Evaluating the Readiness Level of Additively Manufactured Digital Spare Parts: An Industrial Perspective
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 f...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2018-10-01
|
| Series: | Applied Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/8/10/1837 |
| _version_ | 1818084660830273536 |
|---|---|
| author | Niklas Kretzschmar Sergei Chekurov Mika Salmi Jukka Tuomi |
| author_facet | Niklas Kretzschmar Sergei Chekurov Mika Salmi Jukka Tuomi |
| author_sort | Niklas Kretzschmar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T19:57:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2b3151cd666e4429931d4adaf6e5a937 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T19:57:26Z |
| publishDate | 2018-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-2b3151cd666e4429931d4adaf6e5a9372022-12-22T01:35:36ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172018-10-01810183710.3390/app8101837app8101837Evaluating the Readiness Level of Additively Manufactured Digital Spare Parts: An Industrial PerspectiveNiklas Kretzschmar0Sergei Chekurov1Mika Salmi2Jukka Tuomi3Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 5, 02150 Espoo, FinlandDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 5, 02150 Espoo, FinlandDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 5, 02150 Espoo, FinlandDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 5, 02150 Espoo, FinlandAdditive 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.http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/8/10/1837digital spare partsadditive manufacturingpart-on-demand productiontechnical barrierspowder bed fusionsurvey studymann-whitney |
| spellingShingle | Niklas Kretzschmar Sergei Chekurov Mika Salmi Jukka Tuomi Evaluating the Readiness Level of Additively Manufactured Digital Spare Parts: An Industrial Perspective Applied Sciences digital spare parts additive manufacturing part-on-demand production technical barriers powder bed fusion survey study mann-whitney |
| title | Evaluating the Readiness Level of Additively Manufactured Digital Spare Parts: An Industrial Perspective |
| title_full | Evaluating the Readiness Level of Additively Manufactured Digital Spare Parts: An Industrial Perspective |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating the Readiness Level of Additively Manufactured Digital Spare Parts: An Industrial Perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the Readiness Level of Additively Manufactured Digital Spare Parts: An Industrial Perspective |
| title_short | Evaluating the Readiness Level of Additively Manufactured Digital Spare Parts: An Industrial Perspective |
| title_sort | evaluating the readiness level of additively manufactured digital spare parts an industrial perspective |
| topic | digital spare parts additive manufacturing part-on-demand production technical barriers powder bed fusion survey study mann-whitney |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/8/10/1837 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT niklaskretzschmar evaluatingthereadinesslevelofadditivelymanufactureddigitalsparepartsanindustrialperspective AT sergeichekurov evaluatingthereadinesslevelofadditivelymanufactureddigitalsparepartsanindustrialperspective AT mikasalmi evaluatingthereadinesslevelofadditivelymanufactureddigitalsparepartsanindustrialperspective AT jukkatuomi evaluatingthereadinesslevelofadditivelymanufactureddigitalsparepartsanindustrialperspective |