Additive Manufacturing as a Driver for the Sustainability of Short-Lifecycle Customized Products: the Case Study of Mobile Case Covers

Unlike subtractive manufacturing processes, by their own nature additive technologies offer the potential to reduce both raw material consumption and production waste. The positive impact of Additive Manufacturing on sustainability is more evident for those mass consumption products that are characterized by a short lifecycle. Nevertheless, in order to take full advantage of these technologies and let them achieve their full potential, a great change is needed in the behaviour and attitude of consumers. Compromises may be necessary to accommodate technological limitations, and customers may need to prioritize between functional and aesthetic product characteristics. The positive impact of additive manufacturing on sustainability is more evident for those mass consumption products that are characterized by a short lifecycle. The material flow and sustainability of 3D printing are described in this paper for the manufacturing of mobile case covers, and compared to those of mass production injection moulding.

[1]  Jan Holmström,et al.  Additive manufacturing in the spare parts supply chain , 2014, Comput. Ind..

[2]  Eleftherios Iakovou,et al.  A methodological framework for the inclusion of modern additive manufacturing into the production portfolio of a focused factory , 2015 .

[3]  Daniel Roy Eyers,et al.  Technology review for mass customisation using rapid manufacturing , 2010 .

[4]  Eleonora Atzeni,et al.  Overview on Additive Manufacturing Technologies , 2017, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[5]  David L. Bourell,et al.  Sustainability of additive manufacturing: measuring the energy consumption of the laser sintering process , 2011 .

[6]  F. Piller,et al.  Economic implications of 3D printing: Market structure models in light of additive manufacturing revisited , 2015 .

[7]  Mahesh Mani,et al.  Sustainability Characterization for Additive Manufacturing , 2014, Journal of research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

[8]  Barry Berman,et al.  3D printing: the new industrial revolution , 2012, IEEE Engineering Management Review.

[9]  John Irwin,et al.  Life-cycle economic analysis of distributed manufacturing with open-source 3-D printers , 2013, Mechatronics.

[10]  David Z. Zhang,et al.  Additive manufacturing: A framework for implementation , 2014 .

[11]  Simon Ford,et al.  Additive manufacturing and sustainability: an exploratory study of the advantages and challenges , 2016 .

[12]  Mincheol Kim,et al.  Management of used & end-of-life mobile phones in Korea: A review , 2010 .

[13]  Ian A. Ashcroft,et al.  Transparency Built‐in , 2013 .

[14]  Liang Hou,et al.  Additive manufacturing and its societal impact: a literature review , 2013 .

[15]  David W. Rosen,et al.  Additive Manufacturing Technologies: Rapid Prototyping to Direct Digital Manufacturing , 2009 .

[16]  Anton J.M. Schoot Uiterkamp,et al.  A global sustainability perspective on 3D printing technologies , 2014 .

[17]  Jeremy Faludi,et al.  Comparing Environmental Impacts of Additive Manufacturing vs. Traditional Machining via Life-Cycle Assessment , 2015 .

[18]  Milan Zeleny,et al.  High Technology and Barriers to Innovation: from Globalization to relocalization , 2012, Int. J. Inf. Technol. Decis. Mak..

[19]  Robert L. Bowerman,et al.  Introduction to the Additive Manufacturing Powder Metallurgy Supply Chain , 2015 .

[20]  Daniel Roy Eyers,et al.  Supply Chain Flexibility for Additive Manufacturing , 2013 .

[21]  Pascal Mognol,et al.  Sustainable manufacturing: evaluation and modeling of environmental impacts in additive manufacturing , 2013, The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology.

[22]  Cindy Kohtala,et al.  Addressing sustainability in research on distributed production: an integrated literature review , 2015 .

[23]  Suphunnika Ibbotson,et al.  Direct digital manufacturing: definition, evolution, and sustainability implications , 2015 .

[24]  Heng Zhou,et al.  The impact of additive manufacturing in the aircraft spare parts supply chain: supply chain operation reference (scor) model based analysis , 2014 .

[25]  Daniel Roy Eyers,et al.  Enhancing Responsiveness for Mass Customization Strategies through the Use of Rapid Manufacturing Technologies , 2010 .

[26]  Andrea Cataldo,et al.  A critical analysis of the sustainability of mobile phone use , 2013 .

[27]  Eleonora Atzeni,et al.  Additive manufacturing as a cost-effective way to produce metal parts , 2014 .

[28]  William L. Berry,et al.  Approaches to mass customization: configurations and empirical validation , 2000 .

[29]  Eleonora Atzeni,et al.  Redesign and cost estimation of rapid manufactured plastic parts , 2010 .