Paperless Parts was founded with a mission to drive innovation by making manufacturing more accessible.
Jason Ray, Co-Founder & CEO, shares the details on Paperless Parts and what it’s like to work there.
Video Summary
What is Paperless Parts
Paperless Parts is an intelligence platform for the industrial supply chain designed to accelerate the pace of innovation. The company eliminates critical bottlenecks in the manufacturing industry by streamlining the estimating and quoting process for contract manufacturers and job shops. By replacing antiquated, manual workflows with secure digital connectivity, the platform helps suppliers reduce risk and seamlessly hand off technical data across every tier of the industrial supply chain, from local machine shops up to original equipment manufacturers.
The founding story of Paperless Parts
The company was co-founded by Jason Ray, Scott Sawyer, and Jay Jacobs, who each approached the industrial supply chain problem from a different angle. Jason Ray experienced procurement challenges firsthand while sourcing legacy parts and missiles in the military. Scott Sawyer faced severe hardware prototyping barriers during a previous startup venture, which highlighted the risk of sourcing overseas. Jay Jacobs previously built a massive sheet metal and CNC prototyping shop where he developed early software solutions, serving as the catalyst to form a dedicated software company to solve these industry-wide issues.
How Paperless Parts uses artificial intelligence
Instead of building a basic wrapper on top of generic frontier AI models, Paperless Parts develops highly scalable, domain-specific artificial intelligence. This specialized technology is engineered to accurately interpret technical manufacturing data and geometric designs. The platform safely processes everything from advanced modern CAD models down to legacy hand-drawn diagrams from the 1960s, keeping operational costs low and predictable for long-term manufacturing contracts.
Company culture and customer relationships
The workplace culture at Paperless Parts centers around teamwork, collaboration, and hiring empathetic people who care about client success. The company prioritizes building long-term human relationships over pure automation, operating under the core philosophy of being paperless but not peopleless. This strong focus on communication and client support has driven industry-leading customer retention and business expansion.
Career opportunities and tangible impact
Top-tier engineering and corporate talent choose to work at Paperless Parts because the work offers a direct connection to real-world outcomes. Employees see the immediate impact of their contributions, as the platform processes tens of thousands of part orders weekly for components used in autonomous vehicles, advanced medical devices, and historic aerospace projects like the Artemis rocket launch. The company provides an alternative to traditional tech tracks by allowing professionals to visibly strengthen the industrial base.
