Have you ever wondered where common consumer electronic gadgets come from? Or maybe you have an idea for a product, and you want to learn how to engage with the necessary factories to turn your idea into reality?
In late 2017, Australian film-maker Karl von Moller travelled to China with Freetronics founder Jonathan Oxer and a small group of engineers as part of the HardworX Shenzhen Innovation Tour.
The group visited the global centre of the electronics manufacturing industry: Shenzhen, China. Tour organiser Vela Georgiev lead the group on a 10 day in-depth tour of factories, local hackerspaces, and the famous Huaqiangbei electronics markets.
The tour included the LiFX production line, Maker Faire Shenzhen, SEEED studios, PCB assembly production lines, several plastics fabrication factories, the HAX incubator, and one of the most automated production lines in the world: Hytera EMS.
Karl has now edited the many hours of footage of the trip into a documentary, and released it in 18 chapters. You can start at the beginning and follow through the entire trip, or jump around and check out the parts that interest you.
Either way, Karl has produced an amazing resource that will help provide a roadmap for anyone who wants to learn about taking a product from concept to mass production.
1: The Makers road to Shenzhen
2: The tour begins and the Makers Faire
3: MAKE
4: The Factory Tours of Shenzhen - Defond
5: The Electronics Markets of Shenzhen
6: Factory Tours of Shenzhen - Jiafuh Metal & Plastics
7: The Factory Tours of Shenzhen - HLH Prototypes
8: LiFX - The Beginning
9: The LiFX Production Line
10: The Factory Tours of Shenzhen - Kaier Wo
11: The Factory Tours of Shenzhen - SEEED Studios
12: The xFactory
13: Incubators and the Role of Government
14: Hardware Accelerators
15: The Factory Tours of Shenzhen - Hytera EMS
16: Artificial Intelligence & Automation
17: The Factory Tours of Shenzhen - HYX Gears and ITEAD Studios
18: The Shenzhen Innovation Tour 2017 Wraps Up
What did you think of the tour? Discuss it in the forum.
Comments
Jump to comment formHari Wiguna said:
Jonathan et al,
Thank you for taking us on your Shenzen journey!
Do you have any pointers for someone in the USA who’s interested in visiting Shenzen? Is there the equivalent of Vela Georgiev to guide me and my co-workers to visit Shenzen for parts and manufacturing relationships?