How a Small Distillery is Rethinking Manufacturing Industry City Distillery's small-scale vodka starts with a well-designed manufacturing process.

With the growing consumer focus on localism, craftsmanship and sustainability, small-scale manufacturing is having a renaissance. Increasingly, small companies that create goods in limited runs are weaving their design philosophies throughout the entire production process--even inventing their own manufacturing equipment.

Such is the case at Industry City Distillery (ICD), started in 2011 by five twentysomethings who operate out of a 12,000-square-foot Brooklyn warehouse. Not content with simply creating a better vodka, the team has built its own distillery, putting its signature brand of form and function into every element, down to the custom-built glass continuous fermentation system (as opposed to the commonly used stainless-steel tanks).