IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orited/v25y2024i1p81-84.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Case Article—Digitizing Spare Parts Supply Chain via 3D Printing: An Operational Cost Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Yue Zhang

    (Smeal College of Business, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802)

  • William McCall

    (Xerox Additive Manufacturing, Durham, North Carolina 27703)

  • Jing-Sheng Song

    (Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708)

Abstract

The case presents a sourcing problem and a manufacturing problem faced by an original equipment manufacturer, seeking recommendations for sourcing a diverse range of parts for high-voltage equipment, as well as making decisions on the manufacturing strategy for a component used in a water monitoring system. The case provides an opportunity to explore the qualitative and quantitative aspects of three-dimensional (3D) printing versus traditional manufacturing, specifically in terms of operational cost. Furthermore, this case facilitates discussions on the potential impact of 3D printing on supply chains. It is suitable for use in graduate and undergraduate courses, as it introduces key concepts such as manufacturing and inventory policies, queueing theory, and life cycle analysis. Ultimately, the case is designed to promote a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities that manufacturers face in today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape.

Suggested Citation

  • Yue Zhang & William McCall & Jing-Sheng Song, 2024. "Case Article—Digitizing Spare Parts Supply Chain via 3D Printing: An Operational Cost Analysis," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 81-84, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orited:v:25:y:2024:i:1:p:81-84
    DOI: 10.1287/ited.2022.0072ca
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/ited.2022.0072ca
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/ited.2022.0072ca?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jing-Sheng Song & Yue Zhang, 2020. "Stock or Print? Impact of 3-D Printing on Spare Parts Logistics," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(9), pages 3860-3878, September.
    2. Yong Yin & Kathryn E. Stecke & Dongni Li, 2018. "The evolution of production systems from Industry 2.0 through Industry 4.0," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(1-2), pages 848-861, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lili Wang & Min Li & Guanbin Kong & Haiwen Xu, 2024. "Joint decision-making for divisional seru scheduling and worker assignment considering process sequence constraints," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 338(2), pages 1157-1185, July.
    2. Maref M. F. Alokshe & Muri Wole Adedokun & Kolawole Iyiola, 2025. "Advanced manufacturing technologies, strategic agility, business network and sustained competitive performance: an empirical evidence from an emerging economy," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Li, Dongni & Jiang, Yuzhou & Zhang, Jinhui & Cui, Zihua & Yin, Yong, 2023. "An on-line seru scheduling algorithm with proactive waiting considering resource conflicts," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 309(2), pages 506-515.
    4. Bustinza, Oscar F. & Opazo-Basaez, Marco & Tarba, Shlomo, 2022. "Exploring the interplay between Smart Manufacturing and KIBS firms in configuring product-service innovation performance," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    5. Guo, Shu & Choi, Tsan-Ming & Chung, Sai-Ho, 2022. "Self-design fun: Should 3D printing be employed in mass customization operations?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 299(3), pages 883-897.
    6. Peron, Mirco & Coruzzolo, Antonio Maria & Basten, Rob & Knofius, Nils & Lolli, Francesco & Sgarbossa, Fabio, 2024. "Choosing between additive and conventional manufacturing of spare parts: On the impact of failure rate uncertainties and the tools to reduce them," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    7. Zhang, Xinchun & Sun, Murong & Liu, Jianxu & Xu, Aijia, 2024. "The nexus between industrial robot and employment in China: The effects of technology substitution and technology creation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    8. Shuo Sun & Bing Gu & Fangcheng Tang, 2025. "Cross-Category Innovation Strategy and Evolution of Digital Platform Ecosystems: A Technology-Driven Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-26, June.
    9. Wieslaw Urban & Krzysztof Łukaszewicz & Elżbieta Krawczyk-Dembicka, 2020. "Application of Industry 4.0 to the Product Development Process in Project-Type Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-20, October.
    10. Guo, Daqiang & Li, Mingxing & Lyu, Zhongyuan & Kang, Kai & Wu, Wei & Zhong, Ray Y. & Huang, George Q., 2021. "Synchroperation in industry 4.0 manufacturing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    11. Ye Wang & Jiafu Tang, 2022. "Optimized skill configuration for the seru production system under an uncertain demand," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 316(1), pages 445-465, September.
    12. Bin Hu & Zhankun Sun, 2022. "Managing Self-Replicating Innovative Goods," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(1), pages 399-419, January.
    13. Pal Singh, Satender & Adhikari, Arnab & Majumdar, Adrija & Bisi, Arnab, 2022. "Does service quality influence operational and financial performance of third party logistics service providers? A mixed multi criteria decision making -text mining-based investigation," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    14. Shih-Chia Chang & Hsu-Hwa Chang & Ming-Tsang Lu, 2021. "Evaluating Industry 4.0 Technology Application in SMEs: Using a Hybrid MCDM Approach," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-21, February.
    15. Wang, Shusheng & Yan, Yan & Li, Haitong & Wang, Baolin, 2024. "Whom you know matters: Network structure, industrial environment and digital orientation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    16. Simon Li & Bahareh Eshragh & Akposeiyifa Joseph Ebufegha, 2023. "Simulation-Based Study of the Resilience of Flexible Manufacturing Layouts Subject to Uncertain Demands of Product Variants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-20, October.
    17. Lingxiu Dong & Duo Shi & Fuqiang Zhang, 2022. "3D Printing and Product Assortment Strategy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(8), pages 5724-5744, August.
    18. Nie, Jiajia & Xu, Xiaoxuan & Yue, Xiaohang & Guo, Qiang & Zhou, Yu, 2023. "Less is more: A strategic analysis of 3D printing with limited capacity," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    19. Nagarajan Sethuraman & Ali K. Parlaktürk & Jayashankar M. Swaminathan, 2023. "Personal fabrication as an operational strategy: Value of delegating production to customer using 3D printing," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(7), pages 2362-2375, July.
    20. Wong, David T.W. & Ngai, Eric W.T., 2023. "The impact of advanced manufacturing technology, sensing and analytics capabilities, and planning comprehensiveness on sustained competitive advantage: The moderating role of environmental uncertainty," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orited:v:25:y:2024:i:1:p:81-84. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.