allopoiesis

the process whereby an organization produces something other than the organization itself. An assembly line is an example of an allopoietic system. See autopoiesis. (Francisco Varela)

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The process of producing material entities other than those required for producing them. Most industrial production processes are allopoietic: An assembly line may produce cars but not the machines used in this form of production. Even reproduction in biology is allopoietic because the offsprings are materially distinct from the parent organism and occupy different spaces. Reproduction is not self-production. The primary value of the concept of allopoiesis is that it contrasts with autopoiesis. (Krippendorff )