Paper Info
Title
The Influence Of Additive Manufacturing On The Configuration Of Make-To-Order Spare Parts Supply Chain Under Heterogeneous Demand
Abstract
Additive manufacturing (AM), alongside technological developments, has been used in the production of spare parts with positive results for spare parts supply chains. In this study, we investigate spare parts supply chains serving heterogeneous demands from multiple service locations under the mode of make-to-order. We aim to compare different configurations (i.e. centralised and distributed) of spare parts supply chains in terms of their performance (e.g. sojourn time and cost) and to further propose suggestions to better configure AM-based spare parts supply chains by effectively allocating AM machines at service locations (SLs) or regional distribution centres (RDCs). In order to realise these research objectives, the simulation approach is used as the main research method. Different from the existing perception, our results illustrate that the distributed deployment of AM machines does not always guarantee a quick response, and that centralised configuration is desirable when the demand rate is relatively high due to the pooling effect. The distributed configuration, however, can still be suitable, considering the development of AM technology. Our results also indicate the possibility of a mixed configuration of AM-based supply chains with the potential for outperforming the purely centralised/distributed configuration. The criteria to design such a mixed configuration are also offered.
Year
DOI
Venue
2019
10.1080/00207543.2018.1543975
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRODUCTION RESEARCH
Keywords
DocType
Volume
additive manufacturing, spare parts supply chain, heterogeneous demand, make-to-order
Journal
57
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
11
0020-7543
0
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.34
6
7
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Li Yao12110.45
Yang Cheng2123.72
Yang Cheng300.34
Qing Hu400.34
Shenghan Zhou5389.99
Lei Ma68926.24
Ming K. Lim7167.49