i heart factories

in the early morning hours before most of us wake, the late-night shift is heading home as the first shift arrives at the factory door. the daily rotation is a delicate balance depending on the volume of customer orders.

manufacturing is a fluid system integrating the right labor, sales, marketing, and desired designs. to make the product, the manufacturer requires the necessary parts and materials just in time. then, distribution must reach the market and consumer with accuracy, speed, and successful remedy when things go wrong. the entire process is bound to sustainability, an objective whose fulfillment is unique to each producer.

corning glass works production line

airline dishware manufactured by corning - cia

i’ve been lucky to work with factories as an insider guiding the design of products and their engineering development, and as an outsider creating new ideas from scratch. from intimate european manufacturers obsessed with their craft to big factory teams sweating the quality of machine-made products, each encounter reveals the ingenuity of teamwork.

steelcase/brayton furniture production line

How Manufacturing is Changing

additive manufacturing and 3D printing are changing how we make things. ai integration enables the modern factory to process orders in real-time. today, you can Order custom shoes that are printed at the time of order. these shoes are 100% recyclable if returned to the manufacturer for reprocessing. in fashion, you can order jeans made to fit your exact body measurements from your personal online avatar. this reduces wasted yardage. nike’s 4d weaving and 3d printing capabilities create 21st century performance wear for elite athletes that will eventually move to the consumer market. in construction, the shell of a small building can be 3d printed in concrete on-site in 2-3 days, not including foundation or utilities.

Manufacturing Moves to Your Home

3d printers and laser cutters are user-friendly and small enough for home use. This means everyone is a producer capable of making products, craft, and art. Eventually, as a business grows, factories are necessary to scale up manufacturing.

Green Manufacturing

To improve manufacturing’s sustainability metrics, eco-wise companies now:

• understand the extraction and processing of their raw materials

• seek to obtain primary materials from within 500-1000 miles of their factory and reshore supply chains for future resilience against trade wars and climate change

• Follow green building standards (like LEED) and green product standards (like declare)

• Track how much energy and how many natural resources they use

• measure their carbon footprint and Monitor their transportation impact

3d printed modular dwelling for resident farm laborers: concept (a.i. generated from a cia sketch)