“No,” he said. “I am a factory.”

That was how factory owners said it—wo shi gongchang. They did not run a factory or own a factory. They were the factory.

-- Paul Midler, Poorly Made in China

Way back in the day, it was all atoms. Maybe you were a carpenter, or a blacksmith. Later, much later, it was bits. You toiled at a word processor, or a spreadsheet. You wrote in Python.

These days -- for the factory -- it's not either atoms or bits, but rather a combination of atoms and bits. Studying the market. Designing, then making the best products. Sourcing the best materials. Providing the best pricing. Working with the best people, internally and externally. Promoting. Marketing. Packaging. Advertising. Stocking. Shipping. And refining, always refining.

iamafactory.com is the website for factories.

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