Abstract
PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic caused global supply disruptions and shortages that resulted in countries battling over desperately needed (medical) supplies. In this mayhem, additive manufacturing (AM) provided relief to the strained healthcare systems and manufacturing environments by offering an alternative way to rapidly produce desired products. This study sheds light on how AM was used globally in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe study undertakes a systematic and content-centric review of 289 additively manufactured products made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, quantitative frequency-based text mining and various descriptive analyses were applied that support the investigation of the subject under regard.FindingsResults show that AM was primarily used in the medical domain for the production of standard medical items, such as personal protective equipment (PPE) but also for non-obvious and new applications (e.g. swab simulator, rapid diagnostic kits, etc.). Also, certain paradigm shifts were observed, as the effective move to mass production and the mitigation of problems related to certification and standardization emerged as prominent management prospects. Nevertheless, various obstacles arose and remained in the path of lasting AM success, especially with respect to print quality, raw material supply and technological versatility.Originality/valueDue to the actuality of the topic under investigation, no comparable study has so far been conducted. The systematic review provides a conclusive and precise foundation for further analysis and subsequent discussions. Additionally, no comparable study mapping such a wide array of different AM products exists today.
Highlights
At the beginning of the year 2020, the world population faced one of its biggest challenges in recent history—the outbreak of a newly discovered coronavirus
Social distancing became the top priority, leading to the closure of schools, non-essential shops and, in many cases, land borders. While this already created a great impact on the service and manufacturing industry, an extraordinarily high demand for specific medical goods, such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators further aggravated the disruption of supply chains (Ranney et al, 2020)
We analyzed the response of the global additive manufacturing (AM) community to the COVID-19 pandemic, both terms “Additive Manufacturing” and its most common synonym “3D-Printing” formed the starting point of the search string
Summary
At the beginning of the year 2020, the world population faced one of its biggest challenges in recent history—the outbreak of a newly discovered coronavirus This virus, which causes an acute respiratory infection (COVID-19), spread rapidly through the world, resulting in a global pandemic that forced governments to adopt harsh measures to slow down its propagation (Liu et al, 2020). Social distancing (i.e. avoiding human-to-human contact) became the top priority, leading to the closure of schools, non-essential shops and, in many cases, land borders. While this already created a great impact on the service and manufacturing industry, an extraordinarily high demand for specific medical goods, such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators further aggravated the disruption of supply chains (Ranney et al, 2020). Operating manufacturers had to shut down their plants, as the risk of an
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