The cost of additive manufacturing: machine productivity, economies of scale and technology-push
As part of the cosmos of digital fabrication technology, Additive Manufacturing (AM) systems are able to manufacture three-dimensional components and products directly from raw material and 3D design data. The layer-by-layer operating process of these systems does not require the use of tools, mould...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2016
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44604/ |
| _version_ | 1848796956241952768 |
|---|---|
| author | Baumers, Martin Dickens, Phill Tuck, Christopher Hague, Richard |
| author_facet | Baumers, Martin Dickens, Phill Tuck, Christopher Hague, Richard |
| author_sort | Baumers, Martin |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | As part of the cosmos of digital fabrication technology, Additive Manufacturing (AM) systems are able to manufacture three-dimensional components and products directly from raw material and 3D design data. The layer-by-layer operating process of these systems does not require the use of tools, moulds or dies.
Technology observers speculate that AM will have a profound economic impact on the manufacturing sector and indeed on wider society. By constructing a model of production cost for two different AM systems used commercially for the manufacture of end-use metal parts, Electron Beam Melting (EBM) and Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), this paper performs an inter-process comparison of cost performance. High specific costs, measured at £2.39 and £6.18 per cm3 of material deposited respectively, are identified as a central impediment to more widespread technology adoption of such additive systems.
The research demonstrates differing levels of system productivity, suggesting that the observed deposition rates are not sufficient for the adoption of EBM and DMLS in high volume manufacturing applications. Despite the absence of amortisable tooling costs, the analysis also reveals that economies of scale are achievable in AM. The results reached are further discussed in the light of the varying strategic requirements posed by the market-pull and technology-push modes of innovation which are both found in the AM industry. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:56:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-44604 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:56:13Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-446042020-04-29T15:18:53Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44604/ The cost of additive manufacturing: machine productivity, economies of scale and technology-push Baumers, Martin Dickens, Phill Tuck, Christopher Hague, Richard As part of the cosmos of digital fabrication technology, Additive Manufacturing (AM) systems are able to manufacture three-dimensional components and products directly from raw material and 3D design data. The layer-by-layer operating process of these systems does not require the use of tools, moulds or dies. Technology observers speculate that AM will have a profound economic impact on the manufacturing sector and indeed on wider society. By constructing a model of production cost for two different AM systems used commercially for the manufacture of end-use metal parts, Electron Beam Melting (EBM) and Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), this paper performs an inter-process comparison of cost performance. High specific costs, measured at £2.39 and £6.18 per cm3 of material deposited respectively, are identified as a central impediment to more widespread technology adoption of such additive systems. The research demonstrates differing levels of system productivity, suggesting that the observed deposition rates are not sufficient for the adoption of EBM and DMLS in high volume manufacturing applications. Despite the absence of amortisable tooling costs, the analysis also reveals that economies of scale are achievable in AM. The results reached are further discussed in the light of the varying strategic requirements posed by the market-pull and technology-push modes of innovation which are both found in the AM industry. Elsevier 2016-01-31 Article NonPeerReviewed Baumers, Martin, Dickens, Phill, Tuck, Christopher and Hague, Richard (2016) The cost of additive manufacturing: machine productivity, economies of scale and technology-push. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 102 . pp. 193-201. ISSN 0040-1625 Additive manufacturing Rapid manufacturing Rapid prototyping 3D printing Digital fabrication Production cost Productivity Economies of scale https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2015.02.015 doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2015.02.015 doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2015.02.015 |
| spellingShingle | Additive manufacturing Rapid manufacturing Rapid prototyping 3D printing Digital fabrication Production cost Productivity Economies of scale Baumers, Martin Dickens, Phill Tuck, Christopher Hague, Richard The cost of additive manufacturing: machine productivity, economies of scale and technology-push |
| title | The cost of additive manufacturing: machine productivity, economies of scale and technology-push |
| title_full | The cost of additive manufacturing: machine productivity, economies of scale and technology-push |
| title_fullStr | The cost of additive manufacturing: machine productivity, economies of scale and technology-push |
| title_full_unstemmed | The cost of additive manufacturing: machine productivity, economies of scale and technology-push |
| title_short | The cost of additive manufacturing: machine productivity, economies of scale and technology-push |
| title_sort | cost of additive manufacturing: machine productivity, economies of scale and technology-push |
| topic | Additive manufacturing Rapid manufacturing Rapid prototyping 3D printing Digital fabrication Production cost Productivity Economies of scale |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44604/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44604/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44604/ |