IMPLEMENTATION OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES FOR MASS CUSTOMISATION

摘要

With rapid technological progress in additive manufacturing (AM), enterprises are increasingly attempting to utilise the technology for mass customisation. This study investigates the managerial and technical implementation challenges that these companies face. We adopted a qualitative research design with a case study based approach. Data were gathered from secondary sources and semi-structured interviews to form three case studies with companies involved in adopting AM for mass customisation. Our research found that existing studies on the economics of higher scale production for AM needs to be expanded. In the literature, traditional manufacturing systems are believed to be more cost efficient than AM for higher production volumes. However, case studies yield results that show the opposite. The data suggest that in certain industry sectors AM adopts the role of a mass production technique. Low tolerance levels for mistakes, time pressure to process orders and technical restrictions in raw material supply and machine modifiability have been identified to be a major challenge in the implementation of AM for mass customisation. These results provide insights to support the development of a framework of AM implementation which will benefit decision makers in companies and policy makers who are considering to invest in AM.