Custom Microfactories Help to Solve Supply Chain Woes
Fast Radius’ Cloud Manufacturing Platform provides access to custom-built, state-of-the-art microfactories to enable next-generation supply chains
CHICAGO — Fast Radius, Inc. (“Fast Radius”), a cloud manufacturing and digital supply chain company, has announced that its Custom Microfactory Solution is now available to all manufacturers. The solution allows companies to partner with Fast Radius to design and stand up advanced microfactories. Each factory is designed to meet a customer’s specific component manufacturing and technology needs, along with giving them access to proprietary software tools that provide visibility and insight into factory and supply chain operations.
Microfactories require low capital expenditure and provide a smaller carbon footprint than traditional megafactories, giving customers the benefit of advanced manufacturing and flexible, sustainable supply. Fast Radius’ Custom Microfactory Solution helps manufacturers mitigate supply chain risks, reduce carbon footprint, lower costs, and improve lead times through localized production.
“In the face of broken supply chains, our Custom Microfactory Solution frees manufacturers from the headaches and friction caused by today’s slow, rigid, and wasteful models,” said Lou Rassey, Co-Founder and CEO of Fast Radius. “Our offering empowers our customers to specify the type of microfactory they need, where they need it. The result is a more nimble, efficient, and sustainable way to manufacture and move parts.”
Each Custom Microfactory is a solution powered by Fast Radius’ Cloud Manufacturing Platform. Customers have access to production from their physical microfactory, along with a suite of software products that allow them to have full transparency and visibility into the production processes and supply chain management.
The custom microfactories are owned and operated by Fast Radius, and the customer works hand-in-hand with Fast Radius experts to choose manufacturing technologies and locations that best suit their production needs. Customers can employ a range of manufacturing methods, including CNC machining and a number of additive manufacturing (3D printing) technologies. The custom microfactories can be located in the same locations as current Fast Radius factories or in new locations to support more targeted needs.
Each Custom Microfactory Solution is built using the proven templates from Fast Radius’ world-recognized microfactory network. The template and operating system of these factories have been codified into a digital and operational playbook which are designed to be ‘copy and paste’ into new locations.
“A recent partnership with an industrial customer demonstrates what is exciting about the custom microfactory solution,” said Bill King, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Fast Radius. “The microfactory is designed to make a custom structural component for a vehicle, using state-of-the-art CNC machining, automation of material handling, and digital inspection and functional validation testing. These custom elements are built using the Fast Radius microfactory playbook, which uses software to orchestrate orders and factory operations, materials management, quality management, and people management systems. And perhaps most importantly, the custom microfactory is less expensive than the customer making components overseas.”
The World Economic Forum recognized Fast Radius’ Chicago microfactory as one of the “Nine Best Factories in the World”—the only factory to be recognized in North America. Fast Radius’ microfactory network—including a microfactory in UPS’ Worldport facility in Louisville, Kentucky—has served more than 2,000 global customers. Fast Radius plans to expand its microfactory network with new technologies and locations in the coming years.
About Fast Radius, Inc.
Fast Radius, Inc. is a leading cloud manufacturing and digital supply chain company. The Cloud Manufacturing Platform™ from Fast Radius is a first-of-its-kind solution that integrates design, production, and fulfillment operations through a common digital infrastructure to make manufacturing easier, more accessible, and more sustainable. Founded in 2017, Fast Radius, Inc. is headquartered in Chicago with offices in Atlanta, Louisville, and Singapore and microfactories in Chicago and at the UPS Worldport facility in Louisville, KY. Fast Radius announced on July 19, 2021, the intent to merge with ECP Environmental Growth Opportunities Corp. (NASDAQ: ENNV), a special purpose acquisition corporation, which would result in Fast Radius becoming a public company.
