Implications of additive manufacturing on complexity management within supply chains in a ...

273 Pages·2016·5.31 MB·English

by  Andre Kieviet 1977-

UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooff LLoouuiissvviillllee
TThhiinnkkIIRR:: TThhee UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooff LLoouuiissvviillllee''ss IInnssttiittuuttiioonnaall RReeppoossiittoorryy
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
5-2014
IImmpplliiccaattiioonnss ooff aaddddiittiivvee mmaannuuffaaccttuurriinngg oonn ccoommpplleexxiittyy
mmaannaaggeemmeenntt wwiitthhiinn ssuuppppllyy cchhaaiinnss iinn aa pprroodduuccttiioonn eennvviirroonnmmeenntt..
Andre Kieviet
University of Louisville
Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd
Part of the Industrial Engineering Commons
RReeccoommmmeennddeedd CCiittaattiioonn
Kieviet, Andre, "Implications of additive manufacturing on complexity management within supply chains
in a production environment." (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 747.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/747
This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's
Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized
administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of
the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [e-mail].
IMPLICATIONS OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING ON COMPLEXITY
MANAGEMENT WITHIN SUPPLY CHAINS IN A PRODUCTION
ENVIRONMENT

By
André Kieviet
Diploma in Industrial Engineering, Vechta, 2001
Diploma in Management Studies, Buckinghamshire, 2005
Master of Business Administration, Osnabrueck, 2010
Master of Science in Industrial Engineering, Louisville, 2010

A Dissertation
Submitted to the Faculty of
the J. B. Speed School of Engineering of University of Louisville
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Industrial Engineering
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky

May 2014
© Copyright 2014 by André Kieviet
All rights reserved

IMPLICATIONS OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING ON SUPPLY CHAIN
COMPLEXITY MANAGEMENT WITHIN SUPPLY CHAINS IN A
PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT
By
André Kieviet
Diploma in Industrial Engineering, Vechta, 2001
Diploma in Management Studies, Buckinghamshire, 2005
Master of Business Administration, Osnabruck, 2010
Master of Science in Industrial Engineering, Louisville, 2010

An Dissertation Approved on
March 31st, 2014
by the Following Faculty Members:
_______________________________________________
Dr. Suraj M. Alexander

_______________________________________________
Dr. William E. Biles

_______________________________________________
Dr. Mahesh C. Gupta

_______________________________________________
Dr. Brent E. Stucker
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my major professor, Dr. Suraj M. Alexander, for his
guidance and patience. I would also like to thank the other committee members, Dr.
William Biles, Dr. Mahesh Gupta, and Dr. Brent E. Stucker, for their assistance and
valuable comments over the past few years. Additionally, I would like to express my
thanks to the staff of the Department of Industrial Engineering for all the support they
provided me. Finally, I would also like to thank my family and friends for their support
and understanding during the last few years.

iii
ABSTRACT
IMPLICATIONS OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING ON COMPLEXITY
MANAGEMENT WITHIN SUPPLY CHAINS IN A PRODUCTION
ENVIRONMENT
André Kieviet
March 31st, 2014
This dissertation focuses on developing a generic framework for using additive
manufacturing as an appropriate production method to address the management of
complexity in supply chains.
While several drivers such as changing customer demand patterns and intensifying global
competition increase product complexity, the available number of product variants and
related processes within the supply chain itself increase costs and dilute scale effects.
Several concepts and tools like mass customization, modularization, and product
platforms have been developed in the past decades, but most of them focus on the product
structure. Currently, there is no comprehensive tool set developed in the field of
complexity management that incorporates all aspects of supply chain performance (costs,
service, quality, and lead time) and evaluates the impacts of additive manufacturing to
manage the complexity in the supply chain. This dissertation was developed primarily to
address this research gap.
iv
The literature review in this dissertation provides in-depth reviews on specific topics in
the field of additive manufacturing production technology, supply chain management,
complexity management, and complexity management in supply chains through additive
manufacturing.
The dissertation presents the development of a framework for supply chain performance
and complexity measurement with a focus on costs and performance depending on
production technology. This framework will be the basis for measuring the impacts of
additive manufacturing on supply chain performance and level of complexity, by using
modeling and reconfiguring supply chain models, and applying complexity management
tools in conjunction with additive manufacturing. Based on the findings, a generic
framework is developed to identify when and how to apply additive manufacturing to
enhance complexity management capabilities in supply chains.
Two case studies will be used to show an application field, where additive manufacturing
would require additional time, while another case study suggests the usage of additive
manufacturing in the context of supply chain complexity:
A case study of a control panel supply chain will provide an overview of the implications
of substituting an injection molding production technology with an additive
manufacturing technology on the supply chain and its complexity.
Another case study of teeth aligners shows how additive manufacturing helps to improve
supply chain complexity by substituting plaster tools with an additive manufacturing
technology.

v
TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... IV
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. VI
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ XII
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... XV
1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 1
1.1. PROBLEM STATEMENT .......................................................................................... 1
1.2. OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................... 3
1.3. CONTRIBUTION OF THE DISSERTATION ................................................................. 3
1.4. INTRODUCTION TO THE RESEARCH APPROACH ..................................................... 4
1.4.1. Theoretical introduction into research approaches in supply chain
management ................................................................................................................. 4
1.4.2. Selected research approach ............................................................................... 7
2. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 10
2.1. INTRODUCTION TO ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING ................................................ 10
2.1.1. Technology overview ................................................................................. 10
vi
2.1.2. Additive manufacturing technology classification ..................................... 10
2.1.3. Decision variables for choosing production methodologies ..................... 11
2.1.4. Status of additive manufacturing ............................................................... 12
2.1.5. Additive manufacturing costing ................................................................. 17
2.1.6. Benefits of additive manufacturing ............................................................ 25
2.2. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT ........................................................................... 26
2.2.1. Supply chain models and process definitions in a production environment .... 26
2.2.2. Supply chain objectives .................................................................................... 32
2.2.3. Supply chain performance measurement ......................................................... 33
2.3. INTRODUCTION TO COMPLEXITY, COMPLEXITY DRIVERS, AND COMPLEXITY
MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................ 35
2.3.1. Definition of complexity ............................................................................. 35
2.3.2. Origins of complexity ................................................................................. 37
2.3.3. Complexity management ............................................................................ 42
2.4. COMPLEXITY IN SUPPLY CHAINS ........................................................................ 68
2.4.1. Overview .................................................................................................... 68
2.4.2. Supply chain performance measurement ................................................... 71
2.4.3. Metrics for measuring the level of complexity ........................................... 75
2.4.4. Critical review of the metrics in the context of additive manufacturing .... 78
vii