Archive — September 2019 feature on on-demand manufacturing and logistics. Services, figures and roles refer to that period. The opening story is an illustration whose factual basis was not established, not a verified case study.
The original text introduced a scenario associated with Fairphone and placed around 2013: “Manon, a young girl, receives 3 SMS, notifying her that the local factory had started the cover of her phone. A unique cover, specifically designed for her with the help of a 3D printer. It took 2 hours to manufacture the cover based on the given specifications. Eager to receive her new purchase, Manon chose the local factory because it generates the cheapest carbon cost, and the delivery man being in the neighborhood, it makes no doubt she would have received her mobile phone’s cover as soon as it would be ready.” Fiction or not, Manon’s story raises questions about today’s market. It is no secret that on-demand production has almost become the “basic service” for a wide range of 3D printing companies. So, what is the impact on the supply chain, on its players? And how far the modus operandi has evolved for manufacturers and end consumers?
3D printing, disruptive element in the supply chain or accelerator of turnover?
3D printing can change how brands, manufacturers and service providers divide production tasks. Some companies use specialists for prototypes, limited series or customised products. Selection depends on costs, volumes and technical constraints.
Famous shoe brand adidas has for instance partnered with 3D printing company Carbon to produce a limited collection of AlphaEDGE 4D LTD sneakers using the company’s proprietary technology. In the same vein, Morel relies on Initial, just as Safilo relied on Materialise for the production of their 3D printed eyewear collection.
Supply chain management at an industrial 3D printing service company
We reached out to Protolabs, provider of industrial 3D printing services, in order to know how the company ensures the management of its supply chain, since it integrated 3D printing into its offering.
Protolabs manufactures custom-prototypes and on demand production parts. They first used injection moulding and CNC machining in their manufacturing processes. In 2015, the company integrated industrial 3D printing into its offering and expanded its range of technologies to SLA, SLS, DMLS, MultiJet Fusion, Polyjet and Silicone 3D printing.
According to Solideth Chang, Sales manager in the company, “supply chain management is strategic to secure companies’ growth and profitability: it mitigates risks in product development, may prevent disruptions and enables to maximise opportunities. In other words, in the field of product development, optimised supply chain accelerates time to market and provides a quick response to the endless changes, while in the field of on-demand manufacturing, it handles threats, and opportunities.
Partnering with suppliers that leverage technology and process excellence to expedite responses and deliveries is crucial in the successful implementation of a good supply chain.”
Talking about the use of 3D printing in supply chain, Solideth explains:
“3D printing expedites delivery of models and prototypes. Used in lieu of, or in conjunction with, conventional manufacturing practices, 3D printing may reduce lead times significantly. Additionally, additive manufacturing proves to be an efficient process with little demands in terms of time or effort on the front end of the process.
However, it yields parts with somewhat different physical characteristics and design constraints than those parts made using traditional manufacturing processes.
When seeking to evaluate product design with prototypes produced using the same methods as those for production, there are suppliers that specialise in rapid manufacturing using conventional methods, such as CNC machining and injection moulding. Although the manufacturing process is unchanged, process optimisation through automation leads to much shorter lead times. For example, an order of 500 injection-moulded prototypes, which can take months to deliver, can be made available in 7 to 10 days using Protolabs’ rapid injection moulding services.”
On-demand manufacturing can reduce some lead times or inventory. Its effect on revenue and profitability needs measurement for each business; it is not automatic.
On the start-ups side
A wide range of emerging start-ups created their business models around on-demand production of 3D printed products. 3D printed consumer products that stand out from the crowd often include eyewear. October 71 and King Children are a few examples of companies that have based their services on on-demand production of 3D printed glasses.
For a young company, on-demand production can reduce finished-goods inventory. Equipment or services, qualification, distribution and customer acquisition still require funding. 3D printing alone therefore does not guarantee profitability.
What about the supply chain and logistics (SCL) specialists now? Has the advent of 3D printing been a hurdle in their activities?
Supply Chain & Logistics companies and 3D printing
In a research carried out by Georgia Institute of Technology, researchers point out that “since the 1980s, computer technology has advanced at such a phenomenal rate that it is currently far ahead of the ability of the supply and logistics field to adequately utilize the new technologies.”
The original feature does not supply the precise bibliographic reference for the study attributed to Georgia Tech.
These examples show logistics companies testing new roles alongside manufacturers. They do not establish that every logistics provider benefited or suffered from additive manufacturing.
In 2016, UPS announced an on-demand manufacturing network involving Fast Radius and an agreement with SAP. This account concerns the initiative at that time.
UPS documentation linked the Louisville facility with services in about 60 US stores. The aim was to connect ordering, production and shipping; timing depended on the part and order.
The SAP agreement concerned integration of supply-chain, order and production data. Digitising the workflow does not replace technical validation of the parts.
The announced workflow routed orders according to location, speed and required quality. This historical description is not a promise of current availability or delivery.
The proposed integration aimed to simplify the path from digital part data to manufacture and delivery, subject to the technical and commercial conditions of the service.
On 16 January 2018, FedEx announced Forward Depots. Its remit included critical inventory, service-parts logistics, 3D printing, repairs and the packaging laboratory.
That announcement alone does not establish that the service relied exclusively on local manufacturing or support a direct operational comparison with UPS.
A digital file can move rapidly between sites, but manufacturing and delivery depend on capacity, feedstock, inspection and transport. This leads to the concept of digital inventory.
The cloud, a new form of storage?
Digital inventory can replace part of a physical stock where parts are suitable for on-demand manufacture. It still needs a validated definition, usage rights and available production capacity.
Potential storage savings must be weighed against production lead time and service requirements; not every spare part is a suitable candidate.
Cloud CAD platforms such as Onshape allow teams at different sites to collaborate on design data.
“On a daily basis, there are companies all over the world – throughout Asia, Europe and the United States – contacting us for printing small parts with our nanoArch® printers,” says BMF’s CEO, Dr. Xiaoning He. “Before using Onshape, we had to email CAD files back and forth with our customers. But now we can have our team in China and our customers overseas work together on the same model at the same time. It has really improved our efficiency and speed, and Onshape is the only CAD system that can deliver this capability.”
The exclusivity claimed in this testimony reflects the speaker’s assessment at the time; it is not established here by a market comparison.
BMF Material Technology specializes in micro/nano-scale 3D printing that enables to manufacture extremely small and complex parts such as connectors, endoscopes, cardiac stents and tiny springs.
Centralised data can reduce uncontrolled copies and ease version management. It does not eliminate every security risk. Access and sharing permissions, authentication and account protection remain essential.
Furthermore, Protolabs’ Sales Manager explained that, thanks to their web-based business model, they have quoted 1 million unique part numbers for moulded parts globally and served 37000 unique product developers in 2017. So, in this context, one could consider the cloud as a new form of storage if “the end user’s technology, knowhow, and access to materials enable it and also provided the producer is happy to give access to his parts cad file.”
The million-part-number figure concerns quotations, not a verified count of manufactured parts. The 500-prototype example earlier in the interview concerns rapid injection moulding, not 3D printing.
In a nutshell…
The examples show several ways to connect design, production and delivery. Cloud tools can support coordination and digital inventory; they replace neither equipment nor qualification.
Effects on each participant depend on products, volumes and the operating model. Conventional methods remain relevant to many applications.
Personal fabrication can also move some operations to the user. It still depends on a supply chain for machines, materials, energy and services: logistics does not disappear.
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