Entrepreneurship and digital fabrication: a new industrial revolution?

Even if in a traditional perspective the discovery and the exploitation of opportunities are related to entrepreneur capabilities, an external perspective is required to better analyze the phenomenon. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the new managerial approach that can be adopted in the process of discovery and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. With reference to this process, the paper analyzes the new role of FabLab in digital fabrication development. The birth of digitalization of manufacturing – or digital fabrication – has started decades ago with the progressive adoption of Computer Numerical Control machines and other computer-controlled manufacturing systems. The innovation trend has significantly accelerated over the past few years, in particular because of the advent of 3D printing technologies. The paper applied a qualitative method (Dubois and Araujo, 2004) and a case study approach (Barrat et al., 2011) focused on a FabLab located in Lombardy Region. As depicted in the findings, the entrepreneurial opportunities are discovered and exploited through interconnected relationships that outline the Digital Fabrication Network. The discovery and the exploitation of opportunity are influenced by jointness of actors and their co-evolution.