Making sense of 3-D printing: Creating a map of additive manufacturing products and services

Given the attention around additive manufacturing (AM), organizations want to know if their products should be fabricated using AM. To facilitate product development decisions, a reference system is shown describing the key attributes of a product from a manufacturability stand-point: complexity, customization, and production volume. Complexity and customization scales enable the grouping of products into regions of the map with common levels of the three attributes. A geometric complexity factor developed for cast parts is modified for a more general application. Parts with varying geometric complexity are then analyzed and mapped into regions of the complexity, customization, and production volume model. A discrete set of customization levels are also introduced. Implications for product development and manufacturing business approaches are discussed.