Collective organization and innovation: case of fab Lab – ORCILAB

This project is a 4 years collaborative research project (PRC) meeting four French laboratories (PACT, GEM, G-SCOP, CRTD-CNAM) and a foreign laboratory (DRI Laval university in Quebec) with multidisciplinary skills (ergonomics, management, spatial planning, sociology, industrial engineering).
The international comparison will allow within the framework of a first study (WP2) to characterize the functioning of fablabs, their uses, from the viewpoint of the cultural contexts, from the viewpoint of the collective work and from the viewpoint of the produced innovations. We plan to make interviews (63) with the managers, the users (makers and industrialists) participating in innovative projects that will be identified in the partner fablabs (7).A literature review will complete this study to characterize fablabs in comparison to other solutions able to favour co-produced innovations (collaborative platforms, ideas labs, open source solutions). The second study (WP3) aims at realizing ergonomic observations of the real activities in fablabs (60 days) by analysing identified innovative collective projects.
The analysis of the activity will allow making a diagnosis of the collective forms of work favouring the innovation processes. Then, we will be able in a third study ( WP4) to accompany the design of 3 innovative collective projects (giving some recommendations on a specific organization, on artefact or on intermediate objects) thanks to simulations and experimentations (180 days) and to realize 18 interviews with the users about the results produced.

The results provide new insights into the link between the forms of collaborative organization made possible by fablabs and innovation practices from the point of view of fablab use by users and industrialists. There is a heterogeneity of users and a diversity of fablab organization, with forms of collective work between users and industrialists that are not very elaborate. The organization of fablabs is characterized by three typologies: community fablab, academic fablab and industrial fablab. Interaction between users depends on the organization of the fablab, the availability of equipment and workspace, the nature of the projects, the facilitators and fab managers, and their ability to network. Collaboration between users does not appear to be central to the innovation process, as was intended in these third places. However, fablabs do offer forms of organizational innovation that companies can invest in. On the one hand, users modify the way fablabs operate through their uses, and on the other, the business model is constantly evolving to meet user needs. Fablabs need to better identify the functions on which to act to improve their operation. Fablab users need to develop co-design skills to enable dialogue between them and manufacturers.

This project will better formalised the fablabs uses in favour of the coproduction of innovation, knowledge on the collective activity and the practices related to innovation.

Caroly, S.; Barcellini, F.; Barros, M.; Catel, A.; Zwolinski, P. Different forms of Fab Lab organizations and their impact on collaboration and innovation. Appl. Ergon. 2023.

Catel, A.; Caroly, S. Comment le fablabs d’entreprise produit-il de l’innovation ? Colloque CréPI, Management de la créativité et des pratiques innovantes, Orléans, Mars 2022.

Barcellini, F.; Caroly, S.; Martinaud, M. L.; Mardon, C. Open Source Software and Open Source Hardware Design as Social and Work Change Labs? In International Workshop on Open Design & Open Source Hardware Product Development. March 5 & 6 Grenoble, 2020, 236-246.

Martinaud, M.-L.; Caroly, S.; Barcellini, F.; Mardon, C. Le Fab Lab, nouvelle forme d’organisation de l’innovation : quels enjeux pour l’ergonomie ? In Proceedings of the 53e Congrès de la SELF. L’ergonomie à quelles échelles ? Quelles pratiques pour quelles tailles d’entreprises et d’établissements publics ? Carballeda, G.; Viallesoubranne, T., Eds.; Oct 2018; Bordeaux, France.

This proposal integrates the axe 1: «Human, organization, technologies » for the challenge 3 « stimulates the industry of the future». The project aims at analysing and accompanying innovative collaborative projects in fab labs
More precisely, there is an evolution of the collective practices due to fablabs and we would like to study the corresponding innovations developed in those fablabs that are finally exploited by industrialists. For this, the uses of the fablabs and the interactions between heterogeneous users (makers, students, researchers, professionals, start-ups, TPE / SME, companies) will be analysed. Fablabs offers new forms of coproduction for innovations by giving a workspace, shared equipment, machines and skills within an open space. Based on the «do it yourself» principle, fablabs generate new innovation processes based on use/users. Indeed, in a fablab the user is the one who makes knickknack and takes initiatives. There is no need for a designer who has traditionally to observe a user to try to anticipate its future usage needs. Fablabs provide means to the users to launch their own innovation process and also possibilities to meet and share with other users (researchers, industrialists, civil society).
The objective of the ORCILAB project is to understand the existing links between the existing collective forms of organization in fab labs and the produced innovations (on product, process, method, organization or business). We will focus on fablabs that meet industrialists (companies, professionals, start-ups) and users / markers. The stake is to question the industry of the future by the production of knowledge about industrial innovations arisen from fablabs.
This project is a 4 years collaborative research project (PRC) meeting four French laboratories (PACT, GEM, G-SCOP, CRTD-CNAM) and a foreign laboratory (DRI Laval university in Quebec) with multidisciplinary skills (ergonomics, management, spatial planning, sociology, industrial engineering).
The international comparison will allow within the framework of a first study (WP2) to characterize the functioning of fablabs, their uses, from the viewpoint of the cultural contexts, from the viewpoint of the collective work and from the viewpoint of the produced innovations. We plan to make interviews (63) with the managers, the users (makers and industrialists) participating in innovative projects that will be identified in the partner fablabs (7).A literature review will complete this study to characterize fablabs in comparison to other solutions able to favour co-produced innovations (collaborative platforms, ideas labs, open source solutions). The second study (WP3) aims at realizing ergonomic observations of the real activities in fablabs (60 days) by analysing identified innovative collective projects.
The analysis of the activity will allow making a diagnosis of the collective forms of work favouring the innovation processes. Then, we will be able in a third study ( WP4) to accompany the design of 3 innovative collective projects (giving some recommendations on a specific organization, on artefact or on intermediate objects) thanks to simulations and experimentations (180 days) and to realize 18 interviews with the users about the results produced.
This project will better formalised the fablabs uses in favour of the coproduction of innovation, knowledge on the collective activity and the practices related to innovation. Several publications in national and international congresses and papers are planned, as well as a workshop with companies and fablabs to provide them good practices (WP1).