Material Flows Map

This is a map showing where all the materials used in the build of an artifact came from. This can be a very complex map, and may require approximation for common sourcing channels. This can become detailed - to the point of tracing down to the factories, fields, and mines from which original materials were derived.

This is an important feature of OSE's work, as we aim to reduce the product miles for components.

Product Miles are the total number of miles that the resources traveled before the final product was built. Those numbers could easily be in the hundreds of thousands of miles in a global supply chain - which is plain insanity from the standpoint of closed-loop materials cycles. By reducing the number of Product Miles, we end up with closed loop materials cycles.

Ideally, a closed loop matrials cycle means that most components do not go further than a 15 minute or so travel distance - which is the boundaries of any OSE Campus or Global Village. For the first OSE Campus, we intend to demonstrate how that is feasible, so that we can create a good pattern for further replications. This involves a high level of Technological Recursion, Miniaturization, and Distributed Market Substitution. Using modern appropriate technology, that is not an overwhelming proposition.