Leave a Nest-style "manufacturing literacy" necessary for social implementation

This note is for researchers and venture companies who are having trouble with prototyping, mock-up products, PoC, mass production, and going beyond lab scale. As R&D-oriented venture companies aim to implement their technologies in society, they need to have knowledge of manufacturing. However, for many people, manufacturing is an unknown field. In this article, I will introduce the knowledge needed to advance social implementation, one step at a time.

Hello!
My name is Cho. I am the Director of the Monozukuri Research Institut at Leave a Nest.In recent years, there has been a growing movement to implement technologies developed based on research results from universities and other institutions into society. The term "deep tech" has also become well-known.

What is Deep Tech?

Deep Tech is a cluster of science and technology to solve deep-rooted issues (= We call these 'deep issues'.) in society. It is not a single technology owned by a single company, but is characterized by the appropriate combination of technologies from multiple companies.
Deep Tech: The Sleeping Technology That Will Open Up the Future of the World, by Yukihiro Maru and Kazuhiro Ohara, Nikkei BP, 2019.

ディープテック 世界の未来を切り拓く「眠れる技術」

In 2013, Leave a Nest started an initiative called TECH PLANTER to support researchers in Japan and around the world in their social implementation.
In the process, a number of startups aiming to solve deep issues have been born, and we have been supporting them.

There is one thing that I feel strongly about when I support startups. Implementing research and technology into society and creating something innovative is a wonderful and rewarding experience. But on the other hand, actually doing it is very tough.

For example, in a research and development venture company, it is necessary to brush up the technology while accomplishing many things in parallel, such as legal affairs, finance, and company management.

In fact, you don't have to do all of this by yourself to be perfect.In fact, you don't have to do all of this by yourself, because an ecosystem of professionals is there to help you.

Examples of professionals include lawyers, tax accountants, and other professionals, as well as companies with expertise in manufacturing such as town factories.

However, for manufacturing, there is not much information available on how to proceed and how to utilize professionals.

Knowledge about manufacturing, for example, includes planning and design, procurement of materials, processing, assembly, and software development, all of which are extensive and very deep once you start learning.

Ventures with no experience in manufacturing are very troubled and talk about the following

・I don't know the whole story. Therefore, I don't know what to do first.
・I don't know what kind of professionals are out there.
・I don't know how to meet professionals.
・I don't know the difference between cases where I can use the help of a professional and cases where I can't.

In reality, manufacturing requires tips, know-how, and toughness. However, manufacturing in cooperation with professionals is not so advanced that only selected people can do it.Therefore, in this note, we will provide information that will help R&D ventures to tackle "manufacturing".

＜About the author＞
Director, Manufacturing Research Institute, Leave a Nest Corporation. Joined Leave a Nest Corporation in 2016. I provide manufacturing support for various domestic and international ventures from conceptual design and prototyping to mass production.
I am also organizing and disseminating knowledge about manufacturing in order to accelerate the social implementation of venture technologies.