Selective laser melting raw material commoditization: impact on comparative competitiveness of additive manufacturing

Siavash H. Khajavi, Gege Deng, Jan Holmström, Pasi Puukko and Jouni Partanen

International Journal of Production Research, 2018, vol. 56, issue 14, 4874-4896

Abstract: The paper analyses the impact of cheaper metal powder supplies on the comparative competitiveness of additive manufacturing (AM). By utilising two case studies, we compare the economic impact of an innovative titanium extraction method on Selective Laser Melting (SLM) and conventional methods of machining and casting. A switch-over analysis identifies the production quantities above which conventional manufacturing is more cost competitive than additive manufacturing. This analysis is performed for current raw material as well as cheaper raw material supply. The results illustrate the improved comparative competitiveness of SLM as the titanium supply is commoditised and more readily available in powder form. The responsiveness of the supply chain is improved as the switch-over point between SLM and conventional methods increases. Moreover, as the raw material supply chain for titanium is transformed through the use of this novel extraction method, the manufacturing supply chain is simplified.

Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00207543.2018.1436781 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:tprsxx:v:56:y:2018:i:14:p:4874-4896

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/TPRS20

DOI: 10.1080/00207543.2018.1436781

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Production Research is currently edited by Professor A. Dolgui

More articles in International Journal of Production Research from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().