Abstract
AbstractSpare parts are a particularly interesting application for switching production from traditional manufacturing (TM) to additive manufacturing (AM). Research assessing AM has primarily addressed cost models centering on the production process or the operations management of separate spare parts. By combining case study, modeling, and design science elements, we adopt a holistic perspective and develop a design to examine the systematic leverage of AM in spare parts operations. Contextually grounded in problems faced by a leading material handling equipment manufacturer that is challenged by common characteristics of after‐sales operations, we engage with practice to propose a portfolio level analysis examining the switchover share from TM to AM. Using a data set of 53,457 spare parts over 9 years, we find that up to 8% of stock keeping units (SKUs) and 2% of total units supplied could be produced using AM, even if unit production costs are four times those of TM. This result is driven by low demand, high fixed costs, and minimum order quantities in TM. Finally, we present the evaluation by the case company's management and highlight five areas of opportunity and challenge.
Highlights
Production and management of spare parts are among the most promising applications of additive manufacturing (AM, commonly called three-dimensional printing [3DP] in an industrial setting), and these AM applications are progressively being adopted across different industrial domains (Müller & Karevska, 2016)
We examine the share of stock keeping units (SKUs) and parts that would be economical to switchover from traditional manufacturing (TM) to AM, as AM cost premium changes
We find that AM can be an economically viable option for a significant share of SKUs, even with low fixedorder costs in TM
Summary
Production and management of spare parts are among the most promising applications of additive manufacturing (AM, commonly called three-dimensional printing [3DP] in an industrial setting), and these AM applications are progressively being adopted across different industrial domains (Müller & Karevska, 2016). Firms frequently manage large portfolios of spare parts that often consist of tens of thousands of individual stock keeping units (SKUs) (Guvenir & Erel, 1998; van Wingerden, Basten, Dekker, & Rustenburg, 2014). This portfolio complexity makes the detailed analysis of each part wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joom
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