ABSTRACT
The final strategy of this book goes beyond 3D printing of new or reimagined products detailed in Strategy 2 (Chapter 4) and begins to work through issues around the relationship between the customer and the producer, its potential for change, and the operational impacts of introducing 3D printing into an existing business. Through the five approaches detailed in this chapter, the often-unanticipated consequences and disruptive changes caused by shifting to additive manufacturing are discussed.
Strategy 3 begins with digital inventory and new methods of distribution enabled by 3D printing, pertinent considerations following the COVID-19 pandemic, and global disruption to manufacturing and supply chains. Personalisation and scalable systems of supply then build on these supply considerations and go beyond the confines of customisation, integrating with personalised data such as 3D scans and medical images, whilst accommodating for “markets of one.” Finally, digital business innovation represents the culmination of all previous approaches through Strategy 1, “Working with existing production,” Strategy 2, “Product Redesign and New Product Design,” and Strategy 3. Numerous examples from industry are provided to illustrate how entire industries have been transformed by considered and structured adoption of 3D printing. This chapter is also important for entrepreneurs and start-ups whose agility allows them to begin working at the cutting edge of additive manufacturing unencumbered by traditional manufacturing paradigms, and it may be an appropriate starting point informed by the approaches of previous strategies.
