Evaluating the Readiness Level of Additively.pdf

Additive manufacturing of digital spare parts offers promising new possibilities forcompanies to drastically shorten lead times and to omit storage costs. However, the concept of digitalspare parts has not yet gained much footing in the manufacturing industry. This study aims to identifygrounds for its selective rejection. Conducted from a corporate perspective, outlining a holistic supplychain network structure to visualize different digital spare part distribution scenarios, this surveystudy evaluates technical and economic additive manufacturing capabilities. Results are analyzedand discussed further by applying the Mann-Whitney test to examine the influence of the companysize 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 asthe main technical challenges of current additive manufacturing processes. Furthermore, it can beconcluded 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 demandsfor further development