getting stuff made: case studies
TRANSCRIPT
SPEAKER SERIESMartin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship & Makerworks
Getting Stuff Made:
Two case studies
Elaine Chen
Spring 2016
Martin Trust Center for MIT
Entrepreneurship
• Founded in 1990 by Professor Ed Roberts
• For all 5 schools of MIT plus Whitaker College
• 2011 – Supercharged with Gift from Martin
Trust (SM ’58)
• Develop, coordinate and integrate a
decentralized innovation and entrepreneurial
ecosystem at MIT
2
Stuff I’ve helped people make
It takes a village, with some vaporware, foam, plastic,
metal, PCBAs, cable harnesses, software, sweat and blood
Case Study 1: The Zeemote
($6.50 FOB HK)
Case Study 2: The Zeo Sleep Monitor
Case Study 3: Baxter
(BOM Cost: Slightly more than $6.50, Made In USA)
One size doesn’t fit all.
Apply common sense.
<0.25lb$6.50 FOB HK
Zeemote
Key takeaways
• Making simple board-in-box things
– 6-9m with a good spec
– Low process innovation needed – low risk
– With adequate volume (25k/y+) Asia makes sense
• Making complicated things with moving parts
– 18-36m with a good spec
– Final product performance is 70% design, 30% process
– Expect engineering team to live at CMs for months to get it right
– For most high value, high complexity, low volume products, it is much
easier to start by manufacturing near the R&D Center then
reconsider the right shoring decision as the product matures and the
business scales
• By the way: None of this matters if you got the problem / needs wrong.
Get out of the building and do primary market research!
To Learn More: Check out the Product Development and
Manufacturing sections of the Trust Center FAQ
http://entrepreneurship.mit.edu/faq
Connect with us
Learn more at http://entrepreneurship.mit.edu
Email [email protected] to engage an EIR on your startup
20
Thank you
4/7/201621
@chenelaine blog.conceptspring.com