Designer and factories go together.  Designers are into production and manufacturing and factories are where production and manufacturing happens.

Over the last 10 years we have seen major shifts in how manufacturing and mass production is conducted.  Globally we have seen shifts to China and India for mass production and locally, of interest to designers, we have seen the development of rapid prototyping/3D printing technology.

There are, of course, positive and negative effects due to these shifts, but a few of the issues that are interesting for me are the turnaround time for prototyping overseas and the suitability of overseas producers for small batch runs.  Locally, rapid prototyping is a great benefit to designers, it’s quick, good for complex items and can be used for small batch runs.  The costs can become prohibitive for designers who are starting out; if many prototypes are required or mistakes are made during the process.

And the situation is still changing.  There are a series of projects developing ‘open source’ DIY 3D printers and CNC cutters.  One example of this is the RepRap online project where development is underway to produce a 3D printer for £300 (approx. $800 Australian).  This is a major shift in the development of this emerging technology; it has many implications for designers and is could significantly change how designers approach their practice in the future.

One of the interesting points of these developments is that they are open source.  RepRap is not the only group working on this kind of project and many of them are open source; they range from 3D cutting machines using drills to 3D printers that print with chocolate.  ‘Open source’ development has been happening for many years in software development but the nature of product or object design has meant that projects of an open source nature are hard to conceptualise and realise.  That this is happening in areas that can affect industrial design is very exciting.

The fact that these are open source means that you can build these machines yourself.  All the plans and the software are freely available online as well as list of parts that you will need.  So, now, it’s possible for a designer to build a 3D printer or 3D cutting machine and have one in their studio.  

So what are implications of this?  Well it can change in a big way how designers interact with methods of production.  Think about this.

With a 3D printer in your studio, the factory comes back home.  These home factories could be used for small production runs and super fast prototyping and testing.  The production of prototypes and small batch runs of pieces can move back locally, in fact, literally into your back shed.  The prototyping stage could become much more experimental and with the selection of the right choice of materials a closed loop experimental prototyping cycle could be aimed at and, if only partly, be achieved.  Choose a recyclable material and if your prototype is not correct, well, reprocess the material to be used in the new prototype.