Open manufacturing, also known as open production, maker manufacturing, and with the slogan "Design Global, Manufacture Local" is a new model of
socioeconomic
Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their l ...
production in which physical objects are produced in an open, collaborative and distributed manner
[Michel Bauwens: The Emergence of Open Design and Open Manufacturing. In: We_magazine Volume 02] and based on
open design
The open-design movement involves the development of physical products, machines and systems through use of publicly shared design information. This includes the making of both free and open-source software (FOSS) as well as open-source hardwar ...
and
open source principles
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized so ...
.
Open manufacturing combines the following elements of a production process: new open production tools and methods (such as
3D printers), new value-based movements (such as the
maker movement
The maker culture is a contemporary subculture representing a technology-based extension of DIY culture that intersects with hardware-oriented parts of hacker culture and revels in the creation of new devices as well as tinkering with existing on ...
), new institutions and networks for manufacturing and production (such as
FabLab
A fab lab (''fabrication laboratory'') is a small-scale workshop offering (personal) digital fabrication.
A fab lab is typically equipped with an array of flexible computer-controlled tools that cover several different length scales and var ...
s), and open source methods, software and protocols.
Open manufacturing may also include digital modeling and fabrication and
computer numeric control
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These progra ...
(CNC) of the machines used for production through
open source software
Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. Open ...
and
open source hardware
Open-source hardware (OSH) consists of physical artifacts of technology designed and offered by the open-design movement. Both free and open-source software (FOSS) and open-source hardware are created by this open-source culture movement and ...
.
The philosophy of open manufacturing is close to the
open-source movement, but aims at the development of physical products rather than software. The term is linked to the notion of democratizing technology
as embodied in the
maker culture, the
DIY ethic
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...
, the
open source appropriate technology
Open-source appropriate technology (OSAT) is appropriate technology developed through the principles of the open-design movement. Appropriate technology is technology designed with special consideration to the environmental, ethical, cultural, soc ...
movement, the Fablab-network and other rooms for grassroot innovation such as
hackerspace
A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" ( 501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, ...
s.
Principles
The openness of "open manufacturing" may relate to the nature of the product (
open design
The open-design movement involves the development of physical products, machines and systems through use of publicly shared design information. This includes the making of both free and open-source software (FOSS) as well as open-source hardwar ...
), to the nature of the production machines and methods (e.g. open source
3D-printers, open source
CNC
Numerical control (also computer numerical control, and commonly called CNC) is the automated control of machining tools (such as drills, lathes, mills, grinders, routers and 3D printers) by means of a computer. A CNC machine processes a p ...
), to the process of production and innovation (
commons-based peer production
Commons-based peer production (CBPP) is a term coined by Harvard Law School professor Yochai Benkler. It describes a model of socio-economic production in which large numbers of people work cooperatively; usually over the Internet. Commons-based ...
/ collaborative /
distributed manufacturing
Distributed manufacturing also known as distributed production, cloud producing and local manufacturing is a form of decentralized manufacturing practiced by enterprises using a network of geographically dispersed manufacturing facilities that are ...
), or to new forms of value creation (network-based bottom-up or hybrid versus business-centric top down).
Jeremy Rifkin
Jeremy Rifkin (born January 26, 1945) is an American economic and social theorist, writer, public speaker, political advisor, and activist. Rifkin is the author of 23 books about the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, ...
argues, that open production through 3D-printing "will eventually and inevitably reduce marginal costs to near zero, eliminate profit, and make property exchange in markets unnecessary for many (though not all) products".
Socioeconomic implications
The following points are seen as key implications of open manufacturing:
[Anna Waldman Brown: Exploring the Maker-Industrial Revolution: Will the Future of Production be local? BRIE Working Paper 2016-07. Online]
* a democratization of (the
Means of production, means of) production,
* a decentralization of production and local value creation (global cooperation – local manufacturing),
* the possibility to produce high quality prototypes and products in small quantities at moderate (to increasingly low) prices,
* the closing of the gap between the formal and informal sector and opportunities for bottom-up
open innovation
Open innovation is a term used to promote an information age mindset toward innovation that runs counter to the secrecy and silo mentality of traditional corporate research labs. The benefits and driving forces behind increased openness have bee ...
, and
* a transition from consumer to producer for manufactured goods.
In the context of
socioeconomic development
Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their local ...
, open manufacturing has been described as a path towards a more sustainable industrialization on a global scale, that promotes "social sustainability" and provides the opportunity to shift to a "collaboration-oriented industrialization driven by stakeholders from countries with different development status connected in a global value creation at eye level".
[S. Basmer; S. Buxbaum-Conradi; P. Krenz; T. Redlich; J. P. Wulfsberg; F.-L. Bruhns (2015): Open Production: Chances for Social Sustainability in Manufacturing. Page 50 Online at:http://ac.els-cdn.com/S2212827114009159/1-s2.0-S2212827114009159-main.pdf?_tid=3d0c576e-b71a-11e6-9389-00000aab0f6b&acdnat=1480523580_ed36ad5c40d2a496eccdaf40697b74d2]
For developing countries, open production could notably lead to products more adapted to local problems and local markets and reduce dependencies on foreign goods, as vital products could be manufactured locally. In such a context, open manufacturing is strongly linked to the broader concept of
Open Source Appropriate Technology
Open-source appropriate technology (OSAT) is appropriate technology developed through the principles of the open-design movement. Appropriate technology is technology designed with special consideration to the environmental, ethical, cultural, soc ...
movement.
Views
According to scholar
Michel Bauwens
Michel Bauwens (born 21 March 1958) is a Belgian theorist in the emerging field of peer-to-peer (P2P) collaboration, writer, and conference speaker on the subject of technology, culture and business innovation. Bauwens founded the P2P Foundation, ...
, Open Manufacturing is "the expansion of
peer production Peer production (also known as mass collaboration) is a way of producing goods and services that relies on self-organizing communities of individuals. In such communities, the labor of many people is coordinated towards a shared outcome.
Overview
...
to the world of physical production".
Redlich and Bruns define "Open Production" as "a new form of coordination for production systems that implies a superior broker system coordinating the information and material flows between the stakeholders of production", and which will encompass the entire value creation process for physical goods: development, manufacturing, sales, support etc.
[Redlich, T.; Bruhns, F.-L.: Open Production - a new broker-based approach to interactive value creation and user manufacturing. In: 2008 Proceedings of the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) Vol. 4, Design and Manufacturing, , pp. 181-18]
/ref>
A policy paper commissioned by the European Commission uses the term "maker manufacturing" and positions it between social innovation, open source ICT and manufacturing.
Criticism
A number of factors are seen to hamper the broad-based application of the model of "open manufacturing" and / or to realize its positive implications for more sustainable global production pattern.
The first factor is the sustainability of commons-based peer production models: "Empowerment happens only, if the participants are willing to share their knowledge with their colleagues. The participation of the actors cannot be guaranteed, thus there are many cases known, where participation could only be insufficiently realized". Other problems include missing or inadequate systems of quality control, the persistent paradigm of high-volume manufacturing and its cost-efficiency, the lack of widely adopted platforms to share hardware designs, as well as challenges linked to the joint-ownership paradigm behind the open licences of open manufacturing and the fact, that hardware is much more difficult to share and to standardize than software.
In developing countries, a number of factors need to be considered in addition to the points above. Scholar Waldman-Brown names the following: lack of manufacturing expertise and informality of current SMMs in emerging markets as an obstacle to quality control for final products and raw material as well as universities and vocational training programs not apt to react rapidly enough to provide the necessary knowledge and qualifications.
Examples
* Open Source Ecology
Open Source Ecology (OSE) is a network of farmers, engineers, architects and supporters, whose main goal is the eventual manufacturing of the Global Village Construction Set (GVCS). As described by Open Source Ecology "the GVCS is an open techn ...
, a project for designing and building open source industrial machines, fabricated by eXtreme Manufacturing
eXtreme Manufacturing (XM) is an iterative and incremental framework for manufacturing improvement and new product development that was inspired by the software development methodology Scrum (development), Scrum and the systematic waste-eliminati ...
* RepRap Project
The RepRap project started in England in 2005 as a University of Bath initiative to develop a low-cost 3D printer that can print most of its own components, but it is now made up of hundreds of collaborators worldwide. RepRap is short for rep''lic ...
, a project to create an open-source self-copying 3D printer.
*Wikispeed
Wikispeed is an automotive manufacturer that produces modular design cars. Wikispeed competed in the Progressive Automotive X Prize competition in 2010. The car debuted at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, Michiga ...
, a automotive manufacturer that produces modular design cars using open source tools
* Local Motors
Local Motors was an American motor vehicle manufacturing company focused on low-volume manufacturing of open-source motor vehicle designs using multiple microfactories. It was founded in 2007 by John B. Rogers Jr and had headquarters in Phoenix ...
: Applying open production to the field of transport and vehicles
* Sensorica
Sensorica is an open value network (OVN), established in 2011 in Montreal, Canada, for open source hardware development. It is a pilot project for commons-based peer production applied to hardware, designed to operate at large scale. It was establ ...
, a hardware development network-organization using the open value network model.
See also
* Distributed manufacturing
Distributed manufacturing also known as distributed production, cloud producing and local manufacturing is a form of decentralized manufacturing practiced by enterprises using a network of geographically dispersed manufacturing facilities that are ...
* Open design
The open-design movement involves the development of physical products, machines and systems through use of publicly shared design information. This includes the making of both free and open-source software (FOSS) as well as open-source hardwar ...
* Open source hardware
Open-source hardware (OSH) consists of physical artifacts of technology designed and offered by the open-design movement. Both free and open-source software (FOSS) and open-source hardware are created by this open-source culture movement and ...
* Open Source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
* Collaboration
Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...
* Commons-based peer production
Commons-based peer production (CBPP) is a term coined by Harvard Law School professor Yochai Benkler. It describes a model of socio-economic production in which large numbers of people work cooperatively; usually over the Internet. Commons-based ...
* Open source appropriate technology
Open-source appropriate technology (OSAT) is appropriate technology developed through the principles of the open-design movement. Appropriate technology is technology designed with special consideration to the environmental, ethical, cultural, soc ...
* Collaborative software development model
* Knowledge commons
The term "knowledge commons" refers to information, data, and content that is collectively owned and managed by a community of users, particularly over the Internet. What distinguishes a knowledge commons from a commons of shared physical resources ...
* Co-creation Co-creation, in the context of a business, refers to a product or service design process in which input from consumers plays a central role from beginning to end. Less specifically, the term is also used for any way in which a business allows consu ...
* Decentralized planning (economics)
* Mass collaboration
Mass collaboration is a form of collective action that occurs when large numbers of people work independently on a single project, often modular in its nature. Such projects typically take place on the internet using social software and computer-s ...
* Production for use
Production for use is a phrase referring to the principle of economic organization and production taken as a defining criterion for a socialist economy. It is held in contrast to production for profit. This criterion is used to distinguish commu ...
* Prosumer
* Gift economy
* OpenStructures
OpenStructures is an open source modular construction model based on a shared geometrical grid, called the OS grid. It was conceived by designer Thomas Lommée, and first demonstrated at the Z33, a house for contemporary art. According to Lommee ...
References
{{Reflist, 1
External links
''The Emergence of Open Design and Open Manufacturing''
Michel Bauwens, We Magazine Volume 2
* http://openmanufacturing.net/ Short introduction and online group.
Economic systems
Collaboration
Free software
3D printing
Public commons
Manufacturing