Someday, we might even receive raw material for our 3D printers as a utility like water, electricity and data (for more on that, consult Neal Stephenson’s Diamond Age). Furthermore, technologies like additive manufacturing (3D printing) are accelerating this pace with the promise of regional, municipal or even in-home production for some of the things we use. However we believe it’s a symptom of a much larger global trend towards distributed manufacturing.Ĭheaper domestic energy, rising overseas wages, environmental concern and increased transportation costs are among the primary factors encouraging many companies, such as GE and Lenovo, to bring some sectors of production back (think big bulky stuff, like appliances and industrial equipment). As we read in the headlines, the reshoring of manufacturing back to the U.S. However, this axiom of industrialization is slowly changing. The advent of Newcomen’s steam engine (and, of course, electricity) enabled us to build factories away from rivers, but manufacturing was never fully uncoupled from major cities and expansive transportation networks. Our industrialized origins burn somewhere in the bellows of a late 18th century English mill, powered by a river that doubled as a highway.
By Jordan Brandt Manufacturing Technology Futurist
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