Public Funding for Fabbed Limited

Parametric tool kit and digital distribution platform to enable architects and designers to work directly and efficiently with a network of CNC enabled local joinery workshops to deliver good value mid to high end cabinetry.

We at Fabbed Limited are in the process of building a global online marketplace for digitally fabricated products, initially focused on furniture and furnishings. We are transforming the choices available to consumers buying furniture and provide a viable alternative to mass produced products that dominate the market today. Our vision is to give the consumer access to hundreds of high quality designs by talented designers worldwide for any product category. Moreover, a buyer can customise any of these items by choosing materials, finishes and functionality. This grant application aims to investigate the market opportunities for one specific use case. The vision is for an integrated office desk (we call it the “fabb-e”) which has electronic components built into the fabric of the desk. It allows the user, their computer and mobile devices to interact, aiming to improve productivity and employee satisfaction in the workplace. Using a new generation of computer controlled manufacturing technologies, which includes 3D printing and laser cutting, we believe there is an opportunity to transform the unadventurous office desk into something remarkable. The team at Fabbed Limited already have extensive prior experience in digital fabrication. We have two live websites providing a global marketplace for digitally fabricated products. The new technologies are transforming the economics of manufacturing by reducing labour to a smaller percentage of the cost of manufacture. Products are manufactured locally (thereby reducing transport cost) to the consumer by a network of SME ‘makers’ using this new digital fabrication technology. By using small-scale, local manufacturers we help customers to reduce their carbon footprint but also support their local economies.

Fabbed.com aims to build a global online marketplace for digitally fabricated products, initially focused on furniture and furnishings. We intend to transform the choice available to consumers and provide a viable alternative to mass produced products that dominate the market today. Our vision is to give the consumer access to hundreds of high quality designs by talented designers worldwide for any product category. Moreover, consumers can customise any of these items by choosing materials, finishes and functionality. Fabbed.com leverages a new generation of computer controlled manufacturing technologies, which includes 3D printing and laser cutting. Such new technologies are transforming the economics of manufacturing by reducing labour to a smaller percentage of the cost of manufacture. Another disruptive aspect is that the products are manufactured locally (thereby reducing transport cost) to the consumer by a network of SME ‘makers’ using this new digital fabrication technology. To make Fabbed.com scalable we need to build an innovative technical platform protocol and commercial process that bridges the divide between the software used by designers and the manufacturing equipment/data required by the makers to produce them. The team at Fabbed Limited have extensive prior experience in digital fabrication. They built two websites that have helped to inform and evolve the concept of a global marketplace for digitally fabricated products. - Fabhub.io: This directory website helped us to establish the viability of the fabricator network that lies at the heart of the Fabbed marketplace. - OpenDesk.cc: This site is a proof of concept for the Fabbed.com marketplace and proves demand and commercial viability of selling digitally made, designer wooden furniture online and manufacturing them on demand via a distributed maker network. The Fabbed.com marketplace will ultimately address a wide range of product categories made from many different materials.