Once upon a time, many skilled crafters worked from their homes. Their skill and profession was often protected by a guild, and their finished goods and devices were funneled to merchants and factors, who either sold them-as is or integrated them into larger products. Metalwork, fine cloth and lace, medical services, clock-making, and other advanced handiwork was mostly done by dedicated individuals who held the intellectual property of the process as well as the specialized tools required.
As technology progressed and industrial processes could be made precise, reliable, and cheap enough to supplant those home industries, skilled workers became factory employees working directly for an employer who now owned both the intellectual property and the specialized tools required. Skilled work became more and more an element of the executive suite and design shop, instead of the shop floor and the production process itself.
The latest industrial revolution (the roman numeral for this portion of the wave is still being debated) can be seen as either a progression of electronic automation or a new wave of intelligent devices and systems, but the result is that not only is the shop floor is getting smarter, the tools and technology behind those smarts is now migrating back out of the factory and into homes and garages again.
One of the biggest signs of this is the new entrepreneurial creative and development environment created by the Maker movement. Far more than a bunch of “Burning Man” wannabees, the Maker movement is made up of an interesting and eclectic mixture of engineers, hobbyists, artists, and cross-discipline professionals, who have taken advantage of the powerful development and manufacturing tools and capabilities now available to everyone.
The new players in this space aren’t just designers using already mature fabless manufacturing or contract manufacturing, they are using the latest production tools and techniques, like 3D printing, to not only design and develop their products, but also manufacture and distribute them as well. These new players are changing the way we look at creating, developing, and producing the next generation of products and services.
The new tools, capabilities and procedures provided by the latest industrial revolution are the significant enablers, putting control of every aspect of a process back into the hands of the entrepreneur and risk-taker. Where it once took a team of engineers in a suite of offices and labs to develop a product, independent designers in widespread locations using digital desktop tools can now create designs for new products and prototype them in a digital environment, creating fab-ready designs that can be made by a contract manufacturer or the designers themselves.
The rise of online communities to support these entrepreneurs, some industry based, some association based, and some just grassroot gatherings of like-minded engineers, has also been an essential enabler, as this virtual community enables an engineer working by themselves to still tap into the minds of their peers and gain insights, get advice, and create partnerships in a way not previously possible.
