Being a Mechanical Engineer, manufacturing has always been my core strength. Though, ironically, I was always scared of the idea that I will ever be run a manufacturing based company. The fear is rationally justified by my argument that manufacturing is expensive; it requires high start-up capital, skills, equipment, supply chain management and, most importantly, human resource. Also, the liability of failure is catastrophic, you can shutdown a website anytime, no one will notice, of-course with exception of social media. Whereas, when a manufacturing plant goes down, hundreds of people lose their jobs and livelihoods.
Undoubtedly, setting up a digital company is way too easier. Dorm-room innovation can give rise to legendary companies. Facebook and Reddit are extraordinary examples. Since the initial investment in setting up a digital technology company is low, the failure doesn’t hurt.
Interestingly, with innovation in manufacturing and 3 D printing it’s equally becoming easy to set up a physical product company too.
Now, you just need an idea, rush to build a prototype and the rest is taken care of. If the product is well received on crowd funding website like Kickstarter orIndiegogo, you already have a market and start-up capital. You can then outsource the entire manufacturing contract to companies like Dragon Innovation in exchange of small amount of equity.
However, for innovators in India, who do not have access to crowd funding or state of the art 3 D printers, you can still run a manufacturing company.
- Design the model by taking the help of the open source community and innovate on it by putting your entire design online (No R&D budget needed).
- Ask a circuit designing company, such as Seed Studio, to design printed circuit boards (PCB).
- Mail the design CAD files to an injection molding company to make molds of your design, usually made using Steel or Aluminum. The mold can then be sent to manufacturing company to set up a small production line, only if you have access to huge amount of capital.
- If you have access to a 3D Printer, the last two steps are not needed; there is no need to prepare a mould. You can just send the CAD files and the manufacturer will print the prototype aligned within your specifications.
All this can be done by sitting in front of a computer, holding your credit card and frequently visiting the website of UPS, Fed Ex or any trusted package delivery company just to keep the track of delivery.
Finally, you can set up your own online commerce store. The total expenditure of bringing your product to market is now 5000$ compared to an initial investment of a million dollars few years ago. If the product is a hit, in both domestic and overseas market, it’s time to go global. The entire supply chain management can then be outsourced to companies like UPS (United Parcel Service), who provide end to end supply chain management solutions.
Your small hardware start-up is now global, with its presence in more than hundred countries. In today’s flat world companies are global right from its inception. You are now the founder of a multinational company.
What we are witnessing is the confluence of the digital world with physical one. More and more devices are getting connected day by day. With just a mouse click and a credit card , you have set up an entire manufacturing line. Henry Ford would be so jealous.
The internet , along its evolution, has disrupted many industries. Now its time for manufacturing
The past ten years have been about discovering new ways to create, invent and work together in Web. The next ten years will be of applying those lessons in the real world
This post was first posted on www.ankitpansari.com. For more knowledge on 3D Printing, feel free to drop me an email on ankitpansari@live.com
