Abstract
3D Printing (3DP) technology has been receiving increased public attention. Many companies are seeking ways to develop new means of creating and disseminating 3DP content, in order to capture new business opportunities. However, to date the true business opportunities of 3DP have not been completely uncovered. This research explores the challenges posed in the development and deployment of 3DP and focuses on China, which is still the main manufacturing hub of the world. The main purpose of this research is to uncover the obstacles that resist mass-scale applications of 3DP. By means of empirical semi-structured interviews with 3DP companies in China, it is found that many companies can see the benefits of 3DP, but its potential has not been delivered as promised. One reason is due to the fact that 3DP has not been integrated well in the supply chain. The other reason concerns potential intellectual property issues that cannot effectively prevent counterfeiting. To tackle the above issues, several areas have been identified that could be improved further. In particular, the legal complications concerning 3D-printed content could be overcome by a licensing platform.
Highlights
The development of 3D Printing (3DP) can be traced back to the 1980s (Khajavi et al, 2014; Rogers et al, 2016), but it is more popular mainly because the process cost has reached an affordable level
Our initial questions are related to the application of 3DP in the manufacturing and supply chain sectors
There are some companies we interviewed who already saw the importance of Intellectual Property (IP) protection of 3DP products
Summary
The development of 3DP can be traced back to the 1980s (Khajavi et al, 2014; Rogers et al, 2016), but it is more popular mainly because the process cost has reached an affordable level This is true for mass customisation and large-scale applications (Gosselin et al, 2016; Rayna and Striukova, 2016). While a great number of individuals and companies are enjoying the benefits that 3DP can deliver, there is another group who is struggling with, if not suffering from, the Intellectual Property (IP) protection issues. All these obstacles hinder the applications of 3DP in the industry. Such effort would become a waste if the technology cannot be deployed successfully in the industry
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
