Network World | Jun 20, 2016 - I have a particular interest in the manufacturing of physical goods. For close to 25 years, I have been involved with a boutique, New Zealand-based manufacturer of backpacks and workwear. Cactus Equipment has been designing and making its own products for years.

As opposed to the regular model of spec'ing a product from Far Eastern design and manufacturing houses, Cactus designs in house and then manufacturers in its own New Zealand factory, as well as a number of outsourced but still New Zealand-based facilities. So, the realities of trying to get a product designed and prototyped is something I'm well aware of. The design and sourcing combined with the difficulty in accessing resources makes product engineering a difficult task.

That is why I've been interested to watch companies that try and make this process more efficient. One company, Ponoko, got its start in New Zealand around 10 years ago with a vision of connecting designers, customers and manufacturers. The idea was that any one of those stakeholder groups could use the Ponoko platform to connect with the other groups. Have a smart design for some new widget? You could find a manufacturer and a customer base on Ponoko. Ponoko leveraged a global listing of production facilities using different processes (CNC machining, laser cutting, different material specialties etc) to achieve good economics.

Whether they were too early or their execution wasn't optimal, Ponoko never really seemed to hit escape velocity. It still exists, but the world of design and manufacturing is pretty much the same as it was a decade or two ago.

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