TL;DR
Mandrel is an inventory automation platform that helps consumer brands ops and finance teams automatically capture and organize trade documents, calculate landed costs, track inventory and plan purchases from a single platform.
What's the backstory?
Founder Arjun Aggarwal spent his career prior to Mandrel focused on consumer hardware — first as an investment banker, then as a VC, and finally leading Product for Desktop Metal, a publicly-traded maker of 3D printers.
While at Desktop Metal, he experienced firsthand the challenges of managing inventory across complex supply chains, where he realized that even "best-in-class" ERPs require extensive manual data entry, and make it tough to pull SKU-level cost dat.
Arjun left Desktop Metal in early 2023, raised initial funding with support from his board connections, and spent 6 months on customer discovery before starting to build Mandrel.
Today, their team powers inventory automation for a growing number of household name consumer brands.
How does it work?
What makes it different?
Key offerings
Document Data Capture
Mandrel AI transforms your inventory documents from purchase orders to goods receipt notices (and everything between) into accurate, structured, searchable data with built-in operational context, making your supply chain insights easy to review and instantly actionable — all without any manual data into spreadsheets or software tools required.
SKU Landed Costing
No more complex cost allocation formulas. Mandrel automatically calculates landed costs in real-time by SKU and location as invoices and logistics documents hit your inbox, giving you instant visibility into actualized landed costs (including indirect costs) for each raw material and finished good. Confidently price products and proactively manage COGS.
PO Management
Streamline PO management with real-time tracking and seamless document collection for compliance. Mandrel AI links POs to related documents, such as invoices, packing lists, and BOLs, and automatically updates PO status and SKU costs as new documents are received.
Inventory Tracking
Gain a live, responsive view of your raw material and finished goods inventory by SKU, status, and location (even raw materials at your co-manufacturer facility). Each inventory event, such as receiving shipments or transferring stock, updates inventory levels without manual data entry, ensuring effortless and precise tracking from vendors to your warehouse and beyond.
Inventory & COGS Accounting
Get rid of error-prone inventory workbooks and streamline your month-end close with automatic reconciliations, accrual support, and batched journal entries by SKU across both inventory and COGS. Mandrel even provides a comprehensive item-level sub-ledger for auditing, so you can ensure your financial reporting is accurate and reliable.
Product Data Management
Keep operations and logistics data across all your locations, vendors, and items, including BOMs and parent/variant relationships, centralized and accessible without digging through outdated ERPs. Mandrel links every inventory event, document, and cost back to your items, so the data you’re looking for is always at the tip of your fingers.
How does pricing work?
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FAQ
Implementation is measured in days with Mandrel (if that) vs. weeks or months with an ERP system. A few one-click integrations to connect into your commerce platforms, warehouse management system, and email inbox, and you’ll be on your way to automated data entry, SKU-level inventory data, and quicker monthly closes in no time.
Profile last edited by StartOps on May 12, 2025.