Mr. Harmon Returns from One Place to Another
Reaching for Economies of Scale at Tech4Society
February 13, 2010
Originally published at AshokaTech.
Today was probably my favorite panel discussion so far, Reaching for Economies of Scale: Mass Production. "Scale" is a word that's been used many times at Tech4Society, but like many ubiquitous words, part of why it's used so frequently is that it's difficult to define.
The panel was moderated by Tim Prestero of Design That Matters. Joining Tim were Anita Moura, Rakesh Pandey, and Ali Ansari. The panelists tried to examine the various types and shades of scaling. Should we strive to bring a single innovation to as many people as possible with one centralized means of production and distribution? Or should each community be taught to produce and distribute the invention internally? Or for that matter, what if a village adopts your invention without asking? Is that necessarily a bad thing?
Ali told a story of some students he'd worked with through Engineers Without Borders. The students had developed a system for producing bio-fuel from industrial and cooking waste. As the students were developing the idea, Ali challenged them to think about how to get the optimum impact from the invention: would it be better to create a scaled system in which a factory in each community handles the waste, or should the organization teach people to use the system in their own homes? Now, women and children in Kabul are being trained to use the system, and some are using it to start their own enterprises. "I’m a Ghandian at heart," Ali said. "I have a cautious approach to industrialization."
"While I'm also a Ghandian at heart," Rakesh said, "I tend to think of mechanization as a good strategy for higher quality production." He also suggested that there are a lot of possibilities for hybrid models in which parts are manufactured globally but products are assembled locally. This can offer employment opportunities for a community while (potentially) keeping costs down.
Anita offered an interesting perspective. She works with Ashoka-Lemelson fellow Howard Weinstein at Solar Ear, a company that manufactures solar-powered hearing aids. As deaf people often have highly developed hand-eye coordination, Solar Ear employs only deaf people in assembling the devices.
Anita stressed that Solar Ear doesn't protect its products and designs from competitors. "We want other companies and organizations to use this," she said. Compellingly, she suggested that having others reuse your designs actually is a form of scaling. She also offered that they're protected by their own ability to continue to innovate.
There was also much discussion of finding and working with suppliers and manufacturers. Everyone agreed that it's best to work with vendors who share your enterprise's values and goals. Rakesh told a story of a supplier who'd suggested changes he could make to a design to lower his costs. "When you work with vendors who share your values, they'll trust you with their knowledge. Partnerships require risk, and both sides have to risk something."
