How robotics could upend the US manufacturing industry

"It's going to be a miracle to catch up if you want to replicate what they have,"

"It's just not the right chess move. We need to try to see if we can leapfrog and then do the next generation."

"We're almost rethinking a lot of the manufacturing processes from scratch. If you go to our factory, things are being built in a way that you cannot see in any other place."

Machina Labs advances a distributed, flexible approach to robotics-enabled manufacturing as an alternative to replicating centralized factories. The company emphasizes portability and reconfigurable robots that switch between operations, reducing retooling time and eliminating the need for product-specific factory designs. The approach targets complex metal structures for defense, aerospace, and automotive markets where immediate cost or efficiency gains are required. The robotics industry remains early-stage and crowded, with major players pursuing automation and incremental breakthroughs expected in roughly five years. Competitors may offer portability or flexibility, but Machina Labs focuses on combining both while rethinking manufacturing processes from scratch.

Read at Business Insider