Combining Agile Hardware Development with Additive Manufacturing: Implications for a Manufacturing Firm’s Business Model


METADATA ONLY
Loading...

Date

2022

Publication Type

Conference Paper

ETH Bibliography

yes

Citations

Altmetric
METADATA ONLY

Data

Rights / License

Abstract

Manufacturing firms are increasingly adopting Agile approaches for the development of physical products. In combination with advanced production technologies such as Additive Manufacturing (AM), Agile offers unprecedented opportunities to cope with increasing uncertainties, risks and complexities involved in hardware development operations. Following the case study method, this paper sets out to investigate the implications of combining Agile hardware development (AHD) and AM for the business model of a high-end manufacturer of photography equipment. A comparison of the business model canvas for plan-driven versus Agile development at the case company revealed that the two approaches featured significant differences, which required adaptations in every building block of the canvas. This study’s implications are threefold. First, this study empirically examines the potential of AHD approaches and highlights that the adoption of AHD engages with virtually all organizational functions of a manufacturing firm. Thus, AHD calls for holistic approaches during implementation. Second, this study shows that regular product take-backs are required to account for product iterations becoming frequently outdated. This result implies a closed-loop manufacturing system for operations and supply chain management. Third, this paper discusses strategies for both product design and product take-back processes, which could further enhance companies’ AHD operations.

Publication status

published

Book title

Advances in Production Management Systems. Smart Manufacturing and Logistics Systems: Turning Ideas into Action

Volume

663

Pages / Article No.

302 - 309

Publisher

Springer

Event

IFIP International Conference on Advances in Production Management Systems (APMS 2022)

Edition / version

Methods

Software

Geographic location

Date collected

Date created

Subject

Organisational unit

03943 - Meboldt, Mirko / Meboldt, Mirko check_circle
09501 - Netland, Torbjörn / Netland, Torbjörn check_circle

Notes

Funding

Related publications and datasets