Impact Assessment of Additive Manufacturing on Sustainable Business Models in Industry 4.0 Context

Additive manufacturing has the potential to make a longstanding impact on the manufacturing world and is a core element of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Additive manufacturing signifies a new disruptive path on how we will produce parts and products. Several studies suggest this technology could...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2020-09, Vol.12 (17), p.7066
Main Authors: Godina, Radu, Ribeiro, Inês, Matos, Florinda, T. Ferreira, Bruna, Carvalho, Helena, Peças, Paulo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Additive manufacturing
Artificial intelligence
Augmented reality
Big Data
Blockchain
Business models
Consumers
Customization
Data integrity
Design
Economic impact
Efficiency
Industry 4.0
Internet of Things
Interoperability
Inventory management
Logistics
Machine learning
Manufacturing industry
New technology
Product development
Shape optimization
Sustainability
Technology adoption
Value chain
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Summary:Additive manufacturing has the potential to make a longstanding impact on the manufacturing world and is a core element of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Additive manufacturing signifies a new disruptive path on how we will produce parts and products. Several studies suggest this technology could foster sustainability into manufacturing systems based on its potential of optimizing material consumption, creating new shapes, customizing designs and shortening production times that, all combined, will greatly transform some of the existing business models. Although it requires reaching a certain level of design maturity to completely insert this technology in an industrial setting, additive manufacturing has the potential to favorably impact the manufacturing sector by reducing costs in production, logistics, inventories, and in the development and industrialization of a new product. The transformation of the industry and the acceleration of the adopting rate of new technologies is driving organizational strategy. Thus, through the lenses of Industry 4.0 and its technological concepts, this paper aims to contribute to the knowledge about the impacts of additive manufacturing technology on sustainable business models. This aim is accomplished through a proposed framework, as well as the models and scales that can be used to determine these impacts. The effects are assessed by taking into account the social, environmental and economic impacts of additive manufacturing on business models and for all these three dimensions a balanced scorecard structure is proposed.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su12177066