Although it’s fascinating to check out a napkin sketch by a famous architect—the germ of an idea that grows into a monumental project—you wouldn’t expect that sketch to serve as the actual plan to build it. But that’s what product manufacturers face too often when receiving information about what a client wants them to create. But there is a […]
How 5 Big Moves Kept a Small Manufacturing Business Alive
Phil VanderKraats is an artist, first and foremost. His milieu is crafting intricate, custom signs for businesses. For many years after starting Signs by Van in Prunedale, CA, Phil experienced success and supported his family with his passion-meets-means occupation. But when 2008’s Great Recession hit, his small manufacturing business—which served businesses and municipalities since 1981—took a hard […]
Thinking About the End User Comes First
Jack Davies is a product design engineer who believes that passion combined with an understanding of how the end user will interact with the product is the key to successful design. Davies says bad design comes from not truly understanding—and only assuming—how people might use a product. Watch the video to learn more about this […]
Designer Joe Doucet’s Secret to Success: Forget Inspiration and Embrace Fear
“I am most interested when a project scares me, when I have absolutely no idea even where to start,” says Joe Doucet, designer and founder of Joe Doucet and Partners design firm, based in New York and London. Watch Doucet talk about his 3D-printed concrete public-seating project—seating that also serves as a protective barrier for […]
Could Machine Learning Improve Work-Life Balance in the Future of Architecture?
For many architects, working nights and weekends is part of the job, especially when project deadlines loom. According to the 2018 Equity in Architecture report, 70% of architects surveyed don’t feel empowered to ask employers for work-life balance benefits, such as working remotely and flexible hours. But in the future of architecture, automation and machine learning (ML) […]
Don’t Recycle, Upcycle: Why Future Sustainability Requires a Circular Economy
It’s a fact: People like stuff. The more stuff they have, the better they think they feel. That means, in only a few decades—when the world’s population is expected to hit 10 billion—there will be a lot more people with a lot more stuff on Earth. So what can people do to help prepare the planet for a more sustainable future? One […]
Could Small-Town USA Be the Future of the Manufacturing Industry?
There’s a scene in the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factorywhere the title character shows off his “revolutionary, nonpollutionary, mechanical wonder” in action. Willy Wonka, with a twinkle in his eye, pushes a single button, and the entire machine whirs to life, mixing and milling and drilling. After a few seconds of constrained chaos, out pops a flawless, […]
How One Company Thinks Outside the Box with On-Demand Packaging
It’s a frustrating and common e-commerce experience: receiving a small item in a huge box filled with plastic air pillows or other packing material. The shipper may find it convenient to use just a few box sizes, but it’s a big waste. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, containers and packaging make up a major portion of municipal […]
How IoT-Connected Products Simplify Life But Create Nefarious Security Issues
Get this: Data-security researchers at Indiana University, probing the hacking vulnerabilities of an Internet-connected Crock-Pot, easily took control of the device and other devices that share its Wi-Fi router—but they have found no risk of an attacker remotely setting it on fire. That’s the good news. Now, the bad news: Internet connectivity is designed into […]
How the Digital Supply Chain Will Change the Future of Manufacturing
A transformation of manufacturing supply chains is ushering in the fourth modality of logistics. To ground, air, and ocean, manufacturers can now add digital. The move to the digital supply chain—the power source for Industry 4.0—creates multiple opportunities for every company in every industry. But every revolution needs exemplars to help lead the way, and […]
