"The other advantage is that in conventional manufacturing processes, it takes a long time for a factory to produce an amount of product equal to its own weight. With molecular machines, the time required would be something more like a minute"

This quote by K. Eric Drexler is describing the benefits of molecular machines over traditional manufacturing procedures. Molecular makers are makers that are comprised of molecules and atoms, and are much smaller sized than standard makers. The quote suggests that a person of the advantages of molecular makers is that they can produce a large amount of product in a much shorter amount of time than conventional manufacturing processes. For instance, it would take a factory a very long time to produce an amount of product equivalent to its own weight, however with molecular machines, it would only take a minute. This suggests that molecular devices are far more effective than conventional production processes. In addition, molecular devices are much smaller sized than conventional devices, which suggests they can be used in a range of applications where space is restricted. This makes them a terrific option for numerous industries.