Evaluating the Readiness Level of Additively Manufactured Digital Spare Parts: An Industrial Perspective

Niklas Kretzschmar,Jukka Tuomi,Mika Salmi,Sergei Chekurov

doi:10.3390/app8101837

Abstract

Additive manufacturing of digital spare parts offers promising new possibilities for companies to drastically shorten lead times and to omit storage costs. However, the concept of digital spare parts has not yet gained much footing in the manufacturing industry. This study aims to identify grounds for its selective rejection. Conducted from a corporate perspective, outlining a holistic supply chain network structure to visualize different digital spare part distribution scenarios, this survey study evaluates technical and economic additive manufacturing capabilities. Results are analyzed and discussed further by applying the Mann-Whitney test to examine the influence of the company size and the presence of 3D-printed end-use components within supply networks on gathered data. Machines’ limited build chamber volumes and the necessity of post-processing are considered as the main technical challenges of current additive manufacturing processes. Furthermore, it can be concluded that company sizes have a significant effect on perceived technological limitations. Overall, the results lead to the conclusion that the readiness level of the digital spare parts concept demands for further development.

Highlights

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a group of layer-by-layer manufacturing processes that makes it possible to simplify the production process and take advantage of an increased level of freedom in the design
AM is often classified into seven process categories and numerous sub-processes, encompassing different approaches to generate 3D objects [1]
Companies consider the flexibility in terms of rapid part-on-demand production of additively manufactured digital spare parts (DSP) as a realistic driver for the future adoption of the DSP concept

Summary

Introduction

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a group of layer-by-layer manufacturing processes that makes it possible to simplify the production process and take advantage of an increased level of freedom in the design. The first AM process which is called Stereolithography, applying a laser to cure light-sensitive resins, was developed in the 1980s. AM is shifting continuously from prototyping for visualization purposes to a production of end-use components, leading to a growing number of industrial applications (e.g., dental and automobile sectors) and may have the potential to disruptively change established markets [3,4]. It is useful for the low-volume production of highly complex components, which require many production steps in traditional manufacturing.

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