D3D Business Model

Scope

• Extreme Manufacturing workshops, kits, derivative products including CNC torch table kit, different toolheads, scaled machines, information products, 3D print services, Enterprise training, certification, and other services surrounding the Universal Axis CNC system.

Invitation

Invitation video for developers and entrepreneurs.

Nature of the Program

The program is unreasonable. It attempts to train and align a diverse set of high performing individuals on a common path of open source product development. The underlying assumption within the program is that a peace-time economy can be achieved by a mind shift in civilization. That mind shift can be facilitated by open collaboration on product development as a means to introduce a new economy based on collaboration as opposed to proprietary development. The program asks participants to be the core instigators of that transition. Participants engage in immersion in open source product development, and its delivery into the economic system.

The revenue model that we are training for is one based on organizing Extreme Manufacturing workshops - well-organized experience events where social production results in machines built in a day or in a weekend. This model focuses on efficient production as a means to generate value - while training the attendees in productive skills. The underlying idea is that a significant fraction of productive citizens in society are a pre-requisite for a peaceful and democratic society.

Duration

The program has a 2 month duration: one month immersion on-site at the OSE facility, and one month (in your city) preparing to run an Extreme Manufacturing build event in your local city.

Prerequisites

The prerequisite prior to submitting an application is at least one month participation on the OSE Development Team. The application itself involves a written part that evaluates cultural alignment, and an in-person interview at the OSE facility.

Program

During the 1 month on-site immersion, participants will:

• Week 1 - build their own 3D printer, filament extruder for making 3D printing filament, a small 3D printer-based laser cutter, CNC circuit mill, and a CNC torch table - all but the filament extruder built from the Universal Axis design. This will be a week of Exreme Manufacturing, with a typical schedule consisting of 2 hours of presentation and 8 hours of build time.
• Week 2 - Development Boot Camp - FreeCAD, OSE Development, Extreme Manufacturing. FreeCAD Boot Camp - design, generation of STLs for printing, creating fabrication drawings, basic FEA, usage of part libraries to design all of the machines above. Isometric drawing, instructionals production. OSE open product develoment method: modular construction set methodology. Rapid prototyping with the 3D printer, laser cutter, and CNC circuit mill. Production Engineering to OSE Specifications.
• Week 3 - Enterprise - building a website, running build events, sourcing parts, running a 3D print cluster. Publishing Event Announcements, setting up kit manufacturing and fulfillment. Basic Operations Manual. Distributive Enterprise Business Plan. Marketing. Distributive Enterprise Development.
• Week 4 - Running a build workshop for the 3D Printer and Filament Extruder. Preparing a Workshop Manual. Checking Inventory. Workshop and Tooling Organization. Build troubleshooting and support. Workflow Design. OSHWA Certification.

The financial details are being worked out, but the general cost structure may involve $10k for the program, and a 50/50 revenue share of the first workshop net revenue. OSE will participate in marketing the build event. Upon successful execution of a build event, apprentices may apply for certification to run workshops under the OSE label.

Intended Outcomes

• Apprentices learn to build the 4 machines
• Apprentices learn how to use part libraries to design new versions and improvements for the machines
• Setup of a website for the student's D3D Enterprise. The products that can be posted on the website depend on the student's capacity to deliver them.
• Apprentices quality for the second part of the program, for fall 2019, which continues with heavy machines and construction as the next sets of training programs.
• Successful completion of a program is a prerequisite for the next class of training.
• Economic liberation of the apprentice to engage in open source product development full time. The goal is that the XM workshops support the OSE Apprentice full time in open source product development. After one year of successful engagement in distributive enterprise development, the apprentice earns the title of OSE Fellow. Anyone who remains an OSE Fellow in good standing for 3 years earns the title of Senior Fellow, and may be considered for lieutenant roles in open source ecology.
• Anyone who becomes OSE Certified for their Extreme Manufacturing program is expected to continue as a power OSE Developer, or an individual who is engaging in distributive enterprise development full time.
• Growth of distributive enterprise is intended to last until collaborative development is mainstreamed.

Selection Criteria

Candidates will be selected based on:

• Demonstrated exceptional merit, mind set, skill set, and achievement, in that order
• Solid grounding in the way the world works, and a deep hunger for improvement via unreasonable goals
• Ability to articulate a critical issue in society, and to propose a general roadmap for its solution
• Ability to do both visionary work and to execute details
• Attitude is primary to skill sets. Skills sets can be learned based on attitude
• Long-term thinking (which does not exclude present action)
• Ability to integrate holistic thinking with analytical thinking
• Integral thinking approach to resolve apparent contradictions. "It's both."
• Potential for long-term involvement. Program is structured for Part 2 in 2019, continuing the enterprise model to heavy machines and construction.
• A growth mindset and a desire to shift paradigms in a profound way
• Integrity, ethics, responsibility and open source culture
• Positive, can-do attitude, search for excellence
• Communication skills allowing for effective negotiation and conflict resolution, including communicating with those with different belief systems
• Grit and perseverance towards an unreasonable, long term vision
• Intellectual maturity based on some understanding of logic, general semantics, cybernetics, soteriology, leadership, and personal + political ponerology
• Emotional maturity that tempers the intellect and allows the individuals to collaborate for transformative goals
• Entrepreneurial mindset, out-of-box thinking
• Understanding of the relationship of natural resources to the modern economy. Respect for natural resources.

Product Priorities

Technology

• D3D PVC frame - builds on readily- sourced parts, facilitating ease of independent replication + automated kit drop ship. Prusa MK2 extruder. Filament run-out sensor. Marlin + RAMPS with external bed relay or MOSFET. PEI surface. 8, 12, and 24" versions are readily doable with the system, but 12" is a good scale for a printer of significant size. Includes simple Prusa i3 extruder as well as larger Volcano Nozzle extruder.
• Filament maker + grinder for making low cost filament
• D3D CNC Torch Table - immediate upgrade (by scaling of universal Axis) to a whole new field of production. Much cross-fertilization is expected by entering heavy metal fabrication - tractors, brick presses, etc.
• Small laser cutter - ready upgrade to the existing 3D printer frame using the magnetic tool head mount. Good example of ready modularity of the 3D platform. Good open source prior art already exists. Extends prototyping capacity to scale prototypes of CNC torch table-cut machines- in that heavy machines are welded from flat pieces cut by the CNC torch table.
• CNC Circuit Mill - the only 3D printer in the world that actually works for circuits. Proves the true modularity of the system.

Services

• Immersion training program - the growth model of OSE revolves around training developer-entrepreneurs who continue on OSE development efforts while getting funded by the work itself. This is consistent with OSE's education mission. Trainees are certified to run 3D Printer workshops, and branch into further open source product R&D with OSE. The intent is building a worldwide culture of open source product development, and an entrepreneurial spirit that can sustain that effort. Regarding Funding the Military in the USA, OSE's proposal to address this is transitioning the economic system to a peacetime economy within 20 years with a gradual conversion of military spending to constructive uses.

Revenue Model

• OSE has historically charged $300 above the bill of materials cost for its 3D printer workshops. This model means $3600 revenue per event if 12 people sign up.
• Immersion training program revenue allows the education and R&D aspects of OSE to expand. Cost structure should reflect the value of the program.
• Trainees are certified and OSE hires them for events
• Event occurs in trainees' geographical area.
• OSE Dev Team is prerequisite to immersion training program

Training Model

• On-site immersion training involves building 3D printer, laser cutter, filament maker, and CNC circuit mill, and several open source products: pi-cam, microscope, drone, pi phone, drill.
• In addition to on-site program, provide full open source training materials for anyone to download for free, or buy as an information product.
• Provide an E-Course for those who cannot make the program, consisting of 30 hours of Lectures. Prepare blackboard quick-learning videos. Would require an on-site video person for a full month of work.

Drop Ship Strategy

• Drop shipping allows for a passive business of selling kits with zero for inventory. While not as profitable, it is scalable if it requires no effort outside of BOM maintenance and updates.
• Drop Shipping can be localized for different countries

3D printed Parts strategy

• Print cluster can be used to produce parts on demand or for workshops
• Online 3D printing service can be created where people order their parts and can view the print with a webcam. This applies to pre-approved Parts Only - meaning existing kit parts or parts that are added to the online curated print Library.

FAQ

What is the main outcome of the immersion training program?

The main outcome is that the student builds their own seed microfactory. During the program, the students build 5 critical machines that they take with them to start their own enterprise. And the students learn the critical skills required to use the tools and create new products with these tools, using completely open source tool-chains. For OSE, the main intended outcome is that we train new developers who are funded by the work itself, and can continue their contribution to open source development in the OSE ecosystem.

Is the immersion program free?

No, this is a significant investment of time and effort on both sides, and marks high mutual expectations. But neither is this a pay-to-play scheme,. OSE will work with any applicant on securing the necessary support for anyone who is truly interested. In other words - if you are a good fit for the program, the cost will not stop you. Part of the game is to secure pull from your community - the support of funders and mentors who want to see you succeed in your own community.

I have the resources to build an open source microfactory in my home town right now, but I do not see myself taking the program because of other commitments. What can I do?

Fund a candidate to take our immersion training program. We will train the person that will then end up running the enterprise in your home town. I'm sure we can come up with an attractive offer which would attract the right candidate.

What has been the main challenge to OSE to date?

The main challenge is introducing financial feedback loops that fund future development. We have chosen the bootstrapped route (little dependence on finance capital) - because top-down capital can prop up enterprises regardless of their merit. The ability to bootstrap a project - and make it grow - is proof that something is truly beneficial and can survive on its own merit. But bootsrapped growth has been a challenge. While OSE headquarters is continuing to push bold ideas and prototypes, and while hundreds of OSE machines have been built around the world (see Prototypes Built and Cost - we are not aware of anyone outside of the OSE headquarters who is making a full time living based on OSE technology. For this reason, 2017 has marked a transition to enterprise training as the way to grow OSE - lowering the barriers to entry to enterprises based on the OSE tools. In 2018, we are offering the first ever immersion program geared specifically at those people who would like to do open source development for a living - full time and consistent with their ideals.

Do you intend to continue OSE as a volunteer effort?

Yes, any world-changing work must be voluntary, as you can not 'buy the revolution.' However, that does not imply that people shouldn't get paid. The question is how people are paid. OSE's paradigm is that we keep our staff to a minimum - but develop tremendous world impact by training entrepreneurs who produce real goods and services - for pay. Without financial feedback loops, an effort remains at the hobby level. Linux was not started by hobbyists - it was started by people who quickly converted open source software to large revenue streams, to the point of about $600B in the current economy. So remember: voluntary work and paid work are not opposites of each other: voluntary should refer to the fact that people are pursuing something based on their desire for Self-Determination - not because they need to make a living. Being paid for such voluntary work is a mark of the open source economy.

What is a major issue in society that your program is trying to address?

We are troubled deeply by the current global state of permanent warfare economy. In the United States, 48% of personal income tax goes to funding the military, which constitutes about 1/3 of all government 'services'. This is not right, and our goal is to make sure that in 500 years, we will look back with a sigh of relief that we have transcended our barbaric state. We see warfare as the same mindset that dominates the current economic psyche of proprietary development, and we see the open source economy as a prerequisite for transition.

What is the Extreme Manufacturing business model?

See Extreme Manufacturing. The revenue model is (1) selling a product that is produced via a build event; (2) charging tuition to participants who are interested in hands-on learning. In specific cases such as a 3D printer build, everyone builds their own 3D printer - and the tuition ($300 or so) is the cost above the bill of materials that people pay for the build experience.

Is Extreme Manufacturing a viable business model?

We have shown several proofs of concept. These indicate that this model can scale to trillions of dollars of economic activity worldwide - as the value of the goods and services that can be produced by this model span much of the global manufacturing effort (all of industry is $23 trillion according to Wikipedia). The question is, are people willing to build things themselves , instead of having those products built by large remote factories? Our unambiguous answer is YES - and according to economic trends - this is consistent with the emergence of the Experience Economy as the sequel to today's Information Economy. To date, we have seen these data points: (1) 3D printer - $3600 revenue from a 1-day event - from tuition (the cost above the bill of materials) as 12 people build their own 3D printers. (2) CEB press - $10k from a 3 day build, $5k from product sale, and $5k from tuition (17 people at $300 each). (3) House + Aquaponic Greenhouse - $25k per 5 day build event, from tuition. If done for a client who pays all costs, this is revenue that OSE receives.