Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic analysis about the effects of additive manufacturing (AM) technology adoption on supply chain management (SCM) processes and SCM components in an engineer-to-order environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on two explorative case studies from the hearing systems industry, the impact of AM technology adoption on SCM processes and SCM components is investigated. General systems theory and the contingency approach serve as theoretical underpinning.
Findings
Not only the internal processes and management activities, e.g. in manufacturing and order fulfillment, of producers are affected by a changeover to AM, but also the SCM processes and components relating to the supply and demand side of a firm’s supply chain. Endogenous and AM technology-related factors are contingency factors that help to explain differing effects of AM technology adoption on SCM processes and SCM components.
Research limitations/implications
It is proposed that AM’s ability to economically build custom products provides the potential to alleviate the common dilemma between product variety and scale economies.
Practical implications
Manufacturing firms are encouraged to consider the potential effects of AM on SCM processes and SCM components when deciding whether to adopt AM technologies in the production of industrial parts.
Originality/value
The research adds to the widely unexplored effects that AM technology usage in customized parts production has on SCM processes and components. Moreover, the general lack of case studies analyzing the implications of AM technology adoption from a supply chain perspective is addressed. The resulting propositions may serve as a starting point for further research on the impact of AM in engineer-to-order supply chains.
Despite experiencing immense growth in the past decade, additive manufacturing (AM) technologies-colloquially known as 3D-printing-are still rarely used in industrial fabrication. Being at the interface between technology, innovation, behavioral science and operations management research, this paper identifies multifaceted factors that determine the decision to adopt AM technologies for the production of industrial parts. A review of the relevant literature revealed eight potential factors. These can be classified into four interdisciplinary categories: technology-related factors, firm-related-factors, market structure-related factors, and supply chain-related factors. Special focus is placed on the impact of supply chainrelated issues, because there are indicatives that these aspects have an influence on the decision to adopt AM technologies since AM may offer distinct opportunities for both, the supply-and demand-side of a firm's operations. No work in the field of manufacturing technology adoption has examined the role of such inter-organizational factors before. The results of an empirical study among 195 firms indicate that demand-side benefits and compatibility are the main determinants of AM technology adoption. This suggests that not only intra-but also inter-organizational factors should be considered when investigating the adoption of technological innovations. Furthermore, it is carved out that the adoption of AM technologies has an interdisciplinary nature.This paper is an extension of Oettmeier and Hofmann (2015).
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