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1 – 10 of over 9000Guanchen Liu, Dongdong Xu, Zifu Shen, Hongjie Xu and Liang Ding
As an advanced manufacturing method, additive manufacturing (AM) technology provides new possibilities for efficient production and design of parts. However, with the continuous…
Abstract
Purpose
As an advanced manufacturing method, additive manufacturing (AM) technology provides new possibilities for efficient production and design of parts. However, with the continuous expansion of the application of AM materials, subtractive processing has become one of the necessary steps to improve the accuracy and performance of parts. In this paper, the processing process of AM materials is discussed in depth, and the surface integrity problem caused by it is discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
Firstly, we listed and analyzed the characterization parameters of metal surface integrity and its influence on the performance of parts and then introduced the application of integrated processing of metal adding and subtracting materials and the influence of different processing forms on the surface integrity of parts. The surface of the trial-cut material is detected and analyzed, and the surface of the integrated processing of adding and subtracting materials is compared with that of the pure processing of reducing materials, so that the corresponding conclusions are obtained.
Findings
In this process, we also found some surface integrity problems, such as knife marks, residual stress and thermal effects. These problems may have a potential negative impact on the performance of the final parts. In processing, we can try to use other integrated processing technologies of adding and subtracting materials, try to combine various integrated processing technologies of adding and subtracting materials, or consider exploring more efficient AM technology to improve processing efficiency. We can also consider adopting production process optimization measures to reduce the processing cost of adding and subtracting materials.
Originality/value
With the gradual improvement of the requirements for the surface quality of parts in the production process and the in-depth implementation of sustainable manufacturing, the demand for integrated processing of metal addition and subtraction materials is likely to continue to grow in the future. By deeply understanding and studying the problems of material reduction and surface integrity of AM materials, we can better meet the challenges in the manufacturing process and improve the quality and performance of parts. This research is very important for promoting the development of manufacturing technology and achieving success in practical application.
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Praveen Kulkarni, Arun Kumar, Ganesh Chate and Padma Dandannavar
This study aims to examine factors that determine the adoption of additive manufacturing by small- and medium-sized industries. It provides insights with regard to benefits…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine factors that determine the adoption of additive manufacturing by small- and medium-sized industries. It provides insights with regard to benefits, challenges and business factors that influence small- and medium-sized industries when adopting this technology. The study also aims to expand the domain of additive manufacturing by including a broader range of challenges and benefits of additive manufacturing in literature.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data collected from 175 small- and medium-sized industries, the study has examined through Mann–Whitney test to understand the difference between owners and design engineers on additive manufacturing technology adoption in small- and medium-sized companies.
Findings
This study suggests contribution to academic discussion by providing associated factors that have significant impact on the adoption of additive manufacturing technology. Related advantages of additive manufacturing are reduction in inventory cost, lowering the wastage in production and customization of products. The study also indicates that factors such as cost of machinery, higher level of cost in integrating metal components have a negative impact on the adoption of this technology in small- and medium-sized industries.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further in the field of challenges and growth in other areas of application of additive manufacturing, for instance, medical sciences, fabric and aerospace.
Practical implications
The study provides important implications that are of interest for both research and practitioners, related to technology management in small- and medium-sized industries, e.g. foundry and machining industries.
Social implications
This work/study fulfills an identified need of the small- and medium-sized companies in adopting new technologies and contribute to their growth by understanding the need to accept and implement technology.
Originality/value
This paper fulfills an identified need to study how small- and medium-scale companies accept new technologies and factors associated with implementation in the manufacturing process of the organization.
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Yuran Jin, Shoufeng Ji, Xin Li and Jiangnan Yu
Additive manufacturing has achieved rapid development in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to visualize the intellectual landscapes of additive manufacturing and identify…
Abstract
Purpose
Additive manufacturing has achieved rapid development in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to visualize the intellectual landscapes of additive manufacturing and identify the hotspots and emerging trends of additive manufacturing, which can provide references for scholars, enterprises and governments to promote the development of theory and practice in the additive manufacturing field.
Design/methodology/approach
Science mapping is a fast-growing interdisciplinary field originated in information science and technology. Based on this methodology, guided by a computational approach, the paper visualizes the co-occurring keywords network and co-citation references network by CiteSpaceIII software to explore the hotspots and emerging trends of additive manufacturing by the following five indicators: highly cited keywords, burst keywords, clusters, landmark references and burst references.
Findings
“Additive manufacturing,” “3D printing,” “3D powder printing,” “consolidation phenomena,” “microstructure,” “rapid prototyping,” etc., are the main hotspots of additive manufacturing. The trends of additive manufacturing generally consist of three stages: the fundamental concepts stage from 1995 to 2000 (“rapid prototyping,” “additive manufacturing,” etc.), the approaches and techniques applications stage from 2001 to 2010 (“stereolithography,” “scaffold,” etc.), and the emerging trends stage from 2011 to the present (“stem cell”, “selective laser,” “ti-6al-4v,” etc.). The research is most abundant in 2010 and 2012. The medical field is an important hotspot of additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing has been researched in interdiscipline.
Originality/value
The paper maps the perspective of additive manufacturing and explore the hotspots and emerging trends of additive manufacturing.
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Mia Delic, Daniel R. Eyers and Josip Mikulic
Additive Manufacturing offers much potential for industry, but at the same time is likely to have a significant impact on supply chain theory and practice. To-date there has been…
Abstract
Purpose
Additive Manufacturing offers much potential for industry, but at the same time is likely to have a significant impact on supply chain theory and practice. To-date there has been limited empirical work exploring the effect of Additive Manufacturing, and this study aims to provide a detailed appraisal of how supply chain integration, supply chain performance and firm performance may be affected by the adoption of Additive Manufacturing. These are critical factors for supply chain management, but have received little quantified attention to date.
Design/methodology/approach
A theoretical model is developed from a detailed review of the literature, from which a quantitative analysis is performed. Using data collected from 124 automotive manufacturers in European Union and the partial least square- structural equation modeling method, the research examines the relationships among different dimensions of supply chain integration, supply chain performance and firm performance from the perspective of Additive Manufacturing adoption.
Findings
The findings indicate that Additive Manufacturing adoption positively influences supply chain performance and as a consequence, firm performance. In addition, supporting the resource-based view perspective, the results show a positive indirect effect of supply chain integration on the supply chain and firm performance improvements, enabled by the Additive Manufacturing adoption. This helps to explain some inconsistent findings in previous research regarding the impacts of supply chain integration on performance.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this study support the view that Additive Manufacturing can make a positive contribution to the supply chain, but this is not achieved solely by the technologies alone. Many of the traditional activities of supply chain management (i.e. integration) are still needed when using Additive Manufacturing, and research needs to understand whether Additive Manufacturing adoption will necessitate changes to the way these traditional activities are undertaken. Building on the findings of the current study, much more work is therefore needed to understand how operations within the supply chain may be changed, and how this may affect the integration and performance of the supply chain.
Practical implications
This study provides quantitative evidence to show that the adoption of Additive Manufacturing has the potential to affect both firm and supply chain performance. This is significant for those companies considering the adoption of Additive Manufacturing, and may serve as a valuable insight in the strategic decision-making process. For those already using Additive Manufacturing, this study serves to underline the potential for firm performance to be influenced, by focusing on improvements to their production strategies and policies.
Originality/value
This study provides an initial insight into some fundamental supply chain concepts within an Additive Manufacturing context, which have received very little research attention. It develops a novel conceptual model, and through a large-scale industry survey provides quantified evidence of the impact of Additive Manufacturing on the supply chain. To date, much of the supply chain research is exploratory and qualitative; the quantitative evidence presented in this work, therefore, makes an important and original contribution to both research and practice.
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Additive manufacturing, that is, layer-based manufacturing technologies, is thought to change supply chain operations from global to local, while also affecting design processes…
Abstract
Purpose
Additive manufacturing, that is, layer-based manufacturing technologies, is thought to change supply chain operations from global to local, while also affecting design processes and product structures. As this transformation happens, a power struggle among various actors relating themselves to additive manufacturing has emerged. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and explain the development of additive manufacturing from a power dependence point of view.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on data collected from a number of seminars hosting a total of 620 industry experts representing 102 companies in the area, and reflecting every step of the supply chain.
Findings
The paper points out how measures to deal and create power imbalances occur also related to indirect parties, and how the disruptive character of the supply chain leads to exercised power.
Originality/value
The power struggle provides new insights into how an emerging technology is realised and the effect of protectionism on such attempts. Specifically related to additive manufacturing, the paper illustrates the business side from various actors’ point of view, which adds to technological perspectives on additive manufacturing, as well as studies viewing the supply chain from a bird’s-eye perspective.
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Christina Öberg and Tawfiq Shams
With the overarching idea of disruptive technology and its effects on business, this paper focuses on how companies strategically consider meeting the challenge of a disruptive…
Abstract
Purpose
With the overarching idea of disruptive technology and its effects on business, this paper focuses on how companies strategically consider meeting the challenge of a disruptive technology such as additive manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss changes in positions and roles related to the implementation of a disruptive technology.
Design/methodology/approach
Additive manufacturing could be expected to have different consequences for parties based on their current supply chain positions. The paper therefore investigates companies’ strategies related to various supply chain positions and does so by departing from a position and role point of view. Three business cases related to metal 3D printing - illustrating sub-suppliers, manufacturers and logistics firms - describe as many strategies. Data for the cases were collected through meetings, interviews, seminars and secondary data focusing on both current business activities related to additive manufacturing and scenarios for the future.
Findings
The companies attempted to defend their current positions, leading to new roles for them. This disconnects the change of roles from that of positions. The changed roles indicate that all parties, regardless of supply chain positions, would move into competing producing roles, thereby indicating how a disruptive technology may disrupt network structures based on companies’ attempts to defend their positions.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to previous research by reporting a disconnect between positions and roles among firms when disruption takes place. The paper further denotes how the investigated firms largely disregarded network consequences at the disruptive stage, caused by the introduction of additive manufacturing. The paper also contributes to research on additive manufacturing by including a business dimension and linking this to positions and roles.
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Daniel R. Eyers, Andrew T. Potter, Jonathan Gosling and Mohamed M. Naim
Flexibility is a fundamental performance objective for manufacturing operations, allowing them to respond to changing requirements in uncertain and competitive global markets…
Abstract
Purpose
Flexibility is a fundamental performance objective for manufacturing operations, allowing them to respond to changing requirements in uncertain and competitive global markets. Additive manufacturing machines are often described as “flexible,” but there is no detailed understanding of such flexibility in an operations management context. The purpose of this paper is to examine flexibility from a manufacturing systems perspective, demonstrating the different competencies that can be achieved and the factors that can inhibit these in commercial practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This study extends existing flexibility theory in the context of an industrial additive manufacturing system through an investigation of 12 case studies, covering a range of sectors, product volumes, and technologies. Drawing upon multiple sources, this research takes a manufacturing systems perspective that recognizes the multitude of different resources that, together with individual industrial additive manufacturing machines, contribute to the satisfaction of demand.
Findings
The results show that the manufacturing system can achieve seven distinct internal flexibility competencies. This ability was shown to enable six out of seven external flexibility capabilities identified in the literature. Through a categorical assessment the extent to which each competency can be achieved is identified, supported by a detailed explanation of the enablers and inhibitors of flexibility for industrial additive manufacturing systems.
Originality/value
Additive manufacturing is widely expected to make an important contribution to future manufacturing, yet relevant management research is scant and the flexibility term is often ambiguously used. This research contributes the first detailed examination of flexibility for industrial additive manufacturing systems.
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Farui Du, Jinqian Zhu, Xueping Ding, Qi Zhang, Honglin Ma, Jie Yang, Hongzhong Cao, Zemin Ling, Guoyu Wang, Xuanming Duan and Shuqian Fan
A wire-based additive manufacturing system works with high manufacturing efficiency and low dimensional precision. The purpose of this paper is to study the dimensional…
Abstract
Purpose
A wire-based additive manufacturing system works with high manufacturing efficiency and low dimensional precision. The purpose of this paper is to study the dimensional characteristics of Ti-6Al-4V thin-walled parts with wire-based multi-laser additive manufacturing in vacuum.
Design/methodology/approach
Wire-based multi-laser additive manufacturing was carried out to understand the effect brought from different parameters. The Ti-6Al-4V thin-walled parts were formed by different height increments, power inputs and inter-layer cooling times in vacuum.
Findings
The result shows that, with the number of layers increment, the layer width of thin-walled part increases gradually in the beginning and stabilizes soon afterward. Height increment, laser power and inter-layer cooling time could affect the energy input to the deposited bead and heat accumulation of thin-walled part. The layer width decreases, while the height increment increases. The increment of laser power could increase the layer width. And, the increment of inter-layer cooling time (more than 5 s) has little effect on the layer width.
Originality/value
The heat dissipation mode of thin-walled parts in vacuum and the influence of different parameters on layer width are explained in this paper. It provides a reference for further understanding and controlling dimension precision of Ti-6Al-4V thin-walled part with wire-based multi-laser additive manufacturing in vacuum. At the same time, it provides a reference for researches of dimensional characteristics in the additive manufacturing industry.
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Additive manufacturing has been described as converting supply chains into demand chains. By focusing on metal additive manufacturing as a contemporary technology causing ongoing…
Abstract
Purpose
Additive manufacturing has been described as converting supply chains into demand chains. By focusing on metal additive manufacturing as a contemporary technology causing ongoing disruption to the supply chain, the purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss how incumbent firms act during an ongoing, transformational disruption of their supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews and secondary data, along with seminars attracting approximately 600 individuals operating in metal additive manufacturing, form the empirical basis for this paper.
Findings
The findings of this paper indicate how disruption occurs at multiple positions in the supply chain. Episodic positions as conceptualised in this paper refer to how parties challenged by disruption attempt to reach normality while speeding the transformational disruption.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to previous research by theorising about episodic positions in light of a supply chain disruption. The empirical data are unique in how they capture supply chain change at the time of disruption and illustrate disruptive, transformational change to supply chains. The paper interlinks research on disruption from the innovation and supply chain literature, with contributions to both.
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