ABSTRACT
Additive manufacturing offers capabilities different from those of traditional manufacturing. Whether these differences are enough to adopt additive manufacturing depends upon what value is provided and where along a value chain. Service operations require a critical customer input for the production of a unit for that customer. Service operations are less efficient than manufacturing operations. Additive manufacturing affects the degree of service operations for a company and with it the value proposition. An example is provided for shoes where seven different approaches have been observed. Activities such as design, production, and marketing and sales of shoes vary among those approaches in terms of whether a company or a prosumer is involved and whether activities take place in a central location or are dispersed.
