Additive manufacturing scenario for automotive spare parts supply: A case study approach

The rise of Industry 4.0 technologies is transforming the automotive industry. Additive manufacturing is one innovation that could prove pivotal in the automotive spare parts supply chain. On-demand production, enabled by additive manufacturing, could lead to significant cost savings by reducing inventory. The complex structure of the automotive supply chain offers many opportunities for the positioning of additive manufacturing and realizing the potential for production closer to the point of use. While several scenarios for the positioning of additive manufacturing have been proposed in the literature, there is a lack of empirical research and case studies evaluating the practicality of the scenarios. An embedded single case study was conducted with eight key informants from the automotive industry to extend the theory and examine the feasibility of the scenarios from the literature in practice. The findings suggest the implementation of additive manufacturing in a regional distribution center or outsourcing to additive manufacturing service providers. Both scenarios have shortcomings that are of practical importance. Implementing additive manufacturing in various regional distribution centers would require greater investment by the original equipment manufacturer while outsourcing to additive manufacturing service providers would entail costly certification procedures. With this in mind, a two-stage implementation scenario was developed and validated. This scenario proposes the production of spare parts in a regional distribution center or at an additive manufacturing service provider, depending on the complexity of the manufacturing process. The responsibilities of each participant in the automotive supply chain are discussed, and an exemplary process flow is presented.