Fab lab management
From Fab Lab Wiki - by NMÍ Kvikan
Fab Lab management Fab 6
Work in process
Contents
- 1 Fab
- 2 Lab Profile
- 3 Main aspects
- 4 Overhead
- 5 Staff
- 6 Hardware
- 7 Software
- 8 Program development and coordination
- 9 Education and research
- 10 Workshops
- 11 Scheduling
- 12 Documentation and diffusion
- 13 Communication and Networking
- 14 Scheduling
- 15 Insurance / Safety
- 16 What is a Fab Lab?
- 17 How to make the Fab Lab sustainable?
- 18 Open access
Fab
- Academics
- Business
- Community
Lab Profile
- - Stand alone
- - Institutional
- - Community based
Main aspects
- - Infrastructure
- - Human capital - staff
- - Operation equipment
- - Program content
- - Safety (people and equipment)
Overhead
- Payroll
- Building
- Heating
- Cooling
- Electricity
- Rent
- Taxes
- Insurance – property + personal injury
- Finances / book-keeping
- Cleaning
- Telephone
- Internet
- PR
- Materials / Consumables
- Equipment maintenance and repair costs
Staff
- How many people?
- Managers
- Instructors
- Researchers
- Volunteers
- Interns
- Technician
- Maintenance – Cleaning
Personnel training (Initial and on going)
- Peer-to-peer
- Boot camp
- Fab Academy
- Self training
- Other fab labs
Staff profile
- Interpersonal skills
- Charismatic
- Enthusiastic
- Multifunctional
- Technical knowledge
- Previous experience (Computers, electronics, design, entrepreneurship)
- Creative
- Collaborative (ready to help and enjoy it)
- Reliable
- Good sales person
- Good teacher
Hardware
- - Equipment maintenance
- - Inventory
- - Repairing
Software
- - Licensing
- - Open source, free source, commercial
- - Upgrading
- - Cleaning - virus!
- - Backup
- - http://fab.cba.mit.edu/about/fab/
- Server installation, networked computers and machines
- Material management (inventory, ordering - suppliers, reuse, waste, optimization, nesting-efficient use)
- Security
- Scheduling
- Fund raising
Program development and coordination
- - Faculty
- - Content
- - Operative aspects
Education and research
- - Fab Academy
- - Global Bootcamp
- - Fab Lab Network projects
- - Local research and impact projects
- - Support to other programs
- - Open access
Workshops
- - Weekend workshops
- - Two week workshops
- - Boot Camp
- - 30min – 1hr demonstrations
Scheduling
- - Priorities
- - Students
- - Clients
Documentation and diffusion
- - Wiki
- - Web
- - Handbooks
- - Prove effectiveness (Statistics)
Communication and Networking
- - Polycom
- - Web
- - e-mail - skype
- - Collaboration (File sharing, regional - global)
- - GIT and Bazaar
- - VNC
Scheduling
- How to Schedule?
- Eventbrite,
- Calendar
- For different groups
- Google Calendar or Google Spreadsheets
- First come -> first served
- How to handle machine time schedule?
Insurance / Safety
- Safety and insurance for employees, volunteers, users, visitors
- How to handle insurance?
- Liability?
- Machine damage, or people damage
- Enter at your own risk
What is a Fab Lab?
- Global network of people who want to cooperate and share knowledge
- Fab Charter:
How to make the Fab Lab sustainable?
- Fab Education?
- Fab Business?
Ideas of fundraising
- Fab Education?
- Fab Business?
- Funds from government
- Project based funding
- Private companies
- investors
Open access
How it works?
- How to encourage instruction?
- How to handle big groups?
- How to organize and take larger groups to it.
- Based on structure.
- Start on a project, how to train, balance the time, design vs. Producing.
- Teach a class
- Training, good to have cameras and projectors
- Vinyl cutter -> Laser -> Shopbot
