Systematic review of sourcing and 3D printing: make-or-buy decisions in industrial buyer–supplier relationships

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) is regarded as a technology that has transformative and disruptive potential in nearly all industries. However, AM is not only about new production equipment and processes. Given the decreasing degree of vertical integration in many companies, suppliers add significant value to the finished product. AM might lead to the redesign of production networks, including a scenario in which the buyer uses AM to produce parts with data provided by suppliers. Overall, AM could have a major impact on the ways in which buyers and suppliers collaborate in the future. Nevertheless, research on AM in the field of industrial procurement remains scarce. This is surprising, given that AM is not only changing traditional procurement categories and creating new ones (comprising printers, powder raw materials, data and the associated engineering services) but AM’s widely discussed potential for decentralisation might also restructure the logistical aspects (transport, stocks) of supply chains. In addition, AM may resurrect the old procurement question of ‘make or buy’. Current research focuses on the logistical aspects of AM and concerns such issues of decentralisation (such as the diminishing need for transportation and the design of transport networks). In contrast, this research addresses the question of whether AM demands new answers to strategic sourcing questions. For this purpose, academic journal literature concerning procurement and AM search strings is reviewed. Selected articles are analysed using a fine-grained analytical framework of procurement strategies. The findings show that existing research lacks theoretical approaches and a systematic view of the topic. Specifically, the analysis reveals a number of distinct knowledge gaps, which present several potential directions for future research.

Covid-19 attacks the body of purchasing and supply management: A medical check of the immune system

“…Surprisingly, we only saw these decision support instruments, while additive manufacturing was not discussed. Additive manufacturing has the potential to reduce the risk impact in cases of supply disruptions ( Meyer et al, 2020 ; Boer et al, 2020 ), which was not discussed in the sampled articles. Thus, technical discussion on disruption management could be expanded.…”

Learning from supply disruptions caused by SARS-CoV-2: use of additive manufacturing as a resilient response for public procurement

“…As AM requires no tools and allows decentralized/local manufacturing (Khajavi et al, 2014), resupply times (Huang et al, 2013) and transportation risks could be decreased significantly because the transportation in the supply system becomes the main threat for availability during disasters (Drabkin and Thai, 2007). Therefore, procurement organizations might actively use sourcing via AM as an instrument for mitigating the risks of traditional supply sources (Meyer et al, 2020b). Alternatively, sourcing large quantities with AM becomes costly, as economies of scale cannot be reached (Baldinger, 2016).…”

“…Additionally, Kietzmann et al (2015) mentioned the potential threat due to AM, as virtual drawing data for weapons could easily be shared and reproduced. In the following, the sourcing configurations of public procurement organizations used to mitigate bottleneck items by increasing supply chain resilience and robustness during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic are analyzed through case study research to contribute to the lack of research regarding AM and procurement (Meyer et al, 2020b).…”

“…Even the European Commission placed a call for urgent help to produce masks, ventilators and other items (European Comission, 2020). The AM raw material (filament, powder) represents a storable and often exchangeable commodity from which distinctive products can be manufactured (Meyer et al, 2020b), and represents a different supply chain, which creates no bottleneck situation during the pandemic. AM is a relatively new technology.…”

“…Second, this research provides insights into how public procurement uses AM technology. This is relevant because empirical research on AM in the field of procurement is still scarce (Meyer et al, 2020b) and, in particular, AM is hardly regarded in the context of public procurement. No publication in the Journal of Public Procurement has mentioned this technology yet.…”