Implementing Do-It-Together: The Cross-fertilization of Do-It-Yourself and Open Manufacturing

Abstract

Nowadays, the emergence of digital technologies offers consumers access to customized products to meet their individual needs. Unlike traditional manufacturing, social manufacturing facilitates this by involving consumers in the design and production processes, which requires a paradigm shift. It is characterized by the central role of the consumer in the manufacture of their own product and the use of the cyber manufacturing space to ease exchanges between different groups of individuals. Social manufacturing can rely on the Do-It-Together (DIT) paradigm to achieve this goal. In the absence of a precise definition, this article aims to define DIT by integrating the principles of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) and open manufacturing and to formalize the DIT method for its operationalization, based on a review and analysis of the literature.