A maturity model to enhance the adoption of Additive Manufacturing in spare part provisioning in South Africa

Abstract

The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) demands a significant change in the way businesses operate. The previous three industrial revolutions were initiated from the market and demanded that organisations adopt to the market requirements for more cost-effective, high-volume and standardised products. The 4IR started with the advent of several new disruptive technologies that will require a rethink of business models and customisation according to the process and customer requirements. One of the most disruptive technologies of 4IR is additive manufacturing(AM). 3D printing (3DP) is not the same as AM, but is a terminology commonly used by the general public. See ASTM F2792 for accurate definitions and the difference between 3DP and AM. The current provisioning system for spare parts is based on a linear supply chain philosophy whereas successful participation in 4IR requires a focus on real-time customer demand, infused with agility and integrated in the global ecosystem. AM also requires a change in paradigms from a linear paradigm in design and manufacturing based on the avoidance of complexity to a non-linear paradigm where complexity needs to be embraced and solved through new systemic and ecosystem-based thinking. It is difficult for organisations when they want to adopt AM for spare part provisioning to contemplate the systemicrelationship between all the risk areas in the business as well as to understand the disruptive impact of the adoption on the organisation. This contributes to the slow adoption of AM in spare part provisioning. Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop a solution that can assist in enhancing the adoption of AM in spare part provisioning. The implementation of this model is beyond the scope of this thesis and can be conducted as part of further research in this field. Utilising the elaborated action design research method within the design science research paradigm, a multidimensional maturity model was developed to improve the slow adoption of AM in spare part provisioning. The elaborated action design research method was entered at the problem definition stage. This stage consists of five components that started with (1) a literature review. A summary of the literature review was used to compile questions for (2) discussions with AM experts in the South African AM ecosystem. The researcher’s own experience (3) was added, and a triangulation exercise (4) was used to proof a valid research problem. From the triangulation exercise, themes iii were developed that required additional research in order for theories to be developed regarding the slow adoption of AM. Grounded theory (5) was used as an overarching and iterative method for the problem definition stage to develop three new theories explaining the slow adoption of AM. These three theories created the input for the concept design stage. During the concept design stage, the three theories were researched and developed to create the input for the build stage. The output from the concept design stage was used in the build stage to design and build the Business Risk Provisioning Maturity Model (BRPM2). Finally, the Delphi technique was applied to verify that the BRPM2 adheres to all the design requirements and that it was a valid solution to address the research problem. The BRPM2 model allows organisations to determine their maturity development stage against the provisioning system evolution. The model creates a systemic as-is map for the organisation that can then be used to develop a roadmap of the requirements against the key business risk areas when adopting AM as part of spare part provisioning on their journey to improve their maturity when adopting AM for spare part provisioning. The study contributes to the field of industrial engineering by extending a known solution to solve a new problem. Industrial engineering literature has been enriched by the definition of the provisioning system evolution and the way the model emphasises the importance of systems thinking in the adoption of disruptive innovations. The BRPM2 model also adds to the organisational domain by supporting the key paradigm shift that is required in the organization to enhance the adoption of AM for spare part provisioning.