1、 2022 Boston Consulting Group13D Printing Helps Realize the Promise ofDistributed ManufacturingDECEMBER 05,2022 By Wilderich Heising,Thomas Krger,Daniel Kpper,Max Lutter-Gnther,Neeru Pandey,Gerret Lukas,Christoph Frey,and Matthias OlyCombining distributed and additive manufacturing mitigates supply

2、chainrisks by enabling fully digital interactions,better economics for producingsmall quantities,and flexible capacity.Distributed manufacturing and additive manufacturing(also known as 3Dprinting)can be a powerful combination for solving supply chain challenges.Leading companies are managing supply

3、 risks by distributing production 2022 Boston Consulting Group2geographically,over time,or across the value chain.Unfortunately,this approachoen faces limitationsincluding high costs,low asset utilization,long setuptimes,and stringent regulatory requirements.Additive manufacturing offers a solution

4、to the challenges of distributedmanufacturing by enabling local and highly flexible production of small quantities.For many use cases,additive manufacturing systems and processes are nowtechnologically ready for small-series production.Applying 3D printing indistributed manufacturing will be most be

5、neficial for producing high-value parts,such as those used in the aerospace and medical-technology industries,or low-volume replacement parts.These are among the transformative technologyapplications that constitute Industry 4.0.In 2022,BCG undertook a study,in collaboration with RWTH Aachen Univers

6、ityand the ACAM Aachen Center for Additive Manufacturing,to capture insights intohow the application of 3D printing in distributed manufacturing adds value andwhat the prerequisites are for successful use cases.The study included interviewswith a panel of approximately 15 leading experts in business