Contribute — Physical.Industries

Are you an operator at a manufacturing, logistics, energy, utility, or construction company?

Operator roles include operations, maintenance, engineering, supply chain, safety, innovation, technology, procurement, and leadership.

The Backlog is built from operators’ answers.

You can still get the results. We’ll email them to you when The Backlog is published in November.

Are you a startup founder building for physical industries? Tell us what you’re working on →

Step 1 of 5

What would you pay to fix?

Describe one problem that breaks, slows you down, creates risk, or costs your company money. Describe the problem, not the product or solution you think should exist.

Your answer

One problem per submission. You can add another at the end.

How big is the problem?

Roughly how much does this problem cost in a typical year?

Think about downtime, labor, scrap, rework, penalties, lost throughput, or delays.

How often does it happen?

How broadly does this problem affect your company?

How urgent is solving it?

What’s in the way?

What is keeping the problem from being solved? Select all that apply.

What else is in the way?

How are you dealing with the problem today, and what still isn't working?

This could include software, spreadsheets, equipment, outside vendors, added labor, manual work, or nothing at all.

Have you tried AI or AI-enabled software for this problem?

If the right solution existed

How would it most likely be funded?

How likely is your company to evaluate or pilot a credible solution in the next six months?

Who would ultimately approve a purchase?

A little about you

So we can compare your answer with operators at similar companies. Your individual answers and company information will not be published.

Your name

Which function best describes your role?

Which function?

What is your level?

Industry

Which industry?

Company size

Work email

We’ll use this to send you your early copy of The Backlog and any results you request.

Join the operator network as a founding memberGet peer benchmarks, research, and first access when the Physical.Industries operator network opens in early 2027. LinkedIn profile Help me find solutions to this nowWe’ll research up to three companies or approaches that may fit the problem you described and send you a short write-up. You decide whether you want to speak with any of them. Credit me as a founding contributorWe may list your first name, last initial, and role in The Backlog. Example: Jim M., CPG plant manager. We will never publish your company name or connect your individual answers to you.

Your answers are published only in aggregate. Privacy policy

You’re in.

You’ll see the results before they’re public. The full Backlog, including what operators identified, how much the problems cost, what’s in the way, and where purchasing demand is emerging, will be sent to contributors before its public release in November.

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