The role of service providers in 3D printing adoption
| Published date | 08 July 2019 |
| Date | 08 July 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-08-2018-0339 |
| Pages | 1189-1205 |
| Author | Atanu Chaudhuri,Helen Rogers,Peder Soberg,Kulwant S. Pawar |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
The role of service providers
in 3D printing adoption
Atanu Chaudhuri
Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark
Helen Rogers
Technische Hochschule Nurnberg Georg Simon Ohm, Nurnberg, Germany
Peder Soberg
Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark, and
Kulwant S. Pawar
University of Nottingham Business School, Nottingham, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to identify challenges faced by industrial firms at different phases of
adoption of 3D printing (3DP), and outline how 3DP service providers can help address these challenges.
Design/methodology/approach –Separate interview questionnaires for 3DP users and 3DP service
providers were used to conduct semi-structured interviews.
Findings –The key 3DP adoption challenges are as follows: creating a business case; difficulty in using
different materials; optimising the process for specific parts; lack of “plug and play”solutions offered by
equipment manufacturers; limited availability of training and educational support; poor end product quality;
machine breakdowns; and high cost of maintenance and spare components. Using the theoretical lens of the
technology acceptance model, results show a lack of ease of use and technological turbulence impact
companies’decisions to adopt 3DP. 3DP service providers can indeed attempt to alleviate the above
challenges faced by customers through providing multiple 3DP services across different stages of adoption.
Research limitations/implications –Future research should examine the role of 3DP equipment
manufacturers and design and modeling software solutions providers in improving adoption and how 3DP
equipment manufacturers could develop into more integrated service providers as the technology advances.
Practical implications –Service providers can help customers transition to 3DP and should develop a
portfolio of services that fits different phases of adoption.
Originality/value –The paper outlines how 3DP service providers can help address customer challenges in
adoption of 3DP across different stages of adoption.
Keywords Denmark, Germany, Service providers, Additive manufacturing,
3D printing adoption challenges, Industrial firms
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Many firms across a diverse range of industries are exploring 3D Printing (3DP) for multiple
applications including prototyping, tooling and component manufacturing. Conservative
estimates consider 3DP to be still at an early diffusion stage, with room for further and rapid
development (Anusci, 2015). However, 3DP has multiple potential advantages, i.e. decrease
in lead time (Mellor et al., 2014; Chiu and Lin, 2016), reduction in transportation, logistics and
inventory costs (Khajavi et al., 2014; Chen et al., 2015), weight reduction, energy
consumption reduction and improvement in environmental sustainability (Petrovic et al.,
2011; Chen et al., 2015; Holmström et al., 2017), improved flexibility and customization
(Khorram Niaki and Nonino, 2017; Holmström et al., 2017; Deradjat and Minshall, 2017).
Indeed, increasingly sophisticated 3DP technologies are expected to transform
manufacturing and provide impetus to 3DP services, as well as applications of new
business models (Gallouj et al., 2015; Hannibal and Knight, 2018; Jiang et al. 2017).
Motivation to adopt 3DP depends on the perceived relative advantage of the technology
and the resulting performance expectations (Schniederjans, 2017). Such motivations and the
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 119 No. 6, 2019
pp. 1189-1205
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-08-2018-0339
Received 6 August 2018
Revised 30 November 2018
Accepted 28 December 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
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3D printing
adoption
willingness to scale 3DP production may, however, differ depending on the firm’s stage in
the adoption cycle and their current level of maturity in adoption. Differences between
expectation and satisfaction, expected and perceived service and utility differential between
the selected alternative and a reference affect the intention of the user to adopt new
technologies (Ha, 2018). However, only limited research is available on adoption of 3DP
(Shukla et al., 2018), particularly those employed by industrial manufacturing companies,
the challenges faced by them in adoption, expectation mismatch concerning services bought
and on ways to overcome such challenges.
3DP service providers offer a full spectrum of 3DP-related services. These include
services for selling and servicing of additive manufacturing (AM) equipment, the design
and/or manufacture of 3D-printed products, as well as other consultancy and feasibility
analysis services (Rogers et al., 2017; Sasson and Johnson, 2016). The developments in 3D
technology show no signs of abatement. Indeed, despite the interest in understanding and
monitoring the growth and potential of 3DP (Berman, 2012; Mellor et al., 2014; Weller et al.,
2015; Baumers et al., 2016; Birtchnell et al., 2017; Dwivedi et al., 2017), there is no research
which has analysed the roles of service providers in addressing the challenges faced by
manufacturers in adopting 3DP. Thus, the specific research questions this study addresses
are as follows:
RQ1. What are the key challenges faced by Danish and German manufacturers in
adopting 3DP and using 3DP services?
RQ2. What is the role of 3DP service providers in overcoming the challenges associated
with the adoption of 3DP?
Interviews were used to collect data to answer the above questions, conducted with three
Danish firms and four German firms, as well as with one Danish and two German service
providers. As a result, this study provides new insights into the practices of industrial firms
implementing 3DP and insights into the challenges they face in doing so. The paper then
discusses the roles of service providers, highlighting how they address those challenges. By
identifying disparities between the needs of these firms and the types of services offered by
3DP service providers, the study suggests a portfolio of services that can be offered by such
firms during the pre-adoption, adoption and post-adoption phases of 3DP. Such services are
expected to improve the competitiveness of 3DP service providers but, more importantly,
serve to overcome challenges faced by industrial customers and thereby act as a driving
force in their adoption of 3DP technologies. In this paper, “3D printing services”refers to
3DP offered as a service on demand (Rogers et al., 2017) as well as the auxiliary services
supporting the installation, maintenance and configuration of 3D printers in the facilities of
customers (Rogers et al., 2016).
2. Literature review
2.1 Challenges in adopting 3DP
New technology adoption is fraught with challenges (Lin et al., 2018). Thus, despite
technological advances, several limitations of 3DP are hindering widespread adoption. These
include slow process speed (Merrill, 2014), poor dimensional accuracy compared to some
conventional processes, rough surface finish (Petrovic et al., 2011), problems with process
predictability and repeatability (Baumers et al., 2016; Chekurov et al., 2018) and restricted
choice of materials (Berman, 2012). Other barriers are high capital investment, high material
and maintenancecosts (Chekurov et al., 2018), insufficient materialproperties, difficulties with
material removal, high process costs and high energy intensity (Mellor et al., 2014; Gilpin,
2014; Oettmeier and Hofmann, 2016). While the above challenges emanate from the current
limitations of the technologies and the manufacturing processes, these do not include issues
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