Over the last year, we have been made acutely aware of the fragility and inflexibility of our manufacturing and supply chains. The pandemic has driven changes in demand patterns, not just what we are buying (more disinfectants and face masks, fewer suitcases), but where (at the grocery store instead of corporate purchasing). But this demand for manufacturing and supply chain flexibility is not new—it is only that we have been made painfully aware of this need from an external shock.
In reality, over the last couple of decades, stemming from changes in demand, competition, and market pressures, manufacturing has become a more complex and fraught affair requiring increased flexibility with a narrower margin of error. We can sum up this changing environment in three long-term trends affecting how stuff is designed and made: mass customization, increasing SKU proliferation, and shorter product cycles.