Makers in supply chain
Violet writes on make.com:
Manufacturing and shipping are among the many problems that concern makers, especially as more begin to build, source, and sell products. They have a brilliant idea and finally come out with a working prototype. After launching on a crowdfunding platform, some got funded within just a few hours. But their work is just beginning — problems come along when they try to turn the projects into products. It’s just not as simple as turning one piece into 1,000, let alone greater than 20,000 pieces if the project is really popular.
Here are some suggestions for how to make supply chains compatible:
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Encourage the use of shared components (from an open parts library). In this way, both the quality and quantity are ensured. Meanwhile, the price is more competitive.
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Provide agile productization services to help makers test and improve their designs efficiently
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Provide design-for-manufacturing services to make it easier to put makers’ projects into production
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Provide drop-shipping services to ship packages to the backers directly, helping makers skip problems in logistics
BETWINE is now live on Kickstarter, joining a long list of products bridging the gap between makers and the supply chain ecosystem, one more example teaching makers how to realize their dreams.
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