a Kickstarter campaign that could benefit all ShopBotters

[bill.young]

Designers Anne Filson and Gary Rohrbacher, our friends at atFAB, have a brand new Kickstarter campaign to help promote local manufacture of furniture. Check it out...

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/filson-rohrbacher/furniture-fabbed-locally

Bill

[myxpykalix]

If i think i understand the concept correctly, i can see how by having a network of makers setup, that rather then having "Joe" in Florida cut and ship a chair to "Bob" in California it would be possibly cheaper for "Bill" in California to cut and ship the chair to "Bob". Is this the basic concept?:confused:

[bill.young]

That's pretty much it. It doesn't make sense economically or environmentally to ship "stuff" around the world when you can instead just send the design files....it's the basic concept behind 100kGarages.

If atFAB (and others) can show that both the designer and the fabber can do this as a business and make money, then more will become involved and we all benefit.

[gerryv]

It's an excellent concept that is being widely recognized along with the consumer based additive manufacturing phenomenon as having the potential to bring about the biggest paradigm shift in value-added manufacturing since the industrial revolution.

Ultimately though, the products will still have to be attractive to the marketplace, not just their fabbers, in order to succeed.

[adrianm]

The biggest problem with that type of model is ensuring that the design files aren't pirated and the monies due to the designer get there.

[coryatjohn]

I see two main issues with this approach to manufacturing:

1. Quality control. Many different facilities and suppliers would be a nightmare for QC. A facility that passes the original QC check can easily get sloppy and produce poor product. Since the main office will never see the final product, the only way they will know there's a problem is when customers complain.

2. Large manufacturing facilities exist because they are very efficient. This offsets the cost of shipping by a wide margin. Smaller localized shops may seem to be "greener" but a careful analysis will reveal that they are actually less efficient and consume more energy to produce the same thing at a larger, purpose built facility.

Then there are the issues with fulfillment and order processing. Unless there is an airtight ERP system controlling the whole process, it could break down into chaos easily. That equates to unhappy customers and lost revenue.

[bill.young]

Adrian

That's definitely an issue, but I'm not sure that it's as big of a problem as we think it is from a designer's point of view.

For things like music or 3d models the effort involved in downloading them is effectively zero...there's no work involved for it to be useful to the "copier". With something like a file for a chair or table, though, even though there's no work in the download, there definitely is work and skill involved in doing a professional job of turning the "bits" into "atoms".

AtFab's Kickstarter model is that they will start with a few regional fabrication centers that they can certify as using top-quality materials and doing a great job of fabrication...that's the value added. As the market grows they'll add more certified fabbers and grow the network. My guess is that someone that wants one of their pieces will want the real-deal and order from them...hopefully that's what their Kickstarter campaign will prove.

Bill

[bill.young]

John,

1) There's definitely the potential for quality slipping, but there's no real motivation for the fabber to do that and they risk losing the work. It's similar to businesses like certified Corian installers...DuPont doesn't see every job that goes out the door, but trusts that the shop will want to continue working with them and will continue to do a good job. Occasionally it falls apart, but you don't hear about it too often.

2) Big factories are definitely more efficient when making large quantities of products like cars and iphones, but their efficiency generally falls off as the numbers get small. Local fabrication certainly doesn't work for everything, but for some things, especially things that can easily be personalized/customized, it makes sense.

[coryatjohn]

John,

1) There's definitely the potential for quality slipping, but there's no real motivation for the fabber to do that and they risk losing the work. It's similar to businesses like certified Corian installers...DuPont doesn't see every job that goes out the door, but trusts that the shop will want to continue working with them and will continue to do a good job. Occasionally it falls apart, but you don't hear about it too often.

2) Big factories are definitely more efficient when making large quantities of products like cars and iphones, but their efficiency generally falls off as the numbers get small. Local fabrication certainly doesn't work for everything, but for some things, especially things that can easily be personalized/customized, it makes sense.

Bill, I can see you're an optimist while I am a pessimist. I spent over 30 years in manufacturing and from what I saw, quality deteriorates if a keen eye isn't kept on the entire process all the time.

I hope it works though. It's a good idea if they can work out the bugs before being killed by poor quality and chaotic ERP.

[bill.young]

hey John,

I guess I'm hopeful that it will work, though I guess hopeful is pretty much the same as optimistic!

I may be so interested in this taking off because this is exactly the way I made my living for years after I got one of the first ShopBots. I manufactured boat kits for a handful of Naval Architects, and none of them ever saw the kits before I shipped them...some of them I never met! They trusted me and I made sure that I kept their trust by doing a good job. It's hard to imagine that I'm unique.

I loved it and if I wasn't working for ShopBot I'd probably be shooting to be one of atFAB's first fabbing centers!

[srwtlc]

Just watched the second video down the page.....movin' pretty quick for an old guy Bill! ;) Pretty efficient too! Minimal breaks, quick change of clothes. :)

[rayman]

There is a web site called kickstarter.com, you should see some of these ideas, wow and it seems to be working very well for the inventors, seems it should work very well here also.;)

[adrianm]

There is a web site called kickstarter.com, you should see some of these ideas, wow and it seems to be working very well for the inventors, seems it should work very well here also.;)

See the first post in this thread.

[bill.young]

You bet Scott...I was sure tired at the end of that day!

[Bob Eustace]

Just watched the second video down the page.....movin' pretty quick for an old guy Bill! ;) Pretty efficient too! Minimal breaks, quick change of clothes. :)

Scott - cant fid the video you refer too ( oldtimers!)
Could you post tge link please!

Tah!

[srwtlc]

Bob, if you scroll down towards the bottom of the page (link in the first post of this thread), there are a couple of more videos there.

[bleeth]

Hey Bill:
Tell your friends if they get any orders in my neck of the woods we'll be glad to cut and assemble for them.

Dave

[bill.young]

hey Dave,

Are you signed up at 100kGarages? That's where they'll look to find fabbers as they expand.

[bleeth]

Been there and done that Bill!
Will need to update the shop info and machine type shortly though. We moved up to Delray and I just got in a new Alpha control box and motors.The old PRT mods just keep flowing (but I don't want to hijack the thread with this-I'll get into it deeper elsewhere at the right time)!!

[genek]

Yes there can be some Quality control Issues.. However, if the patterns are tight and the shop doing the work wants to be part of it I would set limitations like they must use certain material, back their own work, if it is not of good quality they could lose or would lose the use of the patterns.
small shops are what has made America. The mom and pop shops are where we need to return to. I agree with Mr. Young, this can be a great Project for all sb owners... I had no clue they were this close to My shop...

Like my patterns that I offer for sale,, theirs could come with full detail instructions, grade of material required, where to order, etc.

[bill.young]

Ted has posted his thoughts on atFAB and the New Industrial Revolution on the ShopBot Blog:

http://www.shopbotblog.com/index.php/2013/06/a-start-at-the-new-industrial-revolution/