Using Open Production Sites for Supporting New Ways of Corporate Innovation

Abstract

As new patterns on how to think of innovation and organization develop one can observe that the boundaries of companies dissolve more and more towards more open and collaborative practices. This article examines one part of this overall development, namely the opportunities as well as challenges of open production sites and the many ways companies are trying to integrate them not only into existing innovation processes but also into production processes. Incorporating or integrating such methods into existing corporate structures offers the opportunity of working with state of the art technology collaboratively, together with tinkerers, makers, engineers, architects, artists or artisans, and therefore to really “think outside the box”. Fostering innovative practices and production by integrating and exploiting the potential of more open ways of producing and innovating will very likely lead to a more sustainable and economical production of goods and services.