Reframing advanced manufacturing ontologies through an exploration of ductus

Ontologies of manufacturing and making have received closer attention in recent years thanks to a renewed interest in materiality and questions of formemergence and form perception. This work argues that the hylomorphic ontologies dominant within advanced manufacturing can be challenged through the introduction of a "ductus" concept which relates to the traces left by unique material interactions and energy transferences as artefacts are fabricated. Drawing on multiple strands of scholarship, this paper develops a new ontological model integrating material-process relationships and end user experiences with the ductus of the making process at its core. This model is illustrated and elucidated, and the implications for design and manufacturing practitioners are discussed.