Distributed manufacturing

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Distributed manufacturing also known as distributed production and local manufacturing is a form of decentralized manufacturing practiced by enterprises using a network of geographically dispersed manufacturing facilities that are coordinated using information technology. It can also refer to local manufacture via the historic cottage industry model, or manufacturing that takes place in the homes of consumers.

Enterprise

The primary attribute of distributed manufacturing is the ability to create value at geographically dispersed locations via manufacturing. For example, shipping costs are minimized when products are built geographically close to their intended markets. Also, products manufactured in a number of small facilities distributed over a wide area can be customized with details adapted to individual or regional tastes. Manufacturing components in different physical locations and then managing the supply chain to bring them together for final assembly of a product is also considered a form of distributed manufacturing.[1][2]

Consumer

Within the maker movement and DIY culture, small scale production by consumers often using peer to peer resources is being referred to as distributed manufacturing. Consumers download digital designs from an open design repository website like Thingiverse and produce a product at home for low costs with an open-source 3-D printer such as the RepRap.[3][4] Distributed manufacturing with distributed generation using solar photovoltaic cells and 3-D printers has been proposed as a means of off-grid rural area residents to manufacture themselves out of poverty.[5]

Initial life cycle analysis indicates that distributed production can have a smaller impact on the environment than conventional manufacturing and shipping because of reductions in transportation embodied energy.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Chrisman, Ray. "Enhancement of Distributed Manufacturing using expanded Process Intensification Concepts". University of Washington. Retrieved 7 May 2013. 
  2. ↑ Hermann Kühnle (2010). Distributed Manufacturing: Paradigm, Concepts, Solutions and Examples. Springer. ISBN 978-1-84882-707-3. Retrieved 7 May 2013. 
  3. ↑ Sells, Ed, Zach Smith, Sebastien Bailard, Adrian Bowyer, and Vik Olliver. "Reprap: the replicating rapid prototyper: maximizing customizability by breeding the means of production." HANDBOOK OF RESEARCH IN MASS CUSTOMIZATION AND PERSONALIZATION, (2010).
  4. ↑ Jones, R., Haufe, P., Sells, E., Iravani, P., Olliver, V., Palmer, C., & Bowyer, A. (2011). Reprap??? the replicating rapid prototyper. Robotica, 29(1), 177-191.
  5. ↑ Pearce, J. M., Blair, C. M., Laciak, K. J., Andrews, R., Nosrat, A., & Zelenika-Zovko, I. (2010). 3-D printing of open source appropriate technologies for self-directed sustainable development. Journal of Sustainable Development, 3(4), p17.
  6. ↑ M. Kreiger, G. C. Anzalone, M. L. Mulder, A. Glover and J. M Pearce (2013). Distributed Recycling of Post-Consumer Plastic Waste in Rural Areas. MRS Online Proceedings Library, 1492, mrsf12-1492-g04-06 doi:10.1557/opl.2013.258. open access
  7. ↑ Megan Kreiger and Joshua M. Pearce (2013). Environmental Life Cycle Analysis of Distributed 3-D Printing and Conventional Manufacturing of Polymer Products, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, DOI: 10.1021/sc400093k Open access.
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