Kijenzi - Manufacturing for the next frontier
THE QUESTION
How might we create a network of localised distributed manufacturing hubs?
LOCATION: Kenya
SECTOR: Humanitarian Aid
TECH: 3D Printing
TIMELINE: June 2020 - April 2022
PIONEERS: Rasmos Ndubi, Andrew Gartside
PARTNER: Kijenzi
The Challenge
In 2020 Kenya faced the same challenge as the rest of the world: a wide-scale disruption and ‘shock’ of supply chains in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Understandably, major cities and countries with manufacturing capabilities supplied their own needs first, leaving countries with limited manufacturing capacity at risk. There is a need to localise manufacturing so countries aren’t excluded when the global supply chains are disrupted. Traditional manufacturing practices are often expensive, slow and unresponsive to local needs.
The Idea
Digitally manufactured products can be produced with less cost, time and labour compared to the traditional supply chain. This pilot partnered with Kijenzi, an established digital manufacturing company in Kenya, to engineer solutions to meet the needs of institutions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this pilot is to use the knowledge and rapid success of Kijenzi to develop a replicable model that will be used to create sustainable manufacturing hubs that can be “dropped” where they are needed and people can be trained for this new manufacturing economy.
All photos on this page were taken by the pilot’s implementing partner, Kijenzi. This pilot is ongoing and key learnings are forthcoming. Stay tuned!
Read more
Read about the pilot’s first sprint — The continuing story of Kijenzi
Learn about Kijenzi’s collaboration with ERPNext — “Crusing and Pumping Out Hands”
Read about Kijenzi’s current progress — “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon”
Read the full pilot report with learnings at their finish line.