scholarly journals Assessment of the Potential Economic Impact of the Use of AM Technologies in the Cost Levels of Manufacturing and Stocking of Spare Part Products

Materials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquim Minguella-Canela ◽  
Sergio Morales Planas ◽  
Joan Gomà Ayats ◽  
M. de los Santos López

Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies are appropriate manufacturing technologies to produce low rotation products of high added value. Products in the spare parts business usually have discontinuous demand levels of reduced numbers of parts. Indeed, spare parts inventories handle myriad of products that require big immobilized investments while having an intrinsic risk of no-use (for example due to obsolescence or spoilage). Based on these issues, the present work analyses the fundamental cost factors in a real case study of a company dedicated to the supply of spare parts for fluid conduction systems. Real inventory data is assessed to determine the product taxonomy and its associated costs. A representative product of the stock is analyzed in detail on original manufacturing costs, in AM costs and then redesigned with topological optimization to reduce the AM cost levels (via design for additive manufacturing). A general equation for cost assessment is formulated. Given the specific data collected from the company, the parameters in this general equation are calculated. Finally, the general equation and the product cost reduction achieved are used to explore the potential economic impact of the use of AM technologies in the cost levels of manufacturing and stocking of spare part products.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3071 ◽  
Author(s):  
José M. González-Varona ◽  
David Poza ◽  
Fernando Acebes ◽  
Félix Villafáñez ◽  
Javier Pajares ◽  
...  

Additive manufacturing of spare parts significantly impacts industrial, social, and environmental aspects. However, a literature review shows that: (i) academic papers on the adoption of additive manufacturing have focused mainly on large companies; (ii) the methods required by SMEs to adopt new technologies differ from those employed by large companies; and (iii) recent studies suggest that a suitable way to help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt new additive manufacturing technologies from the academic world is by presenting case studies in which SMEs are involved. Given the increasing number of global SMEs (i.e., SMEs that manufacture locally and sell globally), we claim that these companies need to be assisted in adopting spare-parts additive manufacturing for the sake of resource and environmental sustainability. To bridge this gap, the purpose of this article is to present a case study approach that shows how a digital supply chain for spare parts has the potential to bring about changes in business models with significant benefits for both global SMEs (more effective logistic management), customers (response time), and the environment (reduced energy, emissions, raw materials, and waste).


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 231-240
Author(s):  
Laura Wirths ◽  
Matthias Bleckmann ◽  
Kristin Paetzold

AbstractAdditive Manufacturing technologies are based on a layer-by-layer build-up. This offers the possibility to design complex geometries or to integrate functionalities in the part. Nevertheless, limitations given by the manufacturing process apply to the geometric design freedom. These limitations are often unknown due to a lack of knowledge of the cause-effect relationships of the process. Currently, this leads to many iterations until the final part fulfils its functionality. Particularly for small batch sizes, producing the part at the first attempt is very important. In this study, a structured approach to reduce the design iterations is presented. Therefore, the cause-effect relationships are systematically established and analysed in detail. Based on this knowledge, design guidelines can be derived. These guidelines consider process limitations and help to reduce the iterations for the final part production. In order to illustrate the approach, the spare parts production via laser powder bed fusion is used as an example.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 2127-2136
Author(s):  
Olivia Borgue ◽  
John Stavridis ◽  
Tomas Vannucci ◽  
Panagiotis Stavropoulos ◽  
Harry Bikas ◽  
...  

AbstractAdditive manufacturing (AM) is a versatile technology that could add flexibility in manufacturing processes, whether implemented alone or along other technologies. This technology enables on-demand production and decentralized production networks, as production facilities can be located around the world to manufacture products closer to the final consumer (decentralized manufacturing). However, the wide adoption of additive manufacturing technologies is hindered by the lack of experience on its implementation, the lack of repeatability among different manufacturers and a lack of integrated production systems. The later, hinders the traceability and quality assurance of printed components and limits the understanding and data generation of the AM processes and parameters. In this article, a design strategy is proposed to integrate the different phases of the development process into a model-based design platform for decentralized manufacturing. This platform is aimed at facilitating data traceability and product repeatability among different AM machines. The strategy is illustrated with a case study where a car steering knuckle is manufactured in three different facilities in Sweden and Italy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (09) ◽  
pp. 633-637
Author(s):  
Maximilian Vogt ◽  
Julian Ulrich Weber ◽  
Vishnuu Jothi Prakash

Additive Fertigungstechnologien erlauben die bedarfsgerechte Produktion von individuellen Ersatzteilen. Durch Einsatz mobiler Fertigungseinheiten lässt sich mithilfe dieser Verfahren die Resilienz von isolierten Produktionsstätten erhöhen. Um auch außerfachliches Personal zur Bedienung an entlegenen Einsatzorten zu befähigen, stellen digitale Assistenzsysteme eine mögliche Lösung dar. In diesem Beitrag wird ein solches Assistenzsystem zur Begleitung der manuellen Tätigkeiten beim roboterbasierten DED-Prozess in einer mobilen Fertigungseinheit diskutiert.   Additive manufacturing technologies enable the demand-driven production of individual spare parts. By using mobile manufacturing units, these processes can be used to increase the resilience of isolated production sites. In order to enable non-specialized personnel to operate at remote locations, digital assistance systems are a feasible solution. This paper discusses such an assistance system to accompany manual operations of the robot-based DED process in a mobile manufacturing unit.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1837 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Kretzschmar ◽  
Sergei Chekurov ◽  
Mika Salmi ◽  
Jukka Tuomi

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1178-1192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siavash H. Khajavi ◽  
Jan Holmström ◽  
Jouni Partanen

PurposeInnovative startups have begun a trend using laser sintering (LS) technology patents expiration, namely, by introducing LS additive manufacturing (AM) machines that can overcome utilization barriers, such as the costliness of machines and productivity limitation. The recent rise of this trend has led the authors to investigate this new class of machines in novel settings, including hub configuration. There are various supply chain configurations to supply spare parts in industrial operations. This paper aims to explore the promise of a production configuration that combines the benefits of centralized production with the flexibility of local manufacturing without the huge costs related to it.Design/methodology/approachThis study quantitatively examines the feasibility of different AM-enabled spare parts supply chain configurations. Using cost data extracted from a case study, three scenarios per AM machine technology are modeled and compared.FindingsResults suggest that hub production configuration depending on the utilized AM machines can provide economic efficiency and effectiveness to reduce equipment downtime. While previous studies have suggested the need for AM machines with efficiency for single part production for a distributed supply chain, the findings in this research illustrate the positive relationship between multi-part production capability and the feasibility of a hub manufacturing configuration establishment.Originality/valueThis study explores the promise of a production configuration that combines the benefits of centralized production with the flexibility of local manufacturing without the huge costs related to it. Although the existing body of knowledge contains research on production decentralization, research on various levels of decentralization is lacking. Using a real-world case study, this study aims to compare the feasibility of different levels of decentralization for AM-enabled spare parts supply chains.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle C. McDermott ◽  
Ryan D. Winz ◽  
Thom J. Hodgson ◽  
Michael G. Kay ◽  
Russell E. King ◽  
...  

PurposeThe study aims to investigate the impact of additive manufacturing (AM) on the performance of a spare parts supply chain with a particular focus on underlying spare part demand patterns.Design/methodology/approachThis work evaluates various AM-enabled supply chain configurations through Monte Carlo simulation. Historical demand simulation and intermittent demand forecasting are used in conjunction with a mixed integer linear program to determine optimal network nodal inventory policies. By varying demand characteristics and AM capacity this work assesses how to best employ AM capability within the network.FindingsThis research assesses the preferred AM-enabled supply chain configuration for varying levels of intermittent demand patterns and AM production capacity. The research shows that variation in demand patterns alone directly affects the preferred network configuration. The relationship between the demand volume and relative AM production capacity affects the regions of superior network configuration performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis research makes several simplifying assumptions regarding AM technical capabilities. AM production time is assumed to be deterministic and does not consider build failure probability, build chamber capacity, part size, part complexity and post-processing requirements.Originality/valueThis research is the first study to link realistic spare part demand characterization to AM supply chain design using quantitative modeling.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 895
Author(s):  
Evanthia Kostidi ◽  
Nikitas Nikitakos ◽  
Iosif Progoulakis

3D printing or additive manufacturing (AM) (in the industrial context) is an innovative, as opposed to subtractive, technology, bringing new opportunities and benefits to the spare part supply chain (SPSC). The aim of this work is to capture the views of the stakeholders at the end of the chain, extruding factors that will benefit the end-user and the factors that are likely to be an obstacle, by employing the questionnaire method. Company objectives regarding spares (cost reductions, improvement of services, space reduction) have been prioritized differently by the stakeholders. The most important barriers according to the participants are the quality assurance of the spare parts made by the new technology followed by the know-how and skills of staff. Other views such as suitable parts are suggested. The practical value of this work, in addition to assessing the readiness of the industry, is that it provides guidance for the successful implementation of AM in the maritime industry.


Author(s):  
Atanu Chaudhuri ◽  
Dennis Massarola

This chapter aims to investigate the potential economic and environmental sustainability outcomes of additive manufacturing (AM) for spare parts logistics. System dynamic simulation was conducted to analyze the sustainability of producing a spare part used in a railways subsystem using a particular additive manufacturing (AM) technology (i.e., selective laser sintering [SLS]) compared to producing it using injection molding. The results of the simulation showed that using SLS for the chosen part is superior to the conventional one in terms of total variable costs as well as for carbon footprint. Compared to the conventional supply chain, for the AM supply chain, the costs of the supplier reduces by 46%, that of the railways company reduces by 71%, while the overall supply chain costs reduce by 61.9%. The carbon emissions in the AM supply chain marginally reduces by 2.89% compared to the conventional supply chain.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 589-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioannis Manikas ◽  
Balan Sundarakani ◽  
Vera Iakimenko

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the main reasons for spare parts logistics failures and address logistics distribution design in order to achieve the desired level of after-sales maintenance service.Design/methodology/approachThis research is based on an empirical case study on a large corporation providing worldwide with retail banking hardware, software and services. The case study focuses on the automated teller machine (ATM) part of activities, with a focus on the spare parts distribution and after-sales service network in the Eastern Europe.FindingsThe proposed network solution of multiple distribution centers with short-cut distance saving approach will enable the case study company to redesign their spare part logistics architecture in order to achieve short response time. Research findings reveal possible spare parts delivery delays and thus the service-level agreement failures with clients in the case study company.Research limitations/implicationsThis research covers a particular supply chain environment and identified research gaps. It discusses a time-based responsive logistics problem and develops a conceptual framework that would help researchers to better understand logistics challenges of installed equipment maintenance and after-sales service.Originality/valueThis case study research shows the “big picture” of spare parts logistics challenges as vital part of installed equipment after-sales and maintenance service network, as well as emphasizes how the unique context of a market like Russian Federation can set-up a distribution network efficiently. Strategies applied to handle such service-level failures, reverse logistics aspects of repairable and non-repairable spare parts to such large ATM after-sales service network based on this longitudinal case offer value for similar scale companies.


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