09-12, 09:40–10:30 (Europe/Berlin), Main KiCon Presentation Space
Eilbek Research founders Alexander Willer and Augustin Bielefeld share the results of more than one year of work setting up an electronics production business in Germany. They will discuss what it takes to bring manufacturing back to Europe, and the role of KiCAD and open-source technology in this endeavor.
Our work is based on our belief that accessible high-mix/low-volume manufacturing of electronics in Europe is economically viable and depends on small innovative companies.
By using open-source hardware and software wherever possible, we strive to solve this challenge in a way that allows us to share the solutions and collectively reclaim ownership of the means of production. Our talk will cover various elements of this concept, including:
- The economics of in-house PCB assembly, soldering and testing
- Managing design data and component inventory using KiCAD and InvenTree
- Handling the boring part: compliance, accounting, etc.
- Common pitfalls that creators encounter when trying to produce and sell their PCB projects
We will show case examples of how by building our own custom tools, we can gear our entire business towards high-mix/low-volume that enable unique production capabilities.
To learn more about Eilbek Research and our mission, read here: https://eilbek-research.de/
Managing Director at Eilbek Research GmbH
Principal Engineer at Eilbek Research GmbH