Selecting parts for additive manufacturing in service logistics

Abstract

Purpose-For more than ten years, the value of additive manufacturing (AM) for after-sales service logistics has been propagated. Today, however, only few applications are observed in practice. In this paper, possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed and a method is developed to simplify the identification of economically valuable and technologically feasible business cases. Design/methodology/approach-The approach is based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and relies on spare part information that is easily retrievable from the company databases. This has two advantages: first, the approach can be customized towards specific company characteristics, and second, a very large number of spare parts may be assessed simultaneously. A field study is discussed in order to demonstrate and validate the approach in practice. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses are performed to evaluate the robustness of the method. Findings-Results provide evidence that the method allows a valid prioritization of a large spare part assortment. Also, sensitivity analyses clarify the robustness of the approach and illustrate the flexibility of applying the method in practice. More than 1000 positive business cases of AM for after-sales service logistics have been identified based on the method. Originality/value-The developed method enables companies to rank spare parts according to their potential value when produced with AM. As a result, companies can evaluate the most promising spare parts first. This increases the effectiveness and efficiency of identifying business cases and thus may support the adoption of AM in after-sales service supply chains.

Assessing the potential of additive manufacturing for the provision of spare parts

“…Upon this initial strategic assessment, further operational assessments that consider a wider range of part‐specific operational and economic factors are needed. As a next step, Knofius, van der Heijden, and Zijm () present a systematic ranking procedure for selecting potential parts for switchover in a spare parts portfolio. As Jarzabkowski and Kaplan () point out, such system level assessments provide useful perspectives for facilitating strategic and operational change in practice.…”

The Perceived Value of Additively Manufactured Digital Spare Parts in the Industry: An Empirical Investigation

“…On the other hand, the relative slow speed of AM referenced as obstacles by [38], [55] were not mentioned often by the participants. File version management and 3D model unavailability were listed by some participants as significant obstacles and similar views were presented by [54]. The potential of losing revenue to piracy was mentioned often in the focus group results although they were only present in two articles in the referenced literature.…”

“…The limited size of possible components due to AM restrictions was indicated as a major obstacle by the participants because a many of their spare parts are too large for current AM build envelopes. Although the possible size of components was considered by [54] in identifying business cases of DSP, it has only been explicitly stated as an obstacle by [9]. The obstacle of insufficient and varying quality of AM components was likewise brought up often by the participants but was only raised as a clear issue by [9], [51].…”

Guest editorial

“…The contribution of the paper is that it includes process, logistics and environmental needs in the selection process of a good additive manufacturing technology and material. Knofius et al (2016) in their paper "Selecting parts for additive manufacturing in service logistics" also focus on a particular niche application: after sales service logistics in high-tech industries. For advanced capital goods, in high-tech industries such as the aerospace industry or healthcare industry, many different spare parts are required during the lifetime of these goods, a life time that typically spans decades.…”

“…This paper, like the previous one, also offers decision support. Knofius et al (2016) describe a model that allows companies that produce and maintain capital goods, to select the type of spare parts for which additive manufacturing represents a viable business case. After sales services is a company function that involves maintenance and repair and as a result of these services parts are required at the customer's site.…”