Anyone should be able to participate in making things, without first becoming a large, well-funded company. More of what we need should be producible close to where we need it.
Do one thing well, and work with others on the rest
Bringing a product to market can require design, production, finishing, logistics, support, and customer service. MakeLocal’s purpose is to combine specialists so that a person who contributes one useful capability can take part in a finished product.
Product know-how should be reusable across a distributed network of Makers. Flexible production workflows should support complete products as well as individual parts.
The strategic pillars
- Accessible production. Lower the barriers for individuals and small specialists.
- Local production. Make it practical to manufacture near the need and shorten the path between feedback and the next version.
- Production sovereignty. Help Europe and other free-world countries reduce dependence on China and fragile distant supply chains.
- Resource efficiency. Improve the use of equipment, materials, infrastructure, development effort, and coordination time.
- Sovereign infrastructure. Develop systems that can operate across providers and avoid dependence on a single external vendor.
- Distributed capabilities. Build on experience with decentralized systems while checking their real coordination costs.
- Adaptable technology. Make room for new production processes and evolving requirements.
3D printing is the beginning
3D printing offers an accessible entry point for customizable objects and quick revisions. The longer horizon includes other production methods and robotics.
The mission includes civilian manufacturing, emergency resilience, and defense relevance. Distributed production and reusable know-how can help communities respond when established supply chains are disrupted.
These are strategic aims. Producing locally does not automatically establish lower cost, lower emissions, or adequate quality for a particular use. Those outcomes need to be checked in the actual process.
Put the mission into practice
The immediate priority is the first real MakeLocal orders: understand the need, agree the work, make it, deliver it, and learn from the result.
This public summary follows MakeLocal’s existing mission. It does not replace that product’s strategic north star or claim that its ambitions are already achieved.