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Aric Rindfleisch, Alan J. Malter and Gregory J. Fisher
Retailing thought and practice is premised on the assumption that consumers visit retailers to search for and acquire objects produced by manufacturers. In essence, we assume that…
Abstract
Retailing thought and practice is premised on the assumption that consumers visit retailers to search for and acquire objects produced by manufacturers. In essence, we assume that the acts of consuming and producing are conducted by separate entities. This unspoken yet familiar premise shapes the questions retail scholars ask and the way retail practitioners think about their industry. Although this assumption accurately depicted retailing since the Industrial Revolution, its relevance is being challenged by a growing set of individuals who are equipped with new digital tools to engage in self-manufacturing. In this chapter, we examine self-manufacturing with a particular focus on the recent rise of desktop 3D printing. After discussing this new technology and reviewing the literature, we offer a conceptual classification of four distinct types of 3D printed objects and use this classification to inform a content analysis of over 400 of these objects. Based on this review and analysis, we discuss the implications of self-manufacturing for retailing thought and practice.
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Nils O.E. Olsson, Ali Shafqat, Emrah Arica and Andreas Økland
The purpose of this paper is to study the introduction of 3D-printing of concrete in the construction sector.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the introduction of 3D-printing of concrete in the construction sector.
Design/Methodology/Approach
A survey was conducted to collect professional view on ongoing innovations in the construction sector, including 3D-printing. Participants were selected among the members of Norwegian networks for project and construction management research.
Findings
The survey highlighted effective leadership, collaboration with partners and industry-academia collaboration as primary enablers of innovation. Few of the respondents to the survey have used 3D-printing technologies.
Research Limitations/Implications
It is difficult to obtain representative samples in this type of research, including this study. The study can be seen as a snapshot of attitudes in the sector.
Practical Implications
3D-printing appear as a potentially interesting technology, especially for unstandardized construction components. Further work is needed to materialise the expectation for technological development in the construction sector.
Originality/Value
Most research on 3D-printing has focused on demonstrating technical potential. This study adds a practitioners’ perspective, with a large dose of pragmatism.
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Filippo Buonafede, Giulia Felice, Fabio Lamperti and Lucia Piscitello
Additive manufacturing (AM) has the potential to transform the organisation of all the activities carried out by firms. The growing diffusion of these technologies is increasingly…
Abstract
Additive manufacturing (AM) has the potential to transform the organisation of all the activities carried out by firms. The growing diffusion of these technologies is increasingly challenging multinational enterprises to reinvent their businesses. Accordingly, many scholars argue that AM may reduce countries’ participation in global value chains (GVCs) or, at least, affect GVCs’ geography, length and further developments. However, so far, the lack of available data on the real worldwide diffusion of these technologies has precluded the possibility to study this phenomenon from an empirical standpoint.
This study investigates AM technologies, with a particular focus on their possible impact on GVCs, in the framework of the current debate in international business. In order to examine this relationship and overcome the lack of adoption data, the authors identify a potential proxy of AM diffusion – that is, patenting activity. Coherently, the authors employ this proxy and a country-level measure of GVC participation (i.e., the Share of Re-Exported Inputs on Total Imported Inputs) to empirically investigate the role of AM in influencing countries’ participation to GVCs. This country-level analysis is focussed on three specific industries and the aggregate economy in 58 countries for the period 2000–2014.
The results show that AM decreases a country’s participation in GVCs, both at the country level and, in particular, in the sectors which are more likely to be affected by AM technologies. This evidence suggests that this phenomenon might be induced by a decreasing reliance on intermediates processed abroad, hence an increasing importance of domestic goods, manufactured via AM.
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Özge Çaylak Dönmez and Burhan Sevim
Three-dimensional (3D) printing has great potential in the food industry. While 3D printing technology offers customised food products to consumers, it also allows producers to…
Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) printing has great potential in the food industry. While 3D printing technology offers customised food products to consumers, it also allows producers to develop new products using a wide variety of alternative food ingredients, modernise the production process and carry out environmentally friendly production. This research aims to determine the attitudes of students towards 3D foods who are studying in the Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, as they are both consumers and examine different food processing systems and use them in the field of application. As a result of the study, it was identified that the participants believed that 3D printing is a great modern technology that allows the development of new foods, that it will bring benefit to us in the future, reduce the cost of food and food waste, increase the sustainability of food and that they see it as environmentally friendly. In addition, it was determined that the participants did not think that 3D-printed foods were disgusting; they found these foods reliable, could try them in the future and were excited to experience them.
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Stefano Bresciani, Alberto Ferraris, Marco Romano and Gabriele Santoro
Lionel Taito-Matamua, Simon Fraser and Jeongbin Ok
This research addresses the grave issue of plastic waste in the Pacific. By using Samoa as a case study, it was considered that distributed recycling combined with 3D printing…
Abstract
This research addresses the grave issue of plastic waste in the Pacific. By using Samoa as a case study, it was considered that distributed recycling combined with 3D printing offers an opportunity to (1) repurpose and add new value to this difficult waste stream and (2) engage diverse local communities in Samoa by combining notions of participatory design with traditional Samoan social concepts. Fieldwork in Samoa established the scope of the issue through interviews with stakeholders in government, waste management businesses, the arts and crafts community and education. Based on the information obtained from the fieldwork, potential product areas and designs were explored through material and 3D printing experiments using low-cost, open-source equipment. The experiments informed the design of speculative scenarios for workable, economically viable, socially empowering and sustainable systems for repurposing and upcycling plastic waste, which then enabled production of practically useful and culturally meaningful 3D printed objects, artefacts and products. Building upon the outcome and with a view towards implementation, Creative Pathways, an educational initiative aimed at propagating 3D printing and contextual design, was established and is being delivered in local schools.
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