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Costs, benefits, and adoption of additive manufacturing: a supply chain perspective

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Abstract

There are three primary aspects to the economics of additive manufacturing: measuring the value of goods produced, measuring the costs and benefits of using the technology, and estimating the adoption and diffusion of the technology. This paper provides an updated estimate of the value of goods produced. It then reviews the literature on additive manufacturing costs and identifies those instances in the literature where this technology is cost-effective. The paper then goes on to propose an approach for examining and understanding the societal costs and benefits of this technology both from a monetary viewpoint and a resource consumption viewpoint. The final section discusses the trends in the adoption of additive manufacturing. Globally, there is an estimated $667 million in value added produced using additive manufacturing, which equates to 0.01 % of total global manufacturing value added. US value added is estimated as $241 million. Current research on additive manufacturing costs reveals that it is cost-effective for manufacturing small batches with continued centralized production; however, with increased automation distributed production may become cost-effective. Due to the complexities of measuring additive manufacturing costs and data limitations, current studies are limited in their scope. Many of the current studies examine the production of single parts and those that examine assemblies tend not to examine supply chain effects such as inventory and transportation costs along with decreased risk to supply disruption. The additive manufacturing system and the material costs constitute a significant portion of an additive manufactured product; however, these costs are declining over time. The current trends in costs and benefits have resulted in this technology representing 0.02 % of the relevant manufacturing industries in the USA; however, as the costs of additive manufacturing systems decrease, this technology may become widely adopted and change the supplier, manufacturer, and consumer interactions. An examination in the adoption of additive manufacturing reveals that for this technology to exceed $4.4 billion in 2020, $16.0 billion in 2025, and $196.8 billion in 2035, it would need to deviate from its current trends of adoption.

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    Douglas Thomas

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Certain trade names and company products are mentioned in the text in order to adequately specify the technical procedures and equipment used. In no case does such identification imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor does it imply that the products are necessarily the best available for the purpose.

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Thomas, D. Costs, benefits, and adoption of additive manufacturing: a supply chain perspective. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 85, 1857–1876 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-015-7973-6

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