An Introduction to 3d Printing Prospect in Supply Chain Industry

3-D PRINTING AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

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Lower supply chain complexity

3-D printing holds the promise to significantly decrease the complexity of existing supply chain networks (Figure 8 and Figure 9). 3-D printing, for instance, allows manufacturing firms to create single products that previously would have required multiple components to be assembled together. This eliminates the assembly phase of production and thus potentially a significant reduction in labor costs, storage, handling and logistics costs.17 In fact, the supply chain for such a product becomes quite uncluttered: a manufactu- ring firm directly sources the raw materials for the product, prints the design in-house and the next step is the distribution to the final customer or even a direct shipment. Obviously, such a shorter supply chain may incur lower transactions costs and lower logistics costs.

Direct shipments from courier express networks

For specific sectors, namely courier express networks, the impact of 3-D printing cannot be overstated. Many courier express companies such as UPS, DHL, FedEx and TNT

Figure 8: Simplified traditional supply chain network structure

Express, have complex supply chain networks that excel in transporting parcel-sized packages all over the world, using well-established links to all transportation modes available. As 3-D printing is limited to relatively small form factors, the products printed on 3-D printers typically have parcel-sized dimensions.

Imagine a regional courier hub or European Distribution Center to be outfitted with advanced 3-D printing facilities. The courier itself can provide 3-D printing services to their customers, or ally with an on-site 3-D printing service provider that offers an e-commerce store for designing and ordering 3-D printed products.

Products ordered through the courier or e-commerce store can be made-to-order directly, using common raw materials and shipped off instantly to the customers in the European service...