ABSTRACT
With the COVID-19 pandemic, additive manufacturing (AM) is one of the factors driving digital manufacturing and is expected to significantly change the business model of the industry. AM makes it possible to create unibody structures and custom products of complex shapes, reduce modeling cycle times, and improve yields. Mass production systems in the field of metal AM have been established for aircraft and automobile parts in Europe and the United States. In Japan, the number of service bureaus, companies engaged in contract processing using 3D printers, has increased. However, the market has not expanded significantly. Most AM machines installed in Japan are manufactured in Germany or the United States. In this chapter, we analyze case studies of service bureaus in Japan that are engaged in the metal AM modeling business. Many service bureaus have built a “library” that enables the retention and retrieval of “knowledge” in the form of modeling data and recipes. By combining the use of such “knowledge” with existing strengths, the services are becoming increasingly sophisticated. It is also suggested that it is important to develop services across the organizations in collaboration with the companies in different industrial fields.
