Improving effectiveness of spare parts supply by additive manufacturing as dual sourcing option

Abstract

The low-volume spare parts business is often identified as a potential beneficiary of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies. Currently, high AM unit costs or low AM part reliabilities deem the application of AM economical inferior to conventional manufacturing (CM) methods in most cases. In this paper, we investigate the potential to overcome these deficiencies by combining AM and CM methods. For that purpose, we develop an approach that is tailored toward the unique characteristics of dual sourcing with two production methods. Opposed to the traditional dual sourcing literature, we consider the different failure behavior of parts produced by AM and CM methods. Using numerical experiments and a case study in the aviation industry, we explore under which conditions dual sourcing with AM performs best. Single sourcing with AM methods typically leads to higher purchasing and maintenance costs while single sourcing with CM methods increases backorder and holding costs. Savings of more than 30% compared to the best single sourcing option are possible even if the reliability or unit costs of a part sourced with AM are three times worse than for a CM part. In conclusion, dual sourcing methods may play an important role to exploit the benefits of AM methods while avoiding its drawbacks in the low-volume spare parts business.

Opportunities for the Application of 3D Printing in the Critical Infrastructure System

“…However, it should be considered that in relation to critical infrastructure, they can also be considered from the traditional point of view of production systems allowing for the manufacture of machine and equipment components. At the same time, they can be an element of the system, performing functions in crisis situations to sustain the operation of strategic technical equipment, such as the production of spare parts by 3D printing in the absence of access to original parts [29,30].…”

Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain Management

“…Interesting for this application is that a temporary fix might even turn-out valuable if it yields lower performance rates. Preliminary results indicate that, in case the failure rate is ten times higher than for the conventional manufactured part, a temporary fix still may remain profitable (Knofius et al 2017).…”

“…Fig. 23.2 Conventional (a) and AM (b) design for a hinge bracket used in aircrafts(Knofius et al 2017) …”

Potential of additive manufacturing for upstream automotive supply chains

“…Since the automotive supply chain requires several thousands of auto components from multiple suppliers worldwide for manufacturing a single vehicle, it necessitates the continuous supply of those components to ensure uninterrupted operations, which has become questionable due to the prolonging COVID-19 scenario. With its innovative capability, AM technology can substitute the complex assemblies of various parts into a single integrated structure that comprises the various assemblies' features (Zijm, Knofius, and van der Heijden 2019;Knofius et al 2021). Thus, the design freedom provided by AM can reduce the number of required auto components through the option of a single integrated structure comprising the features of various auto component assemblies (Ford 2017).…”