Startup Website B2B Co-Manufacturing Platform

Overview
The platform is a web-based B2B platform that connects users with manufacturers to enable co-manufacturing and industrial collaboration.

Core Concept
The platform serves as a discovery and connection layer between users (startups, SMEs, product designers, companies) and manufacturers (small to mid-size factories). The initial focus is lead generation, visibility, and market validation rather than full automation.

Manufacturer Functionality
Manufacturers can:
- Create and manage a public profile
- Showcase production capabilities, capacity, operational status, and location
- Upload images, portfolio, and relevant certifications
- Add a short company description and contact details
- View basic profile-level metrics (e.g., number of profile views)

User Functionality
Users can:
- Search and filter manufacturers
- View manufacturer profiles
- Contact manufacturers
- Submit manufacturing needs or project requests
- Provide simple feedback or reviews (MVP level)

Statistics & Validation (Internal)
The platform tracks internal statistics for validation and decision-making purposes, including:
- Number of users and manufacturers onboarded
- Manufacturer profile views
- User contact actions and inquiries
- Inquiry acceptance and response rates
- Platform usage trends
- Traffic on the website, all metrics needed to track platform numbers

These statistics are primarily for internal use by the platform team to validate demand, monitor engagement, and guide future development.

Dashboards & Roles
The platform includes:
- User dashboard (project submissions and status)
- Manufacturer dashboard (profile management and inquiries)
- Admin dashboard (full visibility over users, manufacturers, inquiries, and platform statistics)

Communication
A simple inquiry or messaging workflow is required. Real-time chat is not necessary. Email or form-based messaging is acceptable for the MVP.

Out of Scope (MVP)
- Payments
- Automated matching algorithms
- Advanced analytics or AI-driven recommendations
- Complex reporting systems

MVP Goal
Validate market demand, onboard manufacturers, generate and track inquiries, keep workflows simple and manual where appropriate, and build a scalable foundation for future development.