Elements of additive manufacturing technology adoption in small- and medium-sized sized companies

• Autor(a) principal: Kulkarni, Praveen
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Kumar , Arun Kumar, Chate, Ganesh, Dandannavar, Padma
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista de Administração e Inovação
• Texto Completo: https://www.revistas.usp.br/rai/article/view/193121
• topic: Additive manufacturing; Manufacturing; Quantitative research; Technology adoption

Purpose – This study aims to examine factors that determine the adoption of additive manufacturing by small- andmedium-sized industries. It provides insights with regard to benefits, challenges and business factors that influencesmall- and medium-sized industries when adopting this technology. The study also aims to expand the domain ofadditive manufacturing by including a broader range of challenges and benefits of additive manufacturing in literature.Design/methodology/approach – Using data collected from 175 small- and medium-sized industries,the study has examined through Mann–Whitney test to understand the difference between owners and designengineers on additive manufacturing technology adoption in small- and medium-sized companies.Findings – This study suggests contribution to academic discussion by providing associated factors that havesignificant impact on the adoption of additive manufacturing technology. Related advantages of additivemanufacturing are reduction in inventory cost, lowering the wastage in production and customization ofproducts. The study also indicates that factors such as cost of machinery, higher level of cost in integrating metalcomponents have a negative impact on the adoption of this technology in small- and medium-sized industries.Research limitations/implications – Because of the chosen research approach, the research resultsmay lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further inthe field of challenges and growth in other areas of application of additive manufacturing, for instance,medical sciences, fabric and aerospace.Practical implications – The study provides important implications that are of interest for both researchand practitioners, related to technology management in small- and medium-sized industries, e.g. foundry andmachining industries. Social implications – This work/study fulfills an identified need of the small- and medium-sizedcompanies in adopting new technologies and contribute to their growth by understanding the need to acceptand implement technology.Originality/value – This paper fulfills an identified need to study how small- and medium-scalecompanies accept new technologies and factors associated with implementation in the manufacturing processof the organization.