3-D Printing: a Non-disrupting Technology for Sales, Distribution, and Logistics

Abstract

Experts forecast that 3D printing was a disruptive technology for conventional supply chains based on mass production, economies of scale, global transportation, and local inventories. However, 3D printing has many limitations in customers supply: Long operational times cause high manufacturing cost. 3D printing is not precise enough for functional surfaces and many parts and products have to be coated, assembled, or post-processed before they can be sold to customers. Spare parts could be ideal applications, but they must have the same abilities as original parts, and spare part business is too important to give away design data for 3D printing. So 3D printing is and will be limited to small volume production with new design options like the bionic design or lightweight design and for customer-configured products.