6 ms·

There is also the issue of prototyping; some classes of goods (eg some music parts, gun parts, car parts...) require large amounts of design & experimentation w

There is also the issue of prototyping; some classes of goods (eg some music parts, gun parts, car parts...) require large amounts of design & experimentation work, and have high enough price points with low enough volume that it's worthwhile to use the same machines you're prototyping on for "mass" production. Even if the ultimate result is cloneable, volume probably doesn't justify a large factory in China going out of their way to duplicate it. If the design work benefits from tight feedback loops it can be worthwhile to produce locally.

usrusr 10y ago
But even there, the components are made from the same intermediates as high volume products. "You don't just take sand from the beach to produce a dataprobe", if I may quote a computer game. The supplies question makes one off products just as dependent on proximity as high volume products. Or maybe even more so: if you set up high volume production, no matter the cost, you will be able to source your components at somewhat acceptable prices anywhere in the world. If you do the same with lower volumes, being close to the existing supply chains that developed around volume buyers makes all the difference in the world.
- h4nkoslo 10y ago
  You'd be surprised what you can do with, eg, billet aluminum, which is available essentially everywhere and requires no elaborate supply chain to source cheaply. Something like a cell phone or a car has an incredibly elaborate bill of materials and isn't representative of the sorts of product where non-mass-production is even in question.
- zo1 10y ago
  >""You don't just take sand from the beach to produce a dataprobe", if I may quote a computer game." Alpha Centaur, great game that I spent countless hours on. I still remember quite a lot of the quotes after listening to those characters mentioning them so many times. If anyone wants some more of the quotes from that game: http://www.generationterrorists.com/quotes/smac.html http://www.generationterrorists.com/quotes/smac.html

usrusr 10y ago

But even there, the components are made from the same intermediates as high volume products. "You don't just take sand from the beach to produce a dataprobe", if I may quote a computer game. The supplies question makes one off products just as dependent on proximity as high volume products. Or maybe even more so: if you set up high volume production, no matter the cost, you will be able to source your components at somewhat acceptable prices anywhere in the world. If you do the same with lower volumes, being close to the existing supply chains that developed around volume buyers makes all the difference in the world.

h4nkoslo 10y ago
You'd be surprised what you can do with, eg, billet aluminum, which is available essentially everywhere and requires no elaborate supply chain to source cheaply. Something like a cell phone or a car has an incredibly elaborate bill of materials and isn't representative of the sorts of product where non-mass-production is even in question.
zo1 10y ago
>""You don't just take sand from the beach to produce a dataprobe", if I may quote a computer game." Alpha Centaur, great game that I spent countless hours on. I still remember quite a lot of the quotes after listening to those characters mentioning them so many times. If anyone wants some more of the quotes from that game: http://www.generationterrorists.com/quotes/smac.html http://www.generationterrorists.com/quotes/smac.html