MC2 - Information Technology Adopts Mfg

I listened to a fascinating keynote speech today at Day 2 of the MC2 Conference in Cincinnati from Chris Melissinos, VP Corporate Marketing at Verisign Inc

Chris proved to be an intelligent outsider looking at our industry and he brought encouragement and excitement to our efforts. With his background in Gaming at Sun Microsystems and a keen interest in Information Technology in general, Chris  added the following insights:

- the future is here - the Electrical Grid --> Computing Grid --> Manufacturing Grid
- we need to "tease the data out of the machine"
- when costs are driven down, distribution is driven up
- "No matter who you are, the smartest people don't work for you" - Quote from Bill Joy
- check out "MakerBot" at http://www.makerbot.com/ for a low cost ($1299) personal 3d printer to make your own parts
- we live in the "Age of Customization" - check out Ponoko http://www.ponoko.com for custom manufacturing at your fingertips - if you think it, they can make in a few weeks...

Chris introduced the concept of "Edge Manufacturing - enabling Anytime, Anywhere Manufacturing" - and he saw people furiously write the term down he told me - cool...