Statistical Technology Analysis for Competitive Sustainability of Three Dimensional Printing

The technology of three-dimensional (3D) printing was commercialized in the late 1980s. Since then, the development of this technology has been dramatically increasing. Moreover, 3D printing technology has been used in many different fields, such as electronics and medical appliances, because 3D printing is a technological convergence based on precision instruments, chemical materials, and electrical equipment. The technological impact of 3D printing is so powerful that we need to analyze 3D printing technology to understand the 3D printing industry. In addition, we want more analytical results for understanding the sustainability of 3D printing technology. Thus, we compare the technologies between 3D printing competitors to find their technological innovations and evolution from a technological sustainability. To analyze the 3D printing technology, we propose a new methodology of statistical technology analysis combing social network analysis with time series clustering. In our case study, we make a comparison between “3D Systems” and “Stratasys”, two major 3D printing companies, because they have been leading the sustainable technologies of 3D printing in the market. We illustrate how the proposed methodology can be applied to practical problems from the case study. This paper contributes to the sustainable technology management, and our research can expand to other competitors with diverse technological fields as well as 3D printing.