{"id":1636,"date":"2019-09-02T14:26:43","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T13:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/?p=1636"},"modified":"2019-09-06T13:59:05","modified_gmt":"2019-09-06T12:59:05","slug":"revolutionising-supply-chains-with-3d-printing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/revolutionising-supply-chains-with-3d-printing\/","title":{"rendered":"Revolutionising supply chains with 3D printing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In our latest post, Katy Alice Huckle, Ryan Iwanski, Giovanni Colantonio and Heath Jeffries explore the impact of 3D printing on the manufacturing industry.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We already know that 3D printing is a game-changer. Additive technology not only allows previously un-makeable products to be built in a matter of hours; it also allows them to be built anywhere in the world. Alone, these two features signal an enormous impending impact on the manufacturing industry, particularly when it comes to their supply chains. But what will this impact be? How are things going to change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panalpina, Shapeways and Cardiff University have teamed up\nto address exactly this question. The result is an innovative and\nthought-provoking paper that sheds new light on the future of 3D printing and\nsupply chains. The paper, \u2018Economies of collaboration in build-to-model\noperations\u2019, has just been published online and open source. Access it now<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The paper explores how additive manufacturers should\napproach order fulfilment across the 3D printing industry, building on an\nexisting case study from Panalpina and Shapeways. The authors propose a brand\nnew manufacturing mode \u2013 Build to Model (BTM) \u2013 which summarises all the\nmanufacturing and logistics information required to produce and deliver 3D\nprinted products to the end customer. This approach has the potential to be a quicker,\ncheaper and less environmentally damaging way to produce goods. BTM represents a\nbrand new B2B model with the potential to revolutionise supply chains and\ncompletely change how we approach 3D printing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is \u201cBuild to Model\u201d?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the huge popularity of Lean Management and other continuous improvement programmes, many people are now familiar with Just in Time delivery or Make to Stock vs Make to Order; they have become almost everyday business concepts. When goods are \u2018Make to Order\u2019, for instance, a manufacturer will have the right parts or materials to hand in order to produce a final product on demand. The manufacturer assembles this bespoke product directly for the end customer; its supply chain supports the process of providing all necessary components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With \u2018Build to Model,\u2019 the manufacturing process changes\ncompletely because 3D printing enables a delay in the choice of manufacturer\nuntil the day of production. Product design becomes the pivotal part of the\nprocess, instead of the supply chain. A product can be 3D printed anywhere in\nthe world at any time: designers can upload their data files to a preselected\nmanufacturer\u2019s website, and manufacturers can bid for the work in an electronic\nmarketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Build to Model\u2019 means manufacturers can take on more work\nthan their in-house capacity allows: it\u2019s easy to outsource an order to an\nexternal 3D printer as it requires no customer-specific tooling, jigs, fixtures\nor fittings. 3D printing brings consistency of product and makes it possible to\nselect printers close to the end customer, saving a business time and money by\nsimplifying assembly operations and reducing handling and warehousing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In essence, the \u2018Build to Model\u2019 approach uses 3D printing\nto give manufacturers more flexibility. It cuts out the need for a \u2018timeline\u2019\napproach to manufacturing (ordering, supplying, warehousing, etc) and fully\nenables a \u201cMake-to-Order\u201d fulfilment strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conventional Fulfilment vs Build to Model<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Why do we need BtM?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Organisations are under increasing pressure to up their ante\nand \u201cget ready for Industry 4.0\u201d. But how many executives really know what this\nmeans? How many businesses are actually prepared for a digital, data-driven\nworld? Business model innovation has never been more critical for\norganisations, and entire industries, in order to update and adapt their\nprocesses and survive the switch to digital. 3D printing in itself allows a\nrapid overhaul of existing manufacturing and supply chain processes \u2013 the shape\nof the new remains to be defined, and this is why we need innovations such as a\n\u2018Build to Model\u2019 approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Build to Model\u2019 operates in a virtual world, shifting the\nemphasis from materials and supply chains to printer capacity and digital\nmodelling. Manufacturers no longer need to keep component parts in stock;\ninstead of moving materials to reach the market, the 3D design file is simply\nsent by the customer to the manufacturer, who sends it to the printer along\nwith the material and machine specifications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Build to Model\u2019 leads the way to a simpler manufacturing world, where a network of collaborative 3D printing companies can coexist, sharing product designs globally, to produce goods on-demand at the touch of a button.  Currently, it is particularly relevant for the growing industry of additive manufacturers who produce products both for industry and for consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did BtM come about?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe partial outsourcing relationship between Shapeways and Panalpina demonstrates the potential for general purpose manufacturing technology to disrupt the conventional supply chain model.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Panalpina, one of the world\u2019s largest third-party logistics organisations, introduced a 3D printing operation several years\u2019 ago at their facility in Eindhoven, in the Netherlands. The purpose of the facility was to produce 3D printed parts for Shapeways, a global leader in additive manufacturing for the consumer market. Together, the two companies developed a collaborative model of outsourced 3D printing, to expand 3D printing capabilities, create leaner supply chains, lessen environmental impact and reduce costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnership between Panalpina and Shapeways realised the\nfull potential of the \u2018Build to Model\u2019 approach. The partnership allowed the\ncompanies to outsource 3DP work to each other, successfully balancing demand\nand capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardiff University joined the collaboration through the Panalpina Centre for Manufacturing and Logistics Research (PARC). PARC is a research centre specialising in inventory forecasting, distributed manufacturing and additive manufacturing. It is a unique endeavour between an organisation and academia; it is through PARC that the \u2018Build to Model\u2019 approach was developed. Researchers from PARC approached Panalpina and Shapeways to investigate their 3D printing partnership and to develop new models of supply chain based on the possibilities of collaborative 3D printing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Professor Aris Syntetos and Dr Emrah Demir examine 3D printing technology.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

 What\u2019s next for BtM?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe future role of 3D printing in supply chains depends on developing new ways of operating to simplify current supply chains and to create new types of supply structures.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018Build to Model\u2019 concept is still in its infancy; it\nrepresents an enormous shift in ways of doing business, and most established organisations\nwill be slow to adapt. But adapt they will; additive manufacturing is becoming\nmore and more prominent as the technology develops. 3D printing is well on the\nway to becoming a mainstream method of production, and those that do not take\nadvantage of the new possibilities enabled by 3D printing will be left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Existing additive manufacturers will already see a major\nimpact of \u2018Build to Model\u2019 within their own operations. Old, traditional supply\nchains simply will not work effectively for these new types of business and\nthey will already have adapted their supply chains and production strategies to\nfit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigations such as the project carried out by Cardiff\nare absolutely critical for redefining best practices, allowing industry to\nmake the necessary changes to prepare for a digital world of 3D printing and\ndistributed manufacturing, on-demand, all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katy\nAlice Huckle<\/strong><\/a> is Corporate Development Manager at the Panalpina\nCentre for Manufacturing and Logistics Research<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was written in collaboration with Ryan Iwanski and Giovanni Colantonio <\/a>from Shapeways<\/a>, the world’s fastest 3D printing source for prototype and production parts, and Heath Jeffries<\/a> Innovation Communications Manager at Cardiff University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In our latest post, Katy Alice Huckle, Ryan Iwanski, Giovanni Colantonio and Heath Jeffries explore the impact of 3D printing on the manufacturing industry. We already know that 3D printing […]","protected":false},"author":1726,"featured_media":1655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[883],"tags":[1083,1084,1092,1088,1087,9,28,100,1090,1097,37,1089,564,1096,1093,1085,1098,1086,25,171,1091],"class_list":["post-1636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manufacturing","tag-3d-printing","tag-additive-technology","tag-assembly","tag-b2b","tag-build-to-model","tag-business","tag-cardiff-business-school","tag-cardiff-university","tag-delivery","tag-design","tag-innovation","tag-lean","tag-manufacturing","tag-modelling","tag-operations","tag-panalpina","tag-panalpina-centre-for-manufacturing-and-logistics-research","tag-shapeways","tag-supply-chains","tag-technology","tag-warehousing"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paOfaS-qo","meta_box":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/620\/2019\/09\/3D-printing-graphic.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1636"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1657,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1636\/revisions\/1657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}