 Zanoby.com, Local Manufacturers, Lead Panel on the ‘New Movement for Craft Production’Panel envisions a resurgence of small-scale, urban manufacturing
By: Zanoby.com 
Zanoby.com Panelists The panel discussed how a more human-centered approach to manufacturing— They are part of a new breed of entrepreneurs who represent resurging interest in the artisan economy. They share a common passion for craftsmanship, a desire to design and make their products in the same place, and a singular focus on quality. They see fundamental limits to the prevailing culture of outsourcing, mass consumption, and fast fashion, and see localized, batch production as a counterbalance to these models. Small manufacturers bring jobs to cities and diversify local economies. They grow ecosystems of suppliers and contractors, strengthening communities and the local economic base. They often try to source their raw materials or equipment domestically, reducing waste and negative environmental impacts associated with the production process. These entrepreneurs also see this as good business. Because of their smaller scale, they have a special relationship to their customers and can often achieve a customer bond that mass production cannot create. They rapidly prototype and incorporate feedback quickly into designs, making the customer part of the process. How they make their products also becomes an important part of what Craig Dalton calls, “the story sharing process with customers, which benefits both the maker and the consumer.” This story includes how and where things are made, and consumers are becoming more discriminating about these measures of quality. “People do care about how things are made, and when given the choice and opportunity, they would rather have things that are beautiful, high quality, and of course, made under conditions that respect and value people,” says Roberto Scaccia. “They also should not have to pay a lot more for this quality.” His company, Zanoby.com, creates a marketplace for artisanal makers from Italy and elsewhere, directly connecting people to their premium handcrafted goods, cutting out retail middlemen and benefiting makers, who have seen revenue decline due to outsourcing. Trends in San Francisco and other cities appear to support this. SFMade, a nonprofit created to develop local manufacturing in San Francisco, reports that their model is being replicated in networks of small manufacturers springing up in cities ranging from Portland to Philadelphia, creating a small but growing renaissance of American micro production. Scaccia sees this trend relating to principles and ideas about manufacturing whose roots go back, literally, to the Renaissance. “Since those times, humans have been continuously creating objects in this tradition of quality and pride in craft. It has always existed; we are rediscovering it.” http://www.zanoby.com Photo: https://www.prlog.org/ End
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