Opportunity in Un-manufacturing?

We have heard everyone talk about Manufacturing opportunities. But there is an equally large opportunity in Un-manufacturing. What is it?

Photo by Alisa Reutova on Unsplash

Unmanufacturing is the organised repurposing of used manufactured products to create basic but valuable products for different use cases.

In this recent video on Linus Tech Tips (awesome guys), Linus showcases how Canadian companies are repurposing used office desktops into basic but blingy gaming computers. These companies have replaced some spare parts and added some to make the old machines workable for basic use.

It is NOT waste processing for manufactured products!

Manufactured Waste processing is a different and also lucrative business. This is about high-value items being disassembled to recycle critical parts such as precious metals and other components.

India is a leader in Ship-breaking. That industry is semi-organised waste processing. They break down the ship into its basic salvageable parts and then sell them for scrap value.

Unmanufacturing is repurposing for different end-use

In Unmanufacturing, we create new products for different end-use cases.

Imagine the following concepts:

1. Using 3/4-year-old cellphone electronics, we create a basic tablet display for shops, restaurant menus, kiosks etc.

2. Using computer processors from old PCs, we can convert old cars into electronic injection with custom power profiles.

3. Using old speakers and adding new audio drivers and amplifiers, we can create new custom music systems.

Here is another example of transforming dead earbuds into a powerful wireless speaker set. (I recommend the DIY Perks channel too.)

Electronic waste processing is just one aspect of the work. As companies focus more on sustainability and recycling, we should be able to process all products - automobiles (cars, ships, aeroplanes), electronic goods (computers, phones etc.), durables (washing machines, etc.) to demolition (processing of buildings etc.).

But scale is important.

The difference between earbuds repurposing and Treasure Box PC is scale. As Linus pointed out in the video, Treasure Box PC makers are in the business hub of Canada, Toronto. They have access to a large number of old office PCs that they can process. This scale allows them to source new spares to refurbish these products.

Systematic process development is important too.

Unmanufacturing needs systematic processes just like the manufacturing industry created with Just-in-Time inventories, product design, tooling, and testing, all culminating into an assembly line.

At a large enough scale, in a proper systematic manner, it can open up huge employment opportunities.

In Sum

For quite some time, we have focussed on manufacturing jobs and manufacturing contributing to the GDP. There could be substantial value in this activity too. 

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