Ask HN: Anyone doing Small scale manufacturing

10 points by ashnyc 9 years ago | 13 comments

Hi Hacker News, anyone here that is doing small scale manufacturing. I think this is the future of manufacturing in USA. It is the one area where the small guy still has a good chance of succeeding and competing against large manufactures . I know there is a lot of people making and selling on ETSY, but most of the sellers there are low volume. I would love to start a conversation with people in the filed. Especially with people that have created a software to help them manage the entire process. I have looked all over the net for a mordern erp system. One that connects your shopping cart and your raw material and helps you manage the entire process.

HeyLaughingBoy 9 years ago |

You need to be more specific.

What counts as "small scale manufacturing?" I build sensor products and controllers in my basement and sell them direct. Is that small scale enough?

There are thousands of 2-5 person machine shops turning out thousands of small parts per day. Is that what you mean?

Fine-furniture makers, small boat builders, custom farm equipment fabricators may build 5 - 500 pieces per year, is that closer?

You're asking an open-ended question. Manufacturing has always interested me and I'd love to get involved in a conversation, but right now I don't really understand your motivation.

ashnyc 9 years ago | |

What are your biggest challenges. Are you doing everything by your self ? or do you have a few employees. How many controllers do you build a day or week

HeyLaughingBoy 9 years ago | | |

My biggest challenge is lack of customers.

endswapper 9 years ago |

I work with a full range of manufacturers, large and small, globally. EndSwapper is focused on raw materials. I'm not sure you will ever see a single system that does it all. You may see an Amazon-like aggregator that gives a top view and manages connecting all of the various pieces behind the scenes.

I think manufacturing is poised for tremendous growth in the US as incumbents and new players leverage new technology for manufacturing and environmental health & safety. I haven't seen Tesla's manufacturing processes which are claimed to far advanced of current methods. If they are what they claim, they may be leading industry 4.0 in the automotive sector.

Traditionally, to manufacture on a large scale there are geographic limitations. When you apply affordable, renewable energy and some other available technologies those limitations are eliminated and the approach and strategy can be completely shaken up.

Going back to Tesla, if you have autonomous solar trucks to deliver cars and handle inbound logistics for materials and parts you can scale like crazy on cheap land in the desert and supply the entire country, and the world. When overseas shipping is solar, or hydrogen driven, Tesla can supply the world from Fontana, while having a minimal carbon footprint.

Is there a particular industry or product you are interested in?

Happy to discuss further offline as well. chris at endswapper dot com

ashnyc 9 years ago |

Yes sorry i should better explain. What i am interested about is small manufactures that have employees. Right now we employ 3 to 4 people full time. Doing production is challenging, not because it is hard work but because there is a lot of moving parts. You have to keep track of a many components. That complexity only grows as you add more product. 1 product = 5 components 10 product = 50 components . Then if you included, marketing, customer service , it is a lot to handle. I think making something locally and selling it directly to customers online is the wave of the future for the developed world. Running such an organization is really challenging. But i think it can all be automated, not by using robots but with software. A software should tell you what to make, when to make it, how much to make of it, and also manage your raw material. This is what we are working on and would love to talk to others that are faced with the same issue.

Axsuul 9 years ago | |

Hey how can I reach out? My email is in my profile

Mz 9 years ago |

It is nearly a decade old, but I enjoyed this book:

Fab: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop--from Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication Paperback – February 6, 2007

https://www.amazon.com/Fab-Revolution-Desktop-Computers-Fabr...

ashnyc 9 years ago | |

3 d printers etc will be a big industry but that is not what i am referring to. I am thinking more about candle makers, Leather garment makers, perfume makers, bitter makers etc. Small scale manufactures can now sell directly to customers via the internet which has leveled the playing filed against big brands but there is a lot of complexity in the back end that needs to be automated

theveloped 9 years ago |

Not in the US myself but totally agree with you on the future of manufacturing.

Personally I'm very interested in developing software/interfaces to digital manufacturing processes as to allow mass production of customized/personalized products.

Would be great to talk to likely minded people and people from industry that could use these kind of tools.

ashnyc 9 years ago | |

Lets talk, how about google hangout

shanecleveland 9 years ago |

ERP software like you describe: http://acctvantage.com

ashnyc 9 years ago | |

I look at the erp software and it does not seem to fit the bill. We are looking for something that makes it easy to train employees and web based. We want our business to run like a restaurant. if you have a phone i can call you to talk more