Bolt Threads
Accelerating the development of sustainable materials with Benchling
Develop new, high-quality biomaterials faster by centralizing and standardizing all R&D data and processes to drive more informed scientific and operational decision making.
Bolt Threads, a material solutions company, is building better materials for a better world. Their products range from Mylo ™material, a mycelium-based alternative to leather, to b-silk™ protein, a proprietary clean beauty breakthrough inspired by the silk spun by spiders. In partnership with brand customers like adidas, Kering, lululemon, and Stella McCartney, Bolt Threads is putting the fashion and apparel industry on a path to a more sustainable future, and making fungus the hottest fashion trend.
Results
~25% decrease
Shortened cycle time for select scientific workflows by ~25%
150% increase
in speed to aggregate and visualize data across experiments and teams
~4 hrs/wk saved
by each individual scientist on data, search, compilation, and sharing with colleagues
Challenges
| Siloed project data created information bottlenecks | Project data was spread across 10+ systems, making it time-consuming and difficult to find and aggregate data from upstream experiments to inform downstream production processes. |
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| Evolving workflows outgrew existing information systems | Prior information management system was not flexible enough to adapt to Bolt's ever-changing, materials-specific workflows. |
| Difficulty collaborating using non-standardized data capture | Legacy tools required time-intensive, manual data capture, and made collaboration logistically challenging – all of which slowed progress and hindered speed of innovation. |
Outcomes
| A single source of truth | Bolt's data is now centralized and standardized. There's no debate about which data source should be used to make business decisions, and end-to-end sample visibility gives decision makers deeper insights that accelerate development. |
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| End-to-end sample management | Bolt's scientists use Benchling to track and manage the end-to-end process from the first stages of mycelium growth cultivated in the lab all the way to the fiber they put into a finished product. Standardizing their workflows in Benchling helps Bolt get new sustainable products into the hands of consumers faster. |
| Streamlined program oversight | Bolt's 60+ scientists across the world can now collaboratively track and manage both individual tasks and overarching projects. Bolt has grown to 15 programs over the past 2+ years, increasing the number of products they can simultaneously develop. |
