A vision of re-distributed manufacturing for the UK’s consumer goods industry

Abstract

The linear production of consumer goods is characterised by mass manufacture, multinational enterprises and globally dispersed supply chains. Redistributed manufacture (RDM) is an emerging topic, which seeks to enable a transition of the current linear model of production and consumption, by taking advantage of new technologies. This paper aims to explore the challenges, opportunities and further research questions to set a vision of Redistributed manufacturing for the UK’s consumer goods industry. To set this vision, a literature survey was conducted followed by a qualitative enquiry where PESTLE¹ aspects of RDM were analysed. This analysis was interpreted through a roadmap. As a result of this roadmap, four RDM characteristics (i.e. customisation, use of digital technologies, local production and the development of new business models) were identified. These characteristics helped to set the future vision of RDM in the UK’s consumer goods sector.

Keywords:

• Redistributed manufacture
• consumer goods industry
• customisation
• digital technologies
• business models
• local production

Notes

Acknowledgements

We thank all participants that took part in the workshops and interviews conducted for this research. Complementary data for this study can be accessed via: https://doi.org/10.17862/cranfield.rd.c.3489903.v1.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legislative, Environmental

2 http://www.euromonitor.com/

3 Furniture Company where customers have access to a file to customise their piece of furniture, to then being produced locally.

4 German company that allow customers to personalise their own cereals boxes.

5 Manufacturer of personalised snacks boxes with a subscription.

6 Furniture manufacturer.

7 Small communities where people share their « Do-It-Yourself » skills or their inspiration with other makers to make or repair items. A Fab-lab usually takes advantage of digital tools (Kohtala 2014).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) grant (EP/M017567/1) as part of the Network on Redistributed Manufacturing, Consumer Goods and Big Data (RECODE Network).

Notes on contributors

D. Bessière

Dorothee Bessiere is a master graduate of Innovation and Creativity in Industry from Cranfield University. She is now the co-founder of Save Eat, a mobile application to reduce food waste.

F. Charnley

Fiona Charnley is a Lecturer in Data Driven Innovation at Cranfield University. Her research focuses on implementing ethnographic methods with data analytics to get insights from users to improve product and service development. Mariale is the lead researcher on the Network on Redistributed Manufacturing Consumer Goods and Big Data (RECODE Network).

A. Tiwari

Ashutosh Tiwari is Airbus Research Chair in Digitisation for Manufacturing at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on the development and application of informatics techniques for manufacturing technologies, processes and systems. Professor Tiwari is a Fellow of the IMechE and the IET, and is a co-investigator of the Network on Redistributed Manufacturing, Consumer Goods and Big Data (RECODE Network).

M. A. Moreno

Mariale Moreno is the Director of Design Programme and a Senior Lecturer in Circular Innovation at the Centre for Competitive Creative Design (C4D) at Cranfield University. Her research focuses on implementing Circular Economy principles to design and manufacture process and methods. Fiona is the principal investigator of the Network on Redistributed Manufacturing Consumer Goods and Big Data (RECODE Network).