3D printing the future: scenarios for supply chains reviewed

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.*Related content and download information correct at time of download. Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the existing scenarios for 3D printing (3DP) in order to identify the "white space" where future opportunities have not been proposed or developed to date. Based around aspects of order penetration points, geographical scope and type of manufacturing, these gaps are identified. Design/methodology/approach -A structured literature review has been carried out on both academic and trade publications. As of the end of May 2016, this identified 128 relevant articles containing 201 future scenarios. Coding these against aspects of existing manufacturing and supply chain theory has led to the development of a framework to identify "white space" in the existing thinking. Findings -The coding shows that existing future scenarios are particularly concentrated on job shop applications and pull-based supply chain processes, although there are fewer constraints on geographical scope. Five distinct areas of "white space" are proposed, reflecting various opportunities for future 3DP supply chain development. Research limitations/implications -Being a structured literature review, there are potentially articles not identified through the search criteria used. The nature of the findings is also dependent upon the coding criteria selected. However, these are theoretically derived and reflect important aspect of strategic supply chain management. Practical implications -Practitioners may wish to explore the development of business models within the "white space" areas. Originality/value -Currently, existing future 3DP scenarios are scattered over a wide, multi-disciplinary literature base. By providing a consolidated view of these scenarios, it is possible to identify gaps in current thinking. These gaps are multi-disciplinary in nature and represent opportunities for both academics and practitioners to exploit.

Economies of collaboration in build‐to‐model operations

“…Outsourcing research in 3DP is limited, and has typically investigated the potential advantages of in-house versus outsourced manufacturing (e.g., Baumers, Dickens, Tuck, & Hague, 2016;Eyers & Potter, 2015;Ruffo, Tuck, & Hague, 2007). Little has been done to understand outsourcing relationships in 3DP, though existing research has focused on episodic capacity sharing to either satisfy an immediate demand (e.g., Lan, Ding, Hong, Huang, & Lu, 2008), to provide localized contact manufacturing facilities (e.g., Ryan, Eyers, Potter, Purvis, & Gosling, 2017), or to enable on-line manufacturing platforms (d 'Aveni, 2015;Eyers & Potter, 2015). However, from practice, we observe larger companies engaging in 3DP joint ventures (e.g., BASF, Boeing), suggesting the 3DP industry is outpacing research.…”

3D Printing of Highly Pure Copper

“…During the last decades, 3D printing of metallic parts directly from 3D computer-aided design (CAD) models has drawn significant attention from both academia and industry [1][2][3][4][5][6]. One of the important advantages of 3D printing is the higher design freedom compared to conventional fabrication technologies [7][8][9][10]. In fact, complex 3D parts such as components with many internal structures or cellular parts can be fabricated by 3D printing without considering specific design rules.…”

Additive Manufacturing: A Game Changer in Supply Chain Design

“…Moore et al [68] have described on-demand AM of coronary stents in operating room-potentially reducing the supply chain lead-time. Finally, Ryan et al [69] have described mobile AM for spare parts production in difficult to reach locations and for the construction industry.…”

“…In difficult-to-reach locations, due to factors related to poor infrastructure, geography, danger, customs, or bribery [14,21,22,62,69], manufacturing interruption may be expensive or late delivery may have negative consequences [88]. AM may enable local and on-demand AM of e.g., spare parts, which allows the bypassing of e.g., customs and transportation.…”