The Impact of Additive Manufacturing on the Flexibility of a Manufacturing Supply Chain
There is an increasing need for supply chains that can rapidly respond to fluctuating demands and can provide customised products. This supply chain design requires the development of flexibility as a critical capability. To this end, firms are considering Additive Manufacturing (AM) as one strategi...
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doaj-660260068ebf45099d154457a090ec962021-04-20T23:02:33ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-04-01113707370710.3390/app11083707The Impact of Additive Manufacturing on the Flexibility of a Manufacturing Supply ChainAgeel Abdulaziz Alogla0Martin Baumers1Christopher Tuck2Waiel Elmadih3Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UKFaculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UKFaculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UKFaculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UKThere is an increasing need for supply chains that can rapidly respond to fluctuating demands and can provide customised products. This supply chain design requires the development of flexibility as a critical capability. To this end, firms are considering Additive Manufacturing (AM) as one strategic option that could enable such a capability. This paper develops a conceptual model that maps AM characteristics relevant to flexibility against key market disruption scenarios. Following the development of this model, a case study is undertaken to indicate the impact of adopting AM on supply chain flexibility from four major flexibility-related aspects: volume, mix, delivery, and new product introduction. An inter-process comparison is implemented in this case study using data collected from a manufacturing company that produces pipe fittings using Injection Moulding (IM). The supply chain employing IM in this case study shows greater volume and delivery flexibility levels (i.e., 65.68% and 92.8% for IM compared to 58.70% and 75.35% for AM, respectively) while the AM supply chain shows greater mix and new product introduction flexibility, indicated by the lower changeover time and cost of new product introduction to the system (i.e., 0.33 h and €0 for AM compared to 4.91 h and €30,000 for IM, respectively). This work will allow decision-makers to take timely decisions by providing useful information on the effect of AM adoption on supply chain flexibility in different sudden disruption scenarios such as demand uncertainty, demand variability, lead-time compression and product variety.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/8/3707additive manufacturing3D printingmanufacturing flexibilitysupply chain managementinjection mouldingsmart factory |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Ageel Abdulaziz Alogla Martin Baumers Christopher Tuck Waiel Elmadih |
spellingShingle |
Ageel Abdulaziz Alogla Martin Baumers Christopher Tuck Waiel Elmadih The Impact of Additive Manufacturing on the Flexibility of a Manufacturing Supply Chain Applied Sciences additive manufacturing 3D printing manufacturing flexibility supply chain management injection moulding smart factory |
author_facet |
Ageel Abdulaziz Alogla Martin Baumers Christopher Tuck Waiel Elmadih |
author_sort |
Ageel Abdulaziz Alogla |
title |
The Impact of Additive Manufacturing on the Flexibility of a Manufacturing Supply Chain |
title_short |
The Impact of Additive Manufacturing on the Flexibility of a Manufacturing Supply Chain |
title_full |
The Impact of Additive Manufacturing on the Flexibility of a Manufacturing Supply Chain |
title_fullStr |
The Impact of Additive Manufacturing on the Flexibility of a Manufacturing Supply Chain |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Impact of Additive Manufacturing on the Flexibility of a Manufacturing Supply Chain |
title_sort |
impact of additive manufacturing on the flexibility of a manufacturing supply chain |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Applied Sciences |
issn |
2076-3417 |
publishDate |
2021-04-01 |
description |
There is an increasing need for supply chains that can rapidly respond to fluctuating demands and can provide customised products. This supply chain design requires the development of flexibility as a critical capability. To this end, firms are considering Additive Manufacturing (AM) as one strategic option that could enable such a capability. This paper develops a conceptual model that maps AM characteristics relevant to flexibility against key market disruption scenarios. Following the development of this model, a case study is undertaken to indicate the impact of adopting AM on supply chain flexibility from four major flexibility-related aspects: volume, mix, delivery, and new product introduction. An inter-process comparison is implemented in this case study using data collected from a manufacturing company that produces pipe fittings using Injection Moulding (IM). The supply chain employing IM in this case study shows greater volume and delivery flexibility levels (i.e., 65.68% and 92.8% for IM compared to 58.70% and 75.35% for AM, respectively) while the AM supply chain shows greater mix and new product introduction flexibility, indicated by the lower changeover time and cost of new product introduction to the system (i.e., 0.33 h and €0 for AM compared to 4.91 h and €30,000 for IM, respectively). This work will allow decision-makers to take timely decisions by providing useful information on the effect of AM adoption on supply chain flexibility in different sudden disruption scenarios such as demand uncertainty, demand variability, lead-time compression and product variety. |
topic |
additive manufacturing 3D printing manufacturing flexibility supply chain management injection moulding smart factory |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/8/3707 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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