Open,

 Micro  and  Local  -­‐  A  Case  Study  on  Local  Motors  

  'Local  Motors'  is  both  an  oxymoron  and  a  truism.  A  'free  online  and  physical  workspace  
where  creativity,  collaboration  and  design  drive  vehicle  innovations';  the  designs  created  by  Local  
Motors  are  truly  global  and  peculiarly  local  all  at  once.  The  process  is  as  follows:  Designs  are  open-­‐
sourced;  anyone  can  contribute  to  the  website  and  be  comfortable  in  the  knowledge  that  their  work  
is  protected  by  the  creative  commons  licence.  Those  designs  can  then  be  voted  on.  If  enough  votes  
are  received  the  design  is  reviewed  and  put  to  the  prototype  stage.  The  design  can  then  go  into  
manufacture,  in  one  of  Local  Motors  microfactories,  or  indeed,  through  the  3D  printing  formats  they  
are  collaboratively  working  on.  The  design  can  then  be  marketed  and  eventually  sold.  Through  
crowd-­‐sourcing  and  micro-­‐manufacture  Local  Motors  dramatically  decreases  lead  times  in  vehicle  
production.  So  far  so  straight-­‐forward.  But  what  began  as  Local  Motors  in  2007  has  been  rapidly  
developing  into  various  areas  since,  making  it  difficult  to  put  your  finger  on  what  exactly  Local  
Motors  looks  like  now.  In  this  case  study  I  will  explore  how  Local  Motors'  initial  value  propositions  
have  developed  over  the  last  8  years,  and  the  possibilities  for  the  future.  

  Using  the  crowd  to  speed  things  up  is  not  new.  Wikipedia  had  been  going  for  a  good  seven  
years  before  Jay  Rogers  founded  Local  Motors.  Rogers'  ingenuity  lies  in  pairing  the  technique  with  
the  automotive  industry,  known  for  its  notoriously  longwinded  production  process.  By  vastly  
increasing  potential  design  offerings,  whilst  scaling  down  production  to  small  batches,  Local  Motors  
operates  a  significantly  more  rapid  process.  According  to  Rogers'  November  2010  TED  Talk,  Local  
Motors'  online  forum  was  at  that  time  receiving  8000  contributions  a  day.    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFrMl_5T0Rc  

Through  this  platform  Local  Motors  can  essentially  outsource  R&D  to  their  online  community.  
Drawing  on  a  tradition  of  Hot-­‐Rodders  and  enthusiasts,  Local  Motors  amplifies  response  through  a  
plenitude  of  prize  based  innovation  design  competitions.  Rogers  describes  it  as  'Ikea,  mashed  up  
with  Build-­‐A-­‐Bear,  mashed  up  with  Formula  One'.  The  analogy  is  a  good  one.  You  can  sense  the  
same  feeling  of  ownership  and  satisfaction  in  the  Local  Motors  online  forum  as  you  can  in  the  
children  leaving  the  Build-­‐A-­‐Bear  store.  In  an  increasingly  hyper-­‐capitalist  context,  a  feeling  of  
ownership  can  be  sold  at  a  premium  for  children  and  car  enthusiasts  alike.  Local  Motors  trades  in  
this  excitement.  Each  new  project  uploaded  onto  the  site  is  swiftly  followed  by  a  wealth  of  
collaborative  (and  some  predictably  less  so)  comments.  Not  only  is  this  R&D;  it  is  both  marketing  and  
an  effective  loyalty  scheme.  Spend  a  little  time  on  the  Local  Motors  forum  and  its  apparently  
oxymoronic  title  becomes  less  so;  we  all  know  that  the  internet  is  progressively  making  the  world  a  
little  smaller,  a  little  more  local.    

  Internet  communities  operating  on  the  shared  assets  of  their  users  are  increasingly  
commonplace.  Mumsnet,  Etsy,  Pinterest,  even  scientists  are  starting  to  look  to  internet  crowd  
funding  websites  rather  than  their  governments  for  funding  (more  on  this  can  be  found  here  
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/02/crowdfunded-­‐science-­‐scientists-­‐fund-­‐research.)  
Users  are  ever  more  able  to  learn  about  and  contribute  to  manifold  aspects  of  their  lifestyle.  Local  
Motors  represents  the  logical  progression  of  this  circumstance,  as  Rogers  describes,  'as  we  run  
competitions  we  get  more  meaningful  gas  pedals,  we  get  meaningful  pocket  book  holders,  we  get  
more  meaningful  lights  to  put  on  the  roof,  and  we  get  more  meaningful  cars'.  The  essentially  
democratic  nature  of  the  Local  Motors  voting  system  theoretically  allows  designers,  engineers  and  
car  enthusiasts  to  engage  in  equally  formative  discussion.  Significantly,  Rogers  has  connected  this  
spirit  of  open  innovation  with  the  technologies  that  facilitate  it.  In  September  of  2014  Local  Motors  
debuted  the  Strati  (Italian  for  layers)  at  the  International  Manufacturing  Technology  Show.  The  ITMS  
was  a  platform  for  Local  Motors  to  demonstrate  their  commitment  to  doing  something  different  
with  the  automotive  industry;  not  only  was  the  Strati  shown  at  the  ITMS,  it  was  manufactured  there  
too.  The  Strati  can  be  printed  in  44  hours,  after  which  only  the  mechanised  parts  such  as  the  battery,  
suspension  and  motor  need  to  be  fitted.  Local  Motors  states  that  they  aim  to  get  this  time  down  to  
22  hours.  They  repeated  the  trick  at  the  North  American  International  Auto  Show  in  January  of  this  
year,  this  time  offering  visitors  a  chance  to  test-­‐drive  the  car  in  its  mid  model  refresh  stage.    

A  video  of  one  such  test  drive  can  be  viewed  here:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-­‐30802723  

And  a  time-­‐lapse  of  the  3D  Printing  process  here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daioWlkH7ZI  

3D  printing  technology  fits  neatly  with  the  community-­‐driven  nature  of  Local  Motors'  crowd  sourcing  
ideology.  All  the  users  that  have  collaborated  on  the  project,  indeed,  even  members  of  the  
community  that  haven't,  will  be  able  to  download  the  digital  3D  print  files  and  build  manual.  
Theoretically,  anyone  can  print  their  own  Strati  at  home  (for  those  without  a  3D  Printer  large  
enough,  Local  Motors  have  also  produced  a  1:10  scale  for  printing  a  small  model).    

  The    speed  with  which  the  Strati  can  be  manufactured  is  integral  to  Local  Motors'  value  
proposition.  As  Rogers  described  at  the  NAIAS,  the  Strati  is  currently  at  its  mid  model  refresh  stage,  a  
stage  that  is  normally  only  reached  two  to  three  years  into  a  car's  development.  It  has  taken  only  
two  to  three  months  for  Local  Motors  to  get  to  this  stage,  and  they  hope  to  have  the  Strati  available  
for  retail  by  the  end  of  the  year.  The  whole  process  is  part  of  what  is  being  called  direct  digital  
manufacture,  and  is  representative  of  the  kind  of  micro-­‐manufacture  they  are  developing.  

  Local  Motors  currently  has  three  microfactories,  and  hopes  to  build  one  hundred  in  the  next  
ten  years.  These  are  experiments  in  small  scale  production,  but  they  stand  to  prompt  a  significant  
adjustment  to  the  way  we  look  at  car  production.  Each  microfactory  is  designed  to  produce  specific  
vehicles,  responding  to  the  local  community  and  its  resources.  Through  this  deeper  understanding  of  
the  locality  in  which  the  factory  operates,  coupled  with  small  batch  production  and  the  vast  input  
and  collaboration  of  the  design  stage,  Local  Motors  intends  to  drastically  reduce  lead  times.  

A  short  video  on  the  Local  Motors  microfactories  can  be  found  here  :  
https://localmotors.com/microfactory/  

Local  Motors'  ability  to  set  new  paradigms  for  typically  time-­‐intensive  manufacturing  processes  has  
prompted  interest  in  fields  other  than  the  automotive  industry.  In  March  2014  General  Electric  
announced  their  partnership  with  Local  Motors,  working  together  to  put  in  place  a  new  model  for  
the  manufacturing  industry  of  home  appliances.  Through  First  Build,  a  co-­‐create  forum  much  like  
Local  Motors',  General  Electric  encourage  an  online  community  to  submit  and  collaborate  on  ideas.  
Those  designs  that  are  successful  are  then  produced  in  a  Local  Motors  microfactory.  The  First  Build  
microfactory  was  opened  in  July  2014,  as  a  collaboration  between  Local  Motors,  General  Electric  and  
the  University  of  Louisville.    

  Local  Motors  is  very  much  a  future  concept.  Its  unique  value  propositions  are  dependent  on  
a  developing  understanding  of  how  users  can  utilize  online  communities  to  shape  their  daily  lives,  
and  a  small  scale  production  method  that  is  itself  experimental.  And  if  one  needed  further  evidence  
of  their  specific  newness,  the  Local  Motors  Rally  Fighter  is  even  featured  in  the  new  Transformers  
movie;  a  film  about  robots.  How  Local  Motors  will  develop  will  remain  to  be  seen.  But  the  
excitement  surrounding  their  initial  successes  has  garnered  a  partnership  with  one  of  the  world's  
largest  companies,  and  media  coverage  that  exudes  a  feeling  of  exhilaration  at  the  proposal  of  such  
rapid  change  to  an  industry  as  significant  as  car  manufacture.  By  operating  on  such  a  fast  scale,  and  
maintaining  a  position  of  bold  and  open  innovation,  Local  Motors  are  positioning  themselves  in  good  
stead  for  the  coming  challenges.  

You  can  watch  Jay  Rogers'  TED  Talk  here  :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFrMl_5T0Rc