Mojtaba Khorram Niaki

Additive manufacturing management: a review and future research agenda

Based on the phenomenal changes that additive manufacturing (AM) has brought to industries and markets, managerial approaches should be re-examined and developed to take advantage of emerging opportunities. This revolutionary technology is dramatically changing business and innovation models, shrinking supply chains and altering the global economy. For example, 3D printing shifts production locations closer to customers and leads to free-form product design as well as sustainable manufacturing. Several studies have been conducted on AM technology, but the research stream on AM management is still developing, with studies dispersed in journals across different research areas. Our study presents both systematic and quantitative analyses of the literature, including co-citation analysis, factor analysis and multidimensional scaling, to explore the structure of the AM research domains in the scope of management, business and economics. We found eight main research streams: AM technology selection, supply chain, product design and production cost models, environmental aspects, strategic challenges, manufacturing systems, open-source innovation and business models and economics. Finally, based on the results of our in-depth analysis of the literature, we found nine promising future research directions.

Impact of additive manufacturing on business competitiveness: a multiple case study

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the impacts of additive manufacturing (AM) in manufacturing, business strategies and business performance and to determine the contingent factors driving performance. Accordingly, this study also clarifies the relationship between these impacts and company and product characteristics. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted an exploratory study using multiple case research methodology, sampling 16 heterogeneous companies based on the theoretical replication approach. The potential impacts of AM were identified by reviewing the previous literature. For the driving factors, the paper follows the literature on AM, as well as the theories arisen from technology management literature. The qualitative information was collected by means of semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis to measure the effectiveness of AM in these aspects. Findings The paper derives and provides empirical insights regarding how this technology affects the industry. This study reveals how the implementation of AM in the Rapid Manufacturing (RM) of products made of metal has boosted productivity. These findings also demonstrate an increasing competitiveness of the early adopter SMEs using RM. Research limitations/implications This empirical research has been conducted by means of qualitative data. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the propositions by quantitative measures. Practical implications The paper provides insights for the adaption of AM and its impacts on business strategies and performance. Originality/value This paper contributes to expanding the literature by depicting explicit links between the implementation of this revolutionary technology and business strategies and performance.

Food production in batch manufacturing systems with multiple shared-common resources: a scheduling model and its application in the yoghurt industry

The industry-specific characteristics of food-processing make production scheduling a hard and complex issue. Food processing has involved relatively minor concerns in several scheduling researches. In this paper, the authors address the integrated lot sizing and scheduling problem in batch production systems and propose a new mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation with multiple objective functions. The considered production system contains semi-continuous flow lines with series-parallel machines fed by parallel shared common resources. The model has been numerically and empirically validated using six weekly demand plan of a dairy company. The results demonstrate that both the operational cost and total completion time has been optimised.

The Value for Operations

Three fundamental processes in manufacturing organizations are new product development, manufacturing (processing of materials) and logistics (material handling). Nevertheless, the effects of the introduction of AM technologies exist outside the company boundaries and influence the whole of the supply chain. This chapter begins by discussing the value for the new product development process, and goes on to explain the new design methodology for AM technologies and the exclusive benefits that AM brings to the design process.

Industries and Applications

This chapter provides details of AM application sectors. It starts with the status of the technology in the global economic market and goes on to discuss three leading application sectors, namely the healthcare, automotive and aerospace industries as well as applications relating to consumer goods. Empirical evidence and the status of AM implementation in these industries is thoroughly described. It also outlines the main advantages to each industry of adopting AM technologies. The chapter discusses other application sectors as well, including building and architecture, food, and pharmaceutical industries along with applications for education and research institutes.

What Is Additive Manufacturing? Additive Systems, Processes and Materials

This chapter introduces the current status of additive technologies. It initially discusses various terminologies used by researchers and practitioners to define this emerging technology, in order to reach the most appropriate phrase.

The Value for Business and Operations Strategy

This chapter begins with a discussion of the value of AM for business strategies, and describes the impacts it has on a firm’s competitiveness. It then shows how AM can drive creativity and innovation, and the nature of the innovation that may occur thanks to AM. Then, the capability of the technology to offer new online services is explained.

Strategic Alignment of Additive Manufacturing

Previous chapters underlined the value of AM to industry, business and operation strategies, and manufacturing and operations. Regarding the general impacts, our survey results (illustrated in the exhibits) identify and confirm the positive impacts on time, cost, quality, environment and business flexibility performance. It is not feasible to identify a specific factor common to all circumstances, or to generalize all the factors to a specific circumstance. The chapter proposes a framework containing some of the building blocks necessary for the strategic alignment of a company’s business model with the adoption of AM. It discusses business and operations strategies for introducing additive technologies and continues with identifying contingency factors driving AM performance. These factors are categorized as organizational, operational, and products’ characteristics. The chapter ends with an economic analysis providing the detail of break-even analysis to identify economically sustainable production volumes.

Selection and Implementation of Additive Manufacturing

Potential AM adopters can recognize the suitability of AM technology to their circumstance through the analysis provided in pervious chapter. This chapter discusses the technology selection and implementation processes. It begins with an analysis of the technology and then attempts to depict the future of AM technology. It describes the future possible beneficiaries of this technology and introduces the process for AM technology selection. It presents appropriate selection criteria and proposes a process for selecting a system from among the different manufacturing technologies available as well as selecting from different AM technologies. The chapter goes on to describe the implementation process for AM technologies in an organization. A detailed discussion on the changes required in an organization, its operations and supply chains is provided. As for the operational changes, the chapter analyzes the design process, production planning and control, quality control, and the role of the Internet of Things (IoT) in implementation.

The Value for Sustainability

Forced by competition, by international and national politics and by the “green paradigm”, in recent decades managers have been increasingly considering the sustainability aspects of value creation. Sustainability, or perhaps better, sustainable development “involves the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental quality, and social equity” (Elkington, 2002) while sustainable manufacturing (see Sect. 4.2) refers to the creation of manufactured products that use processes that are non-polluting, conserve energy and natural resources, and are economically sound and safe for employees, communities, and consumers alike. In an integrational perspective, the key characteristic is the integration of economic, environmental, and social aspects, and the relationships between them (Lozano in J Cleaner Product 16:1838–1846, 2008).