The Revolution In A Box

Manufacturing meets the Internet in a new technology that could make factories obsolete

Next time you have to wait six weeks for the kitchen door or lawn furniture you ordered, think of Gene Kirila. He would have you order your custom whatever at a store register, then direct you to drive around back, where--Presto! Out it would pop from a portable minifactory.

Kirila has devised a system that will make almost any product, anywhere, anytime. Well, at least anything that can be molded--which is just about everything we touch these days. Kirila's Virtual Engineered Composites (VEC) process is a factory in a box. The box can be as small as a mop basin or...

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