Sustainability of Additive Manufacturing for the South African aerospace industry: A business model for laser technology production, commercialization and market prospects

Abstract

Ever changing products, technology and competition make manufacturing a challenging task with respect to responding to market opportunities. A key technology exploited for revolutionary change in the phase of manufacturing competitiveness is the additive manufacturing techniques. Additive manufacturing (AM) is a category of technologies, which is fast shifting from mere resource base to a knowledge base, transitioning from prototyping to manufacturing of end usable parts with defined mechanical properties. In South African industrialization context, technology development for value proposition is an encouraged phenomenon. This is being realized through the South African government’s investment in research and equipment funding to science council and academia focusing on the full AM value chain for the aerospace and medical industries. However, despite the skills in the research and development space of AM, laser technology remain an unconventional process that lacks knowledge in terms of how the production techniques can be commercialized. The aim of this study is to evaluate technological capabilities that informs industrial manufacturing setup, and create a business prospects for the laser-based additive manufacturing segment of South Africa.