ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES ADOPTION IN AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLY CHAINS – THE THEORETICAL REVIEW

Abstract

In a highly competitive environment, manufacturers are looking for ways to shorten supply chains in order to eliminate shipping costs and shorten production cycles. Enabling the production of individually customized products, which was impossible until now, additive manufacturing technologies caused the revolution in product development and the supply chain structures in various industries. There are two areas in which the additive manufacturing technologies have the greatest impact on the competition in the automotive supply chain: (1) as a source of product innovation, and (2) as a driver of supply chain restructuring. Regarding issues related to the scope of additive manufacturing technologies adoption in supply chains, previous studies were mainly based on an examination of the technical characteristics and advantages of using additive manufacturing technologies. By reviewing and the analysis of scientific and technical literature, available published research results and respecting the paper objectives and the purpose, this paper will explore the impact of additive manufacturing technologies adoption in the automotive supply chain. Specifically, the paper aims to explore the influence of additive manufacturing technologies adoption on lean and agile concepts of supply chain management in the automotive industry.

Key words: additive manufacturing technologies, supply chain management, automotive industry, automotive supply chain