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INTRODUCTION:
Even though manufacturing today is still very much governed by the economics of scale, there are contradictory trends that are starting to emerge, predicting a future with more room for smaller scale production. One of the ways in which small scale production is to be more financially viable is through the emergence of a what is labeled as ‘Distributed Manufacturing’. Distributed Manufacturing, simply put, is manufacturing using a network of small, independent production hubs that utilise digital manufacturing technologies like 3D printing, laser-cutting and CNC Milling. These hubs are decentralised yet connected via a network. This is in stark contrast to the centralised factory of today. This trend is expected to grow due to the development and continuos advancements in digital manufacturing technologies, as well as the rise of specialised - or niche - markets.
WHAT IS ‘ECONOMY OF SCALE’? is a characteristic of current mass-production where savings in cost is proportional to increasing in units of production (Anderson, 2012)
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CONTENTS :
Page 02 INTRODUCTION
PAGE 04 SECTION ONE: DISTRIBUTED MANI[FACT]URING
PAGE 12 SECTION TWO: RISE OF THE NICHE MARKET
PAGE 15 SECTION THREE: THE ‘MAKE’ BUTTON
PAGE 20 WHAT TO EXPECT IN OUR NEXT ISSUE
PAGE 22 REFERENCES
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Image Sources : 3D Print Show London. Image taken by Asma Bukhammas of the ‘mojito’ shoe early-stage prototype, made of 3D printed plastic. Designed by Julian Hakes, creative director of Julian Hakes London
DISTRIBUTED MANI[FACT]URING The definition of distributed manufacturing is certianly compelling, yet extremely broad. In this section, we look at what some authors and experts in the field describe as distributed manufacturing. We also investigate future scenarios where decentralised manufacturing can exist
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EVERY NEIGHBOURHOOD HAS A FABLAB, TECHSHOP OR AT THE VERY LEAST, A MAKERSPACE
The most probable users for these kinds of makerspaces, as one would expect, would be DIY enthusiasts, hobbyists and those who wish to produce items for personal use - 3D printing model house furniture for your daughter for instance.
Image Sources : Madrid 3D Print Show 2015. Picture taken by Asma Bukhammas of personal 3D printer ‘Witbox’
In addition to that however, designers who wish to produce early-stage prototypes will also find these service useful. As you can see in the image on the page to the left of the plastic 3D printed ‘mojito’ shoes prototype, designers need to test their designs rapidly, experiment with form, and make a amendments. The initial stages of design require quick, cheap prototyes in which these neighborhood spaces can easily produce. So, designers at the early stages of project development would also find access to such spaces and services useful. However, usage of digital fabrication tools in makerspaces beyond the development stage of design may not work, as quality and availability of machines is not guaranteed. Even though some Tech-shops are able to produce a first-batch of production (Hatch, 2014), it is unlikely that a proper production-line can be sustained from these neighbourhood maker-spaces.
Image Sources :3D Print Show London, 2015. Taken by Asma Bukhammas of the ‘mojito’ shoes second stage protoype
SCENARIO ONE | THE FUTURE CITY OF FABLABS The city is filled with makerspaces, techshops, hackerspaces and FabLabs to the extend that every neighbourhood has at least one of these services offering access digital manufacturing tools. An individual looking to access machines like a personal 3D printer would simply become a member. In some instances, when the machines are not functioning at 100% capacity, these spaces may also opt to fabricate digital files as a service to clients. So that same person can just send his/her file and pick it up or have it delivered
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JUST AS IN CLOUD COMPUTING, YOU DONT NEED TO KNOW WHERE THE CAPACITY OF CLOUD MANIFACTURING IS COMING FROM SCENARIO TWO | THE FUTURE CITY OF CLOUD MANIFACTURING
As the ‘Two ways to produce a Duck’ graph on the opposite page explains, the cost per unit in traditional methods of manufacturing - like injection moulding. The first units costs much more because they have to factors-in costs of setting up and cost of injection mould and the such. Whereas costs of making using digital fabrication methods stays constant throughout. In addition to that, the digital fabrication allow changes in design within the same batch whilst maintaining the same cost. Whereas the first method works best with large quantities of the same object, the second method of manufacturing’s forte is small batches with the ability to produce different -or customised - objects within the same production batch. Going back to the example of the Mojito shoes, the designer can therefore ‘print’ the pair of shoes only when they are ordered. The same batch can have different sizes based on the orderes made. Further to that, by introducing a body scanner, and applying an algorithm or designing an application that adjusts the size of the shoes to the feet automatically, the designer will be able to print each shoes to fit the buyer’s feet perfectly.
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Image Sources : Mojito Shoes. available at http://www.levelshoedistrict.com/sites/assets-prod/files/images/ slides_event/ju3.jpg [accessed on J25 July 2015]
Consistent of small-scale mini-factories with commercial grade digital fabrication machinery - all of which are well connected via a cloud service. Just as in the case of cloud computing, the whole process is automated. The user does not need to know how work capacity is distributed and on how many entities. (Lipson and Kurman, 2013)
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Image Sources : (Anderson, 2012, pg.88) Graph explaining the cost distribution per unit of the same object using two different types of manufacturing, traditional - like injection moulding - and digitally fabricated - like the 3D Printer
DIGITAL MANIFACTURING METHODS ARE NOT MEANT TO BE USED FOR MASS-PRODUCTION, BUT FOR MASS CUSTOMIZATION
TWO WAYS TO MAKE A DUCK
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COL[LAB]ORATION SCENARIO THREE | FUTURE CITY OF CROSS-COUNTRY COLLABORATION Close proximity and reduced logistic costs are often mentioned as the biggest advantages of distributed manufacturing (Hatch, 2014 and Anderson 2013). However, often times when projects are experimental, too large and/or expensive to be produced in one place, digital modelling softwares allow different parts of a project to be manifactured by literally distributing digital files of the parts around the world. This was the case with FabLab House which was conceived and constructed in 2010 as an experimental self-sufficient residential units. The house itself, as seen on the opposite page, was constructed in several countries using CNC machines and other equipment from different Fablabs in 25 different countries (FabLab House, 2010). Projects like this tend to also be a collaborative effort in regards to design as well. Since the components of both the interior and the exterior of the house were designed to be digitally fabricated, naturally a digital modelling softwares were used. Perhaps the effect of distributed manufacturing can also be expanded to also include involving others in the act of design - or co-creation.
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The FabLab House was a collaborative effort between the Institute of Advanced Architecture in Catalonia, the Centre of Bits and Atoms at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and several FabLabs. Between all of these institutes, there were 20 architects and experts that co-created the design of the house.
Image Sources : (Diez, 2014, pg.128,129) The FabLab House
FABLAB HOUSE WAS BUILT USING DIGITAL FABRICATION MACHINES BASED IN 25 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
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DISTRIBUTED MANIFACTURING, AS IT SEEMS, WILL BE BOTTOM-UP, ENTREPRENEURIAL LEAD MOVEMENT
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CONCLUSION | What we have seen in the last section is that distributed manufacturing could possibly manifest in the future in many different forms.
Image Sources : Print Shift Magazine printed by Blurb a self-publishing, print-on-demand service. Available at http://www.agaleare.com/site/images/materiales/couche-demo-01-full.jpg [accessed on 30 July 2015]
In reality, the future will probably contain a combination of all the scenarios briefly discussed. What is worth nothing however, is that distributed manufacturing is heavily based on networks. It therefore implies that there is a community of makers and tinkerers that form the foundation of this network in every city. It is not far-fetched to then see a different manufacturing trend growing in different cities. Distributed manufacturing, as it seems, will be a bottom-up, entrepreneurial lead movement.
PRESENT INDICATION | A few months ago, I ordered a magazine from a company called Blurb. It was going to take three weeks to reach me in London, but I ordered it anyway because the topics discussed were of an interest of mine and were hard to find anywhere else. It turned out Blurb is a self-publishing, print-on-demand company. This means, only when somebody - like me - buys a copy of the magazine online, does a single copy get printed in Eindhoven using a digital press. In other words, only when there is demand, does the act of production happen. This is very significant. At the present time, the concept of a mass ‘make on demand’ cannot be applied to a lot of things, perhaps just this magazine. However, what it does, is signify an already existing incline to change the way we approuch manufacturing and making things.
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Image Sources : (Anderson, 2004) The first page of ‘The Long Tail’ as it appeared in an article in Wired Magazine
RISE OF THE NICHE MARKET In The Long Tail: Why the future of Business is Selling Less of More, Chris Anderson previous editor of Wired Magazine argues that the web-based businesses are allowing niche markets to appear. This is mainly because online stores are able to sell products that brick-and-mortar retailers can’t carry, due to expenses of shelf-space and inability to carry large inventory. Online-based business like Rhapsody, Amazon and Netflix carry less-popular music, books and movies - that are not available in mainstream retailers. Collectively, less popular choices make-up 20% or more of the total sales of these online retailers which is a quite significant market share. See pie chart on the opposite page for details. Anderson admittedly only discusses entertainment
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businesses in his book. But several characteristics of the digital fabrication feild lead some to believe that the same concept is very much applicable to the field of digital fabrication (Hatch, 2013 and Anderson, 2012). It is hard to keep-up with the advances of digital fabrication tools. New desktop 3D printers are being developed constantly, this also applies to CNC mills and laser cutting technologies. These are not only becoming more affordable, but also increasing in quality. Further to that, the maker-space and techshop model is gaining popularity. Varying iterations of the same model of a maker-space is appearing in cities across the world. This gives easy, affordable access to the tools of production. This is defibitly significamt. Many even go as far as saying that the collective of what I have just mentioned is causing a ‘democratisation of the tools of production’ (Hatch, 2013 and Lipson & Kurman, 2013).
The significant of ‘democratising access’ can be understood if compared to the rise of The Web. At the beginning of its development, The Web was dominated by large corporations. Today, however, most of the content is produced by hobbyists and semi-professionals (Anderson, 2012). The entrance barrier to The Web and web-based businesses is incredibly low, all you need to start is essentially an idea, a laptop and an internet connection. Going back to digital fabrication, it can be argued that ‘democratising the tools of production’ by making them affordable and accessible causes a decreasing of the entrance barrier as. The entrance barrier to making ‘things’ has become close to making bytes. As more people start to take advantage of that, it is likely - a rise in life-style businesses and products catering to very specific taste or very specific type of clientele - aka products of the niche market.
CONCLUSION | THE FUTURE OF MASS-PRODUCTION Given that niche products are likely to be more expensive that their mass-produced counter parts. It is perhaps safe to assume that the future will see ‘commodity products’ those that are ubiquitous and unexceptional, but essential like a doormat or dish detergent - to be continued to be mass produced (Lipson & Kurman, 2013, pg 50). The future market, it seems, will not see the death of mass production, but will nonetheless see the rise of the niche market. As many mass-production gain companies there are, that there will be a thousand smaller niche products that now will be able to compete with them - thanks to the possibility brought about by digital fabrication technologies.
Now, if we were to combine the concept of distributed manufacturing (especially that related to scenario two), it starts to make perfect sense. As more people have access to manufacturing small/ medium quantities of products, they will be able to produce niche products that cater to a specific clientele.
Image Sources : S(Anderson, 2006)
TAKING THE WEB AS A CASE-STUDY, REDUCING THE ENTRANCE TO A FIELD INCREASES ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITIES IN IT
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THE COMPLEXITIES OF A WORKSHOP MAY - IN THE NEAR FUTURE - BE PACKAGED INTO A SIMPLE ‘MAKE BUTTON‘ THAT COULD BE ADDED TO ANY SOFTWARE
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THE FUTURE HOLDS PROMISES OF USER-FRIENDLY SOFTWARES THAT WOULD ALLOW THE AVERAGE PERSON - A NON-DESIGNER - TO DIGITISE AN IDEA AND THEN EMPLOY FABRICATION MACHINES TO ACTUALLY BRING IT INTO EXISTENCE. THIS PROSPECT HAS SO FAR BEEN VEIWED POSITIVLY ... UNTIL THE DESIGNERS HAVE THEIR SAY
Image Sources : Available at http://www.adweek.com/files/blogs/just-do-it-hed-2013.jpg [accessed on 24 July 2015]
Is allowing anyone to make, well… anything, a legitimate source of worry?
THE ‘MAKE’ BUTTON These lack of restrictions are precisely the exciting parts of this new technology. In fact, many of the writings on this subject, have a optimistic outlook. Phrases like ‘freeing tools of production’ and ‘democratising’ are often used, implying that it is a social right of the masses. However, from the design field’s perspective, there is a potential downside to this democracy. Softwares that need a specific level of technical knowledge are perhaps an informal guarantor that the person using these ‘design tools’ has been properly trained. Once the restriction is removed, are concerns about the quality of design justified?
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ART AND COMPUTER SCIENCE CLASSES TYPICALLY GIVEN IN SCHOOL COULD MERGE INTO A DIGITAL DESIGN CLASS INSTEAD
Image Sources : 3D Print Show Madrid. Taken by: Asma Bukhammas. Image of some of the 3D printed toys produced by kids at the LOS HACEDORES institute for teaching digital modelling software and 3D printing to children
The answer is probably yes. But just as the case of The Web, content with compromised quality is expected when the tools of production - or in the case of The web, of publishing - are made easily accessible. (See image on opposite page of 3D printed mask) One the other side of the spectrum, there could potentially be a whole new generation that gets more excited about design and digital manufacturing. A technology post by Forbes Magazine anticipates that children of the future would be bringing 3D printed objects home from school instead of hand-made crafts (Srinivasan & Bassam, 2012). There is a good chance that digital fabrication equipment make their way to schools very soon. The U.S launched a pilot-program called Fab@ school which seeks to use tools of digital fabrication to help children understand their math and science curriculum (Lipson & Kurman, 2013, pg. 155). There are also plans in the UAE to start installing fabrication labs in schools across the country (Motlib, 2015)
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“GOD SAVE DEIGN�
It is possible that the generic art classes and computer science classes typically given in school today might be replaced or merged in a digital design class instead (Anderson, 2013). That may mean that students will be exposed to basic design skills, and therefore have a basic exposure of the design fields.
CONCLUSION |
Image Sources : 3D Print Show Madrid. Take by: Asma . Image of one of the attendees of the LOS HACEDORES institute
Image Sources : 3D Print Show Madrid. Taken by: Asma Bukhammas. 3D printing technology could potentially be abused
Therefore, as much as it is possible that democratising the digital fabrication tools and having user-friendly software able to effect the quality of available design, it could potentially result in more design savvy users and inspire a new generation of tinkerers to learn digital design
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WHAT TO EXPECT IN OUR NEXT ISSUE...
Ceat. Nis escipic atiisqui blandici con eum il eum eosa voloris derem lia consecea plaut ium fugitae plit aut quam im repreiumenis quaerovitio elibus illis sunt essuntius, unt, sent offictoreni quideritem voluptatet iniendam incitis doloriae nimi, et, nonse nonse posanti quate mi, ut que doluptaqui volupta temolor eprovitem quundent andandendias quis et ea sant. Us. Idebitatem reptia velique venis ipsum dolorro qui dolupIn Makers: In Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, the author discusses the concept of killer app or killer application. In this context, he uses it to describe the core application that transforms a piece of hardware into something very desirable (Anderson, 2012). The desktop laptop’s killer app was thought to be the easement of office work. In reality though, it turned to be other things, like video gaming (Anderson, 2012). Some argue that the killer app for digital fabrication tools will be in personal fabrication (Gershenfeld, 2011). Others, however, ever think that it is yet to be discovered. The authors of Fabricated: The New world of 3D Printing suggest the killer app of digital fabrication tool could be in the entertainment and sex industries. In the next issue, we further investigate the validity of this point made by authors Hop Lipson and Melba Kurman. - Why have the leading companies in 3D printing deliberately stayed out of this market? - Is there a market for 3D printed sex toys? Especially in areas where there are restrictions on importation?
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RESOURCES
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Anderson, C., 2006, The long tail: why the future of business i selling less of more. Hyperion: New York.
Anderson, C., 2013, Makers: the new industrial revolution.Random House Business Books: London.
Hatch, M. 2014. The maker movement manifesto. McCraw Hill: New York
Lipson, H & Kurman, M., 2013. Fabricated: the new world of 3D Printing. John Wiley & Sons,Inc: Indiana
Image Sources : Supo gamba nyoe nyak / Image are not included / it’s only for preview. Thank’s
Anderson, C., 2004. The long tail. Wired Magazine [online]. Available at http://www.longtail.com/ about.html [Accessed 24 July 2015]
Srinivasan, V. & Bassam, J., 2012. Manufacturing the future: 10 trends to come in 3D printing. Forbes [online]. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2012/12/07/manufacturing-the-future-10-trends-to-come-in-3d-printing/ [Accessed 30 July 2015]
Mohtib, Z., 2015. Conversation about D-NAT, as well as digital modelling and manifacturing in Dubai. [Interveiw]. Dubai
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