72 | Kit-of-Parts
Interview with Pieter Stoutjesdijk from TNM
Disrupting the industry by Javier Montemayor and Prateek Wahi
Pieter Stoutjesdijk, Building Technology graduate, is the founder of TheNewMakers. TNM has a clear objective: to integrate design, engineering and digital-based production, achieving a major quality and time improvement in circular products. How would you define the kit-of-parts concept yourself? Apart from the standard definition, other terms can be added to the concept. Design for disassembly is key, as well as standardization: there are some underlying standard rules the elements must follow, so the components of the kit are compatible with each other. So, compatibility within the kit is fundamental. Nowadays the different suppliers come together during construction and assemble their somewhat adaptable elements. However, in a kit of parts, every individual part fits and is compatible with each other. Additional to prefabrication where the different parts can be assembled on site, a kit of parts assures disassembly and compatibility between the parts that allows a future use.
Figure 1. The Product Development Lab on TU Campus, based on 'LEGO for adults': a building system developed by TheNewMakers
42
How have you applied this technique in your own projects? We have been designing different products and they are completely compatible with each other. The kitchens and furniture objects are compatible with the floors,
