Objects

MANUFACTURING – A growing revolution in robotics is enabling brands to adopt automated manufacturing systems that proved difficult to implement in the past. Now that artificial intelligence and enhanced robotics are able to handle soft, malleable fabrics, our understanding of product design is being revolutionized. The latest systems go beyond industrial mass production to include rapid manufacturing.

Today, a single pair of trainers can take up to 18 months to go from concept to end product, according to executive search firm Boyden. When we stop to consider that more and more consumers expect tailoring options and prompt delivery, we realize how important it is for brands that want to stand out to provide a fast service that enables shoppers to personalize their garments.

Advances in speed and personalization are evident at the Adidas Speed factory – facilities are located in Ansbach, Germany, and in the US city of Atlanta – where footwear is made using robotic cutting, 3D knitting and additive manufacturing. Machines for these various operations can be reprogrammed to respond to cultural shifts without the need to retool the factory or retrain workers. To demonstrate just how efficient the Adidas Speed factory is, the brand created a collection of running shoes inspired by major urban cities around the world and the runners that live there. Taking into account the specific requirements of athletes in each city, Adidas bases the designs on terrain, weather and biometric data.

This form of data-gathering has the potential to allow brands to reconfigure and alter products on demand. In their quest to offer consumers highly functional objects, companies could adapt shoes, sportswear or entire collections by altering shape or weight when confronted with changes in climate, for example.

In addition to wearables, rapid manufacturing will have an impact on domestic environments and their furnishings. Experimenting in another field, which also addresses place-making, is MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab, which uses a technique called rapid liquid printing. The process turns out large customized products with complex shapes, internal chambers and intricate surfaces. Within a matter of minutes, rapid liquid printing – reliant on a robot in a tank of gel suspension – can produce large functional items.

Currently, the only limitation to rapid liquid printing is the printed object’s physical scale, which can be only as large as the tank containing it. However, Self-Assembly Lab researchers believe that applications will become exponentially greater and include things like portable shelters, automotive designs, furniture, interiors and skins.

It’s clear that a burgeoning revolution in robotics and material innovation is facing a virtual explosion thanks to rapid manufacturing and responsive automated systems developed to produce objects on demand. – JRS