This is how the software boom has transformed manufacturing – Money image (blog)

Renaissance hardware powered by software is creating new opportunities in manufacturing.

Pebble project funded via Kickstarter, has sold more than one million smart watches (the brand is prior to Android Wear smart watch, from Google, and Apple watch). Nebia, manufacturer of shower heads bath efficient use of water based in San Francisco, recently obtained investment funds Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, and the foundation of the family of Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google.

Drop , the maker of Fitbit, currently offers an application of kitchen scales connected to iPad for $ 100.

Several developments have put ventures manufacturing in a faster and commercial way.

Kickstarter and other sources of financing group have opened new options to raise money. And various additional elements have become more accessible: open source operating systems, design tools and printing 3 D.

Lower prices of microprocessors, sensors and other components enable a company to design sophisticated equipment girl reasonable costs.

And entrepreneurs hardware in dozens of US cities can now take advantage of a supportive infrastructure, including an ecosystem of “studies” hardware, incubators, accelerators and service providers.

last year, for example, Andy Rubin, creator of the Android mobile operating system, announced that its new company Playground Global LLC would “study” incubator where entrepreneurs and firms girls can focus on developing new gadgets while Playground addresses the challenges real world. engineering, manufacturing, finance, management of supply chain and distribution

emerging hardware companies entering Y Combinator or other accelerators can now take full advantage laboratories full of equipment to make prototypes provided by Bolt, venture capital firm.

The subcontractors are also interested in this movement. Flextonics (which makes products for Apple and Microsoft) began offering in 2013 the Lab IX service that connects emerging companies with manufacturing partners.

Nat Mani, CEO of Bestronics, a subcontractor of Silicon Valley, says: “More and more we seek to work with enterprises (not only) as a form of commercial development, but also to keep up with new technologies . “

the bottom line: the same type of tools and support systems that fostered the rise of software are becoming available in the hardware world

<. p> Mark Muro is a senior fellow and director of policy Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution.

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