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The effect of technology on American factories has often been the subject of conversation — and national debate — over the past few decades. Advances in robotics, sensors, and 3D printing have dramatically transformed manufacturing, so much that some call this age a “New Industrial Revolution.”

Still, despite strides in factory technologies, some aspects of manufacturing remain antiquated. Seattle startup Variat hopes to change that. The company, which launched in January, provides statistical process control for factories as a cloud-based service.

The three-person team met in Iowa while working for John Deere. They found the existing tools for process control to be inefficient, complicated, and difficult to use.

“In January, we quit our jobs and moved from Indiana, Iowa, and North Carolina to Seattle,” said Variat CEO Andrew Crowell. “We’re fueled by our vision to bring the tools and experience that people now expect from software into the manufacturing industry.”

We caught up with Crowell for this installment of Startup Spotlight, a regular GeekWire feature.

Explain what you do so our parents can understand it: “Many manufacturers still record inspection data on paper. Variat replaces that paper with a ruggedized tablet and can drastically reduce scrap using statistical analysis.”

Inspiration hit us when: “We realized our previous employer had spent over a year implementing a popular real-time statistical process control system and the end was not in sight. Frustration grew as we searched for better solutions — nothing matched our vision for modern software-as-a-service for manufacturing.”

VC, Angel or Bootstrap: “Our initial investment from 9MileLabs allowed us to quit our jobs and pursue Variat full-time. Without 9Mile, we wouldn’t already have a manufacturer using Variat in production every day on two shifts. To join us in our next steps, we’re looking for experienced partners that contribute way more than just runway. It isn’t VC or Angel, it’s about the passion for what we’re doing.”

Our ‘secret sauce’ is: “A blend of cloud, analytics, and shop floor collaboration tools.”

The smartest move we’ve made so far: “Applying to 9Mile Labs. We’re engineers, so being around business-minded folks has been extremely instructive.”

The biggest mistake we’ve made so far: “Creating a Pizza Profile on dominos.com. Sure, it helps us save time, but at what cost?!”

Would you rather have Gates, Zuckerberg or Bezos in your corner: “Bezos. We’re on Amazon Web Services, so I bet he could hook us up with mad credits.”

Our favorite team-building activity is: “$2 margs at Amigos.”

The biggest thing we look for when hiring is: “Initiative. We don’t add people to the team just to implement the ideas we already have. We look for people that will contribute new ideas and have the initiative to explore them independently.”

What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to other entrepreneurs just starting out: “Surround yourself with people you enjoy and trust. Getting a startup off the ground is incredibly difficult and having people around that you can talk to openly is priceless therapy.”

Editor’s note: GeekWire is featuring companies participating in the 9Mile Labs incubator in the lead up to the Milestone9 Graduation Day and pitch event on May 14.