Investigating the Impact of Additive Manufacturing on Business Models and Associated Barriers in Spare Parts Production : A Comparative Case Study

Abstract: Additive manufacturing is described in literature as a disruptive technology for spare parts supply chains and shows the potential to impact business models for spare parts production through various advantages over conventional manufacturing. Understanding changes in business models is important for companies to adopt any technology and explore business opportunities around it. This research aims to fill the gap in literature on how business models change when additive manufacturing is used for spare parts production in the automotive industry. To investigate those changes a qualitative research design with semi-guided interviews with experts in automotive companies was chosen. The findings showed that the adoption of additive manufacturing in the automotive industry is generally slow and only a few spare parts are specifically developed for additive manufacturing. Especially for niche low-volume and high-value applications AM is already used. At the same time identifying new business cases is needed for broader adoption. Contrasting opinions in literature that additive manufacturing is a disruptive technology, the adopters referred to it rather as a tool. Moreover, the findings showed that the potential of additive manufacturing described in literature is still there but cannot be utilized yet due to various identified barriers at the current stage. The main identified barriers are lack of knowledge, suitable manufacturing data, and resources to explore additive manufacturing.