Making.com Aims to Open Up Production Technology and Know-How to Anyone

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — Launching out of stealth mode, Making.com is an online platform that aims to simplify the connection between people looking for production technology and suppliers that offer it. The platform groups technologies around the products they help make, allowing creators of all sizes access to the "hidden network" of machines, manufacturers, tooling suppliers and, therefore, the knowledge previously accessible only through long-established private networks, the site said.

Counting on the founders’ expertise of 60 years, combined with suppliers from 20 countries on three continents, Making.com collects and democratizes knowledge of processes and specialized systems, explaining the how and why, as well as connecting the who and what. It's goal is to simplify contact between makers — people interested in investing in technology or a new process — to specialized companies with knowledge of the industrial steps such as extraction, filling, sterilizing, separating and packing, to name a few. More than 300 products are already listed on Making.com at launch.

“We believe we need to celebrate the makers," Jorrit Aafjes, the CEO and founder of Making.com, said. "The know-how and efforts they put into building and improving the products we use on a daily basis are underestimated. At the same time we have a significant and immediate need, as mankind, to rethink how we make things. People must have access to new technologies that can quickly help shape better products. At Making.com, we gather these technologies around the products that they can help make, and invite all makers to contribute with their expertise and experience.”

As the world re-emerges and searches for solutions to kickstart economies and deal with the climate crisis, manufacturing could be a key-focus area. For example, in the United States alone, manufacturing accounts for 8% of the workforce, 11% of the country’s gross domestic product, 20% of capital stock, 35% of productivity growth, 55% of patents, 60% of exports and 70% of research and development investment, according to the report on U.S. manufacturing from McKinsey Global Institute in 2021.