Evaluating the Competitiveness of 3D Printed Products
Added on 2019-09-30
7 Pages2828 Words298 ViewsType: 298
Business Development
|
|
|
The implications of 3D printing for the global logistics industryResearch Proposal
1.Background information3D printing industrial adoption has been growing gradually from prototyping to manufacturing customised parts in low volume. The technology has become a hot topic in many industries and it has become a source of uncertainty to the future of the industries (Bak 2003). From the viewpoint of logistics providers, however, 3D printing could have profound impacts on the size and shape of demand for logistics services, according to Loy (2014). The main purpose of this research project is to qualitatively estimate the potential impact of 3D printing on the global logistics industry, both transportation and warehousing, and to provide an insight into how logistics providers from all around the world can capitalise on this rapidly emerging technology. One of the main reasons behind the conduction of this research project is that 3D printing technology, although it is a several decade old, isseen as a new technology (Mohr and Khan 2015). In addition, the number of previously carried-out academic works relating to this topic are limited. Another reason is that most of the available literature state that 3D printing could change the way we live as it will dramatically transform the whole dynamics of supply chain, but they fail to provide a clear answer as to how this technology will affect transportation and warehousing (Gebler et al., 2014).2.Research questions, aims and objectives 2.1Research questionsAs mentioned earlier, 3D printing technology has been around for several decades but it has been concealed and only in recent years gained public attention, which is probably due to the lack of academic research focusing on it (Mohr and Khan 2015). Within academic field, research is lacking the information as to how significant the effect of 3D printing will be on logistics industry in general and transportation and warehousing in particular in the future. Neither has there been any apparent research conducted on whether the technology is capable of transforming global transport and warehousing nor whether it can achieve the targets it holds (Gebler, Uiterkamp, and Visser 2014). Having considered the above, I have come up with the following research question and sub-questions:What is the impact of 3D printing technology on the global logistics industry in the next decade? The research will focus on answering the above question in an attempt to fill in the academic gap. In order to provide a sensible answer to the research question, attention must be paid to the starting point of 3D printing impact on logistics. Since 3D printing is perceived as an alternative to the traditional manufacturing in supply chain, the following sub research questions can be formulated: 1. What are the current developments in the 3D printing industry? 2. How 3D printing technology impact manufacturing? 3. How 3D printing technology impact supply chains? 4 Considering these factors, what is the impact of 3D printing on the global logistics in the nextdecade? 2.2 Research aims and objectivesConsidering the above research question and sub questions, the study will aim to achieve following objectives within the designated time scale:To assess the current developments of 3D printing technology“”2
To find out whether 3D printing will offer opportunities for mass customisation and decentralised productionTo evaluate the impact of 3D printing on supply chain as a wholeTo estimate the impact of the technology on global logistics industry in the next 10 years. To improve overall understanding and provide an answer to as whether it is feasible for 3D printing to transform global transportation and warehousing. 3.Initial literature reviewLiterature related to the details of the 3D Printing process itself is widely available, however, the literature associated with 3D printing outlining its effect on transportation and warehousing industry is rather limited. Moreover, the literature related to 3D printing and its impact supply chain and manufacturing is more publically available than those related to logistics. The available papers relating to 3D printing in all industries are relatively new. This is due to the fact that the technology has only been emerging and caught the attention of academics in recent years (Laplume et al, 2016). 3.1 Literature related to manufacturing and supply chain.In order to answer the main research question, answers to the sub-questions must be accomplished first. Fortunately there has been several scholars including case studies, market analysis, system analysis and other academic works conducted in recent year that will probably provide answersto most of the research sub-questions for this study. Namely, Willis et al. (2012) and McMenamin et al. (2014) in two studies asses the development of 3D printing technology, Berman (2012) and Lipson & Kurman (2013) are two of a few studies associated with 3D printing technology in manufacturing and production, and Petrick & Simpson (2013) and Khajavi et al. (2014) are two of many scholars related to 3D printing and supply chain.3.2 Literature related to the global logistics.In contrast, literature related to 3D printing in transportation and warehousing is relatively scarce compared to those of manufacturing and supply chain. One of the very few articles on this academic area is written by Manners-Bell and Lyon (2012), the CEO of Transport Intelligence Ltd andCEO of Virtual-Partners Ltd. The article, which is barely five pages long, fails to provide evidences to the findings as it is not clear what type of data or source of data has been used to achieve the outcomes.Moreover, there are a limited number of other academic studies that discuss the impact of 3D printing on logistics and what is available provide little or no details on the future of this industry. Thus, it can be said that this study provides a solution to the academic literature in relation to the impact of 3D printing on the global logistics industry. 3.3 Theories related to 3D printing and global logisticsAccording to Pearce et al. (2010), 3D printing will further develop to offer opportunities for mass customisation and decentralised production. Based on this theory, businesses that have outsourced their production to Asia to save costs can “nearshore” their production back to the high-wage countriesby using 3D printers as alternatives to traditional manufacturing. If, however, this change occur and 3D printers become capable of mass-production and customisation, the whole global logistics will change. As a result, the mass production in East Asia will decline and long-distance shipping will decline accordingly. Furthermore, Zijm et al., (2016) in their recently-published book claim that once 3D printing is capable of printing goods in large volumes, the demand for the last-mile shipping will increase. According to the theory, goods will no longer need to be shipped halfway around the world, as they could be printed out nearshore and close to the consumer. Consequently, the stock level of“”3
End of preview
Want to access all the pages? Upload your documents or become a member.
Related Documents
Potential Impacts of Disruptive Change on Supply Chain Managementlg...
|7
|1482
|262
Impact of 3D Printing Technology on Supply Chain and Non-Technical Industrieslg...
|5
|782
|279
Six to Eight Sophisticated Industrial Printerslg...
|20
|9198
|203
Evolution of 3D Printing Technology from 2004 to 2013lg...
|13
|4893
|146
Exploring the Impact of Additive Manufacturing in Supply Chain and Logisticslg...
|55
|23413
|65
The Implications of 3D Printing for Global Logistics Industrylg...
|4
|1518
|182