Additive Manufacturing Was the Answer, but What Is the Question?

Abstract

At its core, this paper forms a discussion around the popular uptake of technologies such as AM, and why technologies such as these are not pursued with equal interest in industry as they have been in popular culture. More specifically, it asks – Why is AM still hard to sell into the manufacturing industry? As an ongoing work this paper is an attempt to construct a vision and roadmap to how AM could be implemented in any businesses dealing with physical, manufactured products. Using design tools and techniques from systemic design, service design and industrial design, this paper argues for a broader and more holistic approach to AM. We see this qualitative emphasis on design through the lenses of client/designer/producer relations that are becoming increasingly complex, in their approach to business models and relations with costumers.