i3 - September/October 2016 - 8

Tech

By Cindy Loffler Stevens

I N N OVATO R: LO CA L M OTO RS' JAY RO G E RS

The World is Full of
Tech Companies that
are Nothing like Us

soon, the Olli (an autonomous bus with
cognitive computing).
Local Motors launched its first
3D-printed car, called The Strati, at
the 2014 International Manufacturing
Technology Show in Chicago. The company
has micro-factories in Phoenix, Knoxville
and Berlin, lab space in Las Vegas, and
opened a new facility at National Harbor in
Washington, D.C. last year.
Leading this effort, Rogers has an
impressive background. He earned an
undergraduate degree from Princeton.
He joined the Marine Corps where he was
stationed in Iraq and then later earned an
M.B.A. from Harvard. He recently spoke
with i3 about the company.

Can you explain the co-creation
business model?

Central to Local Motors' business
model is a "co-creation" vision in which
engineers, designers and car buffs work
together on innovative vehicle ideas and
designs. By combining co-creation, technology and local micro-manufacturing,
the company is building groundbreaking
vehicles and bringing them to market at
extraordinary speed.
Local Motors uses design competitions
to encourage entries from designers and
engineers worldwide and then solicits
votes so the development of the car
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016

involves the community. Rogers envisions
a national network of micro-factories
that employ local workers who can customize products for individual markets.
Manufacturing locally also reduces pollution and saves energy and costs.
The outcome of this co-creation
is a portfolio of vehicles including The
Rally Fighter (a race car), The Racer
(a tech-savvy motorcycle), The Cruiser
(a motorized bicycle), The Verrado
(an electric drift trike) and the first
fleet of 3D-printed cars. And coming

How do you define innovation?
That is a good question. We use advanced
manufacturing and we are 'open' internationally but things do not always
mean the same in different languages,
for example, research and development
or research and testing. Innovation to
me is thinking in a fresh and potentially
new or reconfigured way. It is not being
disruptive just for the sake of disrupting.
But if you are innovative, you will likely
be disruptive. They are related. It is
changing the game whether you are
small, big or an NGO.
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

PHOTOGRAPH BY JASON DIXSON

C

o-Founder and CEO of Local Motors, Jay Rogers,
set out to build a game-changing car company.
Today, Local Motors is transforming the automotive
industry. The company designs, builds and sells
vehicles, specializes in 3D printed vehicles and is shaping the
future of local manufacturing.

How do we get ideas? Jeff Howe talked
about the power of co-creation in his
book. It is a management strategy
that brings different parties together
to jointly produce a valued outcome.
Co-created value arises in the form
of personalized, unique experiences
for customers. We are doing this in
two ways. The first is digital micromanufacturing. The second is the pace
of commercial ideas. From conception to
finished product, new cars typically take
five to six years to roll off the manufacturing line. It takes Local Motors just a
few months to go from idea to market.
This allows us to incorporate the most
cutting-edge technology in vehicles. By
the time a traditional vehicle hits the
market, its tech and safety features are
already five years old.
http://localmotors.com http://localmotors.com
i3 - September/October 2016

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