like, how was the Paris Air Show?

You were just at, you know, or come meet this congressman that's, you know, gonna spend time at Titletown like. I feel like they're more woven into our day to day in a way that we're top of mind for them, but they're also top of mind for us as we're thinking about the next step. Or you know, how can we leverage their experience or do they have, do they know someone you know?

I think just tapping into their resources. It's a very different experience today than where we started.

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'cause I've seen that you guys go to like different conferences and trade shows and things like that. Do you feel like. Um, there's an opportunity for Wisconsin to do, or maybe I'm just not aware of them, to do something in along those lines where it's like, Hey, how do we create some kind of, uh, experience or conference or, or I don't even know what I mean.

It could be like a retreat, it could be, you know, some kind of unique experience to get. Folks that work in the space that you're working together to have more meaningful conversations around, here's how we should be thinking about approaching the problems that we're facing. Or like just mapping out together.

Like, yeah, we all have the same problems. How do we work together to innovate on something together? And sh and as was, as a state of, as a state in Wisconsin or as a city in Green Bay, how do we kinda show others like. Kind of like the ropes of like how they can do things to innovate or like do, I guess, do you have any thoughts on that or like or, oh, I wish Green Bay or I wish Milwaukee or Wisconsin had this or that.

Lonni Kieffer: I feel like there's a lot of moving parts to that and I feel like Wisconsin does a really good job. You know, I was part of the economic summit last year. They definitely have the pulse on. What they bring to the table versus other states. Um, they're driving a lot of technology. The co-innovation lab that Microsoft just launched down in the Milwaukee area, and then you have Title Town Tech up here.

Mm-hmm. I feel like they kind of have representation in a lot of critical ways that are supportive of the conversations that are helping lead industries. Um. I don't know how it comes together from a supply chain perspective, but I can say Titletown has done a great job not only creating ecosystems and conversations for startups, but also, you know, putting a pulse on where supply chain exists today and where it's going.

So. For me, at least from my perspective, Titletown Tech seems to be a great, um, center point for a lot of that. I think that, yeah, they're gonna continue to invest time and resources to bring that to life.

Jacob Miller: Have you been collaborating more with. Manufacturers or, um, supply chain, uh, organizations in Wisconsin a lot more now that you're here, or have you, I guess, what has that experience kind of been like?

Lonni Kieffer: Yeah, I'd say a few things. It's nice to get in the car and have a conversation with our customer base. That happens a lot more now because of. What Wisconsin brings to the table from a manufacturing perspective, there's a lot more to learn in person. I mean, as much as Zoom checks the box. Sure. Even going behind the scenes, you know, understanding the way their warehouses are organized.

I played around with hot heading, you know, um. Understanding the complexity of what these companies do on a daily basis, and having exposure to that and listening in a way that you can't really do in an hour, you know, on a

Jacob Miller: mm-hmm. On

Lonni Kieffer: a video chat is really helpful. So I'd say. That's been a really great opportunity for us to take advantage of and, and leverage.

And then going back to, you know, just the manufacturing focus. All the, the companies, the investors in Titletown Tech have a good understanding of our business. So our, the, the exposure that we have and the resources that we have are all companies that live this on a daily basis. That is, uh, in and of itself extremely valuable for us to be able to, uh, take advantage of more.

So now that we are local, just like they are.

Jacob Miller: It actually makes me think about like what, um, maybe not even just in Wisconsin, just what you've seen in the industry. I'm curious what other companies, uh. That you like, you look at them, you're like, oh my gosh, that is such a huge problem. I'm so glad that they're, that they're trying to fix it with their solution.

Can you think of one, uh, off the top of your head that you're like, oh, I, that's a great thing that's gonna help the industry a lot.

Lonni Kieffer: In manufacturing and supply chains or just, yeah, I guess

Jacob Miller: either or. Yeah. I'm just kind because obviously like you're, you're in the weeds with like a lot of these processes, workflows, documents, and I'm sure you're like, oh, that would be a super fun problem to solve.

Or like, if that got fixed, like that would be amazing, but that's not our space. Or like, oh, we don't have time for that. 'cause you know, we're focused over here. That's kind of what I mean is like, oh yeah. Yeah.

Lonni Kieffer: Um, this sort of funny that you mention that 'cause it's a conversation we're having, we kind of understand.

On a granular level what every company's goals are to work smarter, fatter, faster, better. But on an industry or supply chain level, that could mean things like for aerospace, we wanna get rid of the risk of counterfeit parts entering our supply

Jacob Miller: chain. Hmm.

Lonni Kieffer: So while we're focused on building this network and creating a lot of visibility and traceability, now that we're.

Building data instead of sharing pictures of data. It's a bit far off. Um, our goalposts are further, but those are the things that we do understand we have the opportunity to solve for by building this network.

Jacob Miller: Hmm.

Lonni Kieffer: On data. So all of a sudden, you know, if a lot was introduced where, you know, it was manufactured.

A year ago with a million parts, those were all distributed and all of a sudden a new, you know, 500,000 parts are released. Could we flag that and let the industry know? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Could we validate people that are signing off on documentation so that it's like a know your customer, you know? Could we add a level of security as these documents get exchanged in the supply chain?

Those are the conversations we're having today. Hmm. But to your point, it's. It is part of a shift for the industry that's gonna take a lot more time than what we're accomplishing on the company level.

Jacob Miller: Yeah. Actually it's rolls into my next question really well too. This has been happening a lot in our conversation, I feel like.

Uh, so, uh, you've shared that you've grown smart cert over 3000 registered companies. Congratulations. That's amazing. What, you know, what have you learned about rolling out like an AI enhanced tool? Like into like these traditional industries that deal with things in the real world all the time. Like, you know, tangible items that are like are moving from A to B2C to D.

Lonni Kieffer: Yeah. Yeah. It's, I think our commitment and our responsibility is to use AI to continue to solve problems, right? There's a lot of companies and startups that are trying to just use the flash and the fun to get attention, but. What we have built will be, will, will benefit from AI in a way. Like I mentioned, if we can generate data and instead of someone taking out a drawing of a part to compare the requirements of the way that the bolts manufactured, we could probably do that with an AI compliance check.

Compare this to the industry standard, you know, highlight what's out of conformance. Um, those are the areas that we are. Building because it's an obvious next step. Mm-hmm. I think the other responsibility we have as a tech company is we're hearing a lot of chatter. Like we all have to embrace ai, and that can be overwhelming in and of itself.

Mm-hmm.

Jacob Miller: Um,

Lonni Kieffer: companies understand that there's benefits, but they don't necessarily know how to go from, as you say, A to B. So I think education is a key piece of that. Yeah, leading with AI may be beneficial, but so much of the power of that works on the backend, right? Like it's really built to power systems in a way that is meaningful.

Yeah. And then there's also counter, you know, counterintuitively to the conversation of we need all the benefits and wanna embrace this. There's the people that are like my data and my IP, and I'm never touching that. And so. We have to educate both sides of that conversation so that there is a good understanding of how you proceed and how you're protected.

Jacob Miller: Yeah. It seems like change management is like, and you know, we were talking about that before, uh, and how you, you've been, uh, speaking about it more personally on LinkedIn and stuff like that. How, how has that experience been, you know, on a personal level, professional level? Uh. Working with all these d different individuals at different companies with different backgrounds, with different, um, priorities.

You know, you're talking about ip, you're talking about data. This is our stuff. Like how, what has that been like for you? Do you feel like your role has even evolved A little bit because like, wow, like as much as I thought I'd be doing this, I'm doing way more of this now and, and like educating people and having empathy and then trying to meet them where they're at and all that kind of stuff.

Lonni Kieffer: Yeah. I mean. Digitizing decades old processes. That's like, it is, um, intimidating and overwhelming and scary. And I think it's our job to eliminate a lot of, um. Reflexes on that. You know, whether it's companies that are afraid to pull the trigger on, you know, this, the leadership level or the person who has to transition their job to Smart cert and still do their job and, you know, embrace this transition with a good attitude.

Our, our role is really to meet everyone where they're at on that, and I think it is the core tenets of change management. You don't have to. Talk about that as much as put people through the steps that help them build. Not only the acceptance, but the enthusiasm that this requires, right? Like if you're gonna go from A to B, you certainly have to have the momentum to get there.

And because we affect so many different departments, our focus is where do we get started? And then how do we inspire and empower? Using, you know, we now have four and a half years of experience transitioning companies. Yeah. So we kind of understand what to look for. We understand how to approach onboarding and training, what tools you need, um, that continues to evolve and our tools get smarter.

Um, but you know, after 3000 companies, there's a good number of them that are already familiar. They are ready to take that next step. And so that's also a great success story, is you start in one place and you evolve into embracing that when everyone is ready, you know, when it bubbles to the top of the priority list.

Jacob Miller: I'm actually curious if you have like a specific, uh, like customer story or something like that around where, where like they had this, because you talked about having like, you know, confidence, but also getting excited about like what's going on. Um, with using, using your platform like. Do you have an example of like, oh, once they saw this, they were like, oh, this is awesome.

Like, can, do you have any examples of that?

Lonni Kieffer: I have a lot. I mean, one company that comes to mind when, you know, and they were a paper based process when they did the math on the paper savings, just, mm-hmm. You know, talking about how it affects their bottom line. They were like, this is. You know, this is meaningful to our company.

Not only is it gonna save time, but literally the, the tens of thousands of dollars invested in paper can, you know, be allocated elsewhere. You know, I think those aha moments are great. Um, but I think there's also the companies that. Have a goal, um, partner with us. And once that this is up and running, we have many companies that basically have a hands-off approach to certs.

Now they're integrated with the right systems, they're talking the right way. They're keeping up with our feature releases. Um, that is. That is something to be proud of for them to be willing to not only lean into what that requires, but the outcomes of that. You know, I mentioned like. There's so many companies that are trying to bridge the gap with labor shortages or, gosh, you know, I have to hire people just to push papers around.

Jacob Miller: Hmm.

Lonni Kieffer: When you start to think about where people can spend their time, and if it's more from an oversight perspective, then keying in data all day, you know that you're, you're making an impact on the business and you're setting it up well for future growth.

Jacob Miller: I even think about just things like simple like, like human error, right?

Like obviously like sometimes software makes errors too. Um, like do you actually, I'm actually curious. Do you use like a, I guess a human in the loop to verify things or I guess how do you, do you handle anything like that?

Lonni Kieffer: We definitely recommend, you know, if we're gonna extract data from a ER and do a compliance check and automate that process, yeah.

There's still a level of responsibility to ensure that data is correct. Um. And so we wanna give you the tools to do it faster. And then you're gonna just review that, put your signature on it.

Jacob Miller: Yeah. And

Lonni Kieffer: continue the workflow. So I think, at least for now, I mean, AI makes mistakes just like everything else, like you said.

Um,

Jacob Miller: yeah. Yeah.

Lonni Kieffer: But if we can make that process faster, we know we're gonna be helping.

Jacob Miller: Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. I just, I never actually thought about the, the reduced cost and like paper spend and things like that. I think there's just so many things. Across so many other industries where it's just like, well, we've always done, always done it this way, or This is how, you know, or like even you're talking about like, we don't have enough people to look at all these papers.

Like, well then if we're never gonna find the people, what do we do? Oh, let's find a way to, to use technology to, to solve that issue. To clear, right? Yeah. It's crazy. Um. So what's, what's next for Smart Cert? Like, what's kind of like, whether it's on your roadmap or just where you guys see yourselves going in the next year or two, uh, what's, what's kind of like top of mind right now?

Lonni Kieffer: It's exciting. You know, I talked about the last four and a half years we've focused on everyone in the supply chain, whether it's, you know, a company of two people or 200 or 2000. I mentioned they all kind of have the same goals and challenges, and so creating this network and helping create efficiencies is unlocking a lot of opportunity, but it's also now getting the attention of those at the top of the food chain, right?

So the virality and the growth that we're seeing now is because these end users want to power. Their entire supply chain, all of their suppliers and standardized processes in a way that's going to eliminate millions of dollars to the bottom line. If you think about. Having more control over what your suppliers send and the way that you consume that, the way that it powers your systems.

That's, that's the true opportunity for us and we're finally arriving at a place where we get to have those conversations now with some pretty big players.

Jacob Miller: That's cool. That's awesome. Congrats on all your progress so far. Amazing. Um, I feel like. Everything's been falling into place in the, at the right time for you.

And, uh, and it's just been cool too to just hear, um, your customer base growing and just everything you're learning. So congrats. Thank you. Um, I, do you have any advice for founders that are maybe like you and they're thinking about re relocating or building, you know, in a smaller hub like Green Bay or, or Wisconsin, um, like any thoughts on that?

Like what you've kinda learned through your transition, um, what would you kind of share with somebody that's thinking about doing that?

Lonni Kieffer: Yeah, I love that question. I definitely recommend being intentional about how you build your network, the access to resources. You know, for Wisconsin, there's certainly a level of deep talent and a strong sense of community.

Um, but I think also a growing support system for early stage companies. You do have to be proactive. I'd say the greatest advice would be to lean into local strengths, whether that's. University partnerships, the manufacturing expertise that we mentioned, but get involved and reach out. There's less noise here, but that usually means more room for focus in building something meaningful.

And I think. You know, the biggest thing to remember is you don't have to replicate what's happening in Silicon Valley. Mm-hmm. I think the best startups reflect the DNA of where they're built, and I think that's where the magic and the advantage really is for Wisconsin.

Jacob Miller: Where can people that are, you know, listen to this or watching, uh, learn more about sort cert or maybe even get in touch with you if they're like, you know, maybe they're building something similar in, in this industry or, or maybe they're thinking about moving to Green Bay or Wisconsin.

Um, how can they get in touch?

Lonni Kieffer: Yeah, I'd love to be a resource for all those conversations. I'm on LinkedIn, so you can search for Lonnie Kiefer. We also have Smart Cert represented there and post a lot of information, whether it's use cases or the way we're approaching common problems. Our website is Smart cert.tech, which also outlines a lot of different approaches.

You know, our technology can solve problems. It's that walk. Crawl, walk, run perspective. Uh, you don't have to to do it all at once, but maybe there's an opportunity to get started and then certainly as far as any other startup founders go, always happy to have those conversations.

Jacob Miller: Thanks for joining us on the Startup Wisconsin Podcast.

Wanna support the show. Don't forget to subscribe and get updates. If you're feeling generous, you can share, rate and review our podcast to help others find us. Alright folks, until next time, let's keep moving Wisconsin forward.

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