An Investigation into the Impact of 3D Printing on Enhancing Sustainability in the Aerospace Spare Parts Supply Chain Assignment Sample

Introduction to: An Investigation into the Impact of 3D Printing on Enhancing Sustainability in the Aerospace Spare Parts Supply Chain

Purpose of the study

This research aims to establish the extent and nature of the change being brought by 3D printing in the aerospace spare parts supply chain, with sustainability being a key consideration. For many years, the aerospace industry has been experiencing some difficulties with its supply chains, especially in spare parts. This is the area I have always wanted to contribute to since sectors across the world are embracing sustainability strategies while 3D printing is playing a crucial role in the process. As manufacturing businesses expand through Industry 4.0 it’s critically important to analyse how 3D printing minimizes harm to the environment, increases production efficiency, and optimizes the supply chain. The proposed study will be carried out in one of the aerospace firms in the United Kingdom, for example, Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce has already begun the process of deciding parts of the engine that it can use 3D printing to manufacture elements that will be lighter yet stronger thus making the engines more efficien (Attaran, 2017)t. Thus, this study will investigate 3D printing in spare parts manufacturing through this organization of interest in an attempt to evaluate the applicability of this technology to spearhead sustainability in the aerospace supply chain. Hence, the UK provides an environment of green manufacturing practices and the aerospace industry comes with high performance and safety standards to offer differences in the research. The purpose of this research is to address the current literature gap concerning the use of additive manufacturing for sustainability in supply chains and identify the possibility and limitations of implementing this technology in the aerospace industry.

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Research question

What are the real-world application of the 3D printing and the challenges associated with its application within sustainable supply chain practices?

Brief literature review

3D printing or additive manufacturing has been receiving increased attention in the supply chain discourse especially in terms of its impacts on sustainability. In detail, studies show that 3D printing has the potential to lower wastage and energy levels than conventional techniques which implies the technology is an important part of the strategy to improve sustainability within the business sector (Weller et al., 2015). In the aerospace industry, which entails high material costs and long lead times, the capability to print spare parts at will can greatly reduce unnecessary inventory and wastage (Duflou et al., 2012). The aerospace supply chain has greatly benefited from the incorporation of 3D printing technology, according to several studies. For example, Hwang et al., 2017 hold a view that the use of the technique of additive manufacturing results in the reduction of lead times since it allows for the production of components locally without having to depend on supply chains. Not only does such a change increase adaptability but also reduces the carbon footprint on cars to improve sustainability. In addition, due to 3D printing, the members of the Aerospace industry can use lighter materials and structures with sophisticated shapes in the design of their parts and systems which in turn enhances their performance and reliability (Gao et al., 2015). However, some issues are still associated with the integration of 3D printing in the aerospace supply chain. The challenges of low adoption of advanced 3D printing technologies include high initial costs whereby adopting organizations have to incur high costs to acquire the technology (Duflou et al., 2012). However, quality assurance and meeting the legal requirements for aerospace parts are essential, mainly because of their high safety and performance requirements. Research done by Scully et al. (2020) reveals that there is a need to implement good procedures for quality assurance of 3D-printed products so that their reliability and safety in use can be achieved in life-critical applications. There is also evidence from the literature that customer awareness level of sustainable products is gradually improving, and customers are also inclined towards a company that has an environmentally sensitive management system (Borrello et al., 2017). In the aerospace market, CSR and sustainability are increasingly a significant issue for the industry and the establishment of 3D printing for the production of spare sections allows a company to put up an appealing image for environmentally sensitive customers. Furthermore, the circular economy since it aims at optimising resources and avoiding waste matches with the abilities of 3D printing (Geissdoerfer et al., 2018). Illustrating how additive manufacturing can unlock the recycling of material and manufacture of spare parts using locally available resources can help boost the sustainability of the aerospace supply chain.

In addition to this, Creswell, (2014) stated that complying with 3D printing implies technological readiness. This is assistive to the companies in aerospace as there are many new changes in the technological field and as a result, companies need to implement it. With the advancing technology for companies to run successfully, appropriate readiness must be present so that instantly the companies can adapt to the changes taking place. Moreover, Scully et al. (2020) argued that the increase in cost act as a barrier while implementing the 3D printing. It is because of the reason that when there are more advancement in technology then it will be improving the working of the company but the additional cost of the company is also very high. Thus, as a result it can affect the working of the company to a great extent.

Further, the triangulation includes the implementation of the work in such a manner that the sustainability is improved well. With this, it is clear that it is necessary for the company that they must focus on the social, economic and sustainability aspect to a great extent. it is because the 3D printing technology releases many different types of the waste and as a result of this the implementation of 3D printing can be hamper the working of the company well. thus, for this it is necessary for companies in aerospace that they must effectively try to protect the environment from the harmful release made. It is due to the reason that when the effective protection of the environment will be made then this will be improving the overall efficiency.

Literature Gap

The implementation of 3D media production know-how in supply chain management, especially in aeronautics, has posed a great many questions concerning sustainability and effectiveness. In line with prior literature, the research of Khajavi et al. (2014) and Ford and Despeisse (2016) suggest directions in which additive manufacturing might help to decrease waste and improve customization However, there is a considerable lack of research quantifying the way that these technologies affect the framework of spare parts logistics in aerospace. Also, in the literature, most studies have focused on analysing the conceptual foundations of Industry 4.0 and its sub-elements, while not many examples of how the use of 3D printing affects supply chain practices exist. Lack of comprehensive analysis blurs the vision toward performance benchmark and practical orientation concerning sustainability factors and more importantly, customers’ awareness about green products (Baumers et al., 2015).

Furthermore, it is also realized that the currently available literature lacks critical analysis of issues that organisations can encounter when implementing 3D printing in their supply chains including regulatory issues, costs of implementation, and compatibility issues with existing systems(Laplume et al., 2016). The organizations need to plan for improving their sustainability agendas through substantive technologies. Thus, this research aims to fill this gap by exploring the use of 3D printing within the aerospace spare parts supply chain, including the experience with the implementation of opportunities and challenges (Hofmann, 2016). This study will also assist the companies in the aerospace industry to use the effective type of technology so that overall improvement can be made in the industry. The reason underlying the fact is that the current study will assist in analysing the importance and usage of 3D printing well.

The Aims

The purpose of this research is to establish the performance improvement of 3D printing in a sustainable aerospace spare parts supply chain. In particular, this study aims to explore the potential of using additive manufacturing to decrease waste, shorten lead times, and optimizing resource use in spare parts production to support more sustainable use in the aerospace industry. Logically, the character of current research stems from the study’s focus on the real-life experience of recognized aerospace organizations; the goal is to discover the potential advantages and disadvantages of 3D printing technologies (Baumers et al., 2015). In addition, the study will examine the level of customers’ awareness and their demand for green products and how these factors affect the application of 3D printing in the aerospace industry. Overall, this research aims to offer useful information and suggestions to aerospace firms that plan to adopt 3D printing as a suitable solution for improving sustainability perspectives in supply chains.

All the findings of the current study will be generalised to the whole of the industry as the study is not specific to a particular company. It is due to the reason that here the study is conducted on the whole industry and due to this the findings of the current study can be generalised beyond a single companies.

The Objectives

• To examine the existing literature on 3D printing and its application in the aerospace supply chain, focusing on sustainability and efficiency improvements like technological readiness.
• To investigate real-world applications of 3D printing in leading aerospace companies to understand best practices, challenges, and success factors. Highlight key opportunities for integrating 3D printing into the aerospace supply chain and managing supply chain integration challenges.
• To produce a comprehensive research report that contributes to the academic understanding of 3D printing’s role in sustainable supply chain practices within the aerospace sector with reference to adopting barrier cost.

Methodology

This research shall use both quantitative and qualitative approaches to gain a deeper understanding of how 3D printing helps improve sustainability in the aerospace spare parts supply chain. The proposed data collection techniques include surveying with questionnaires and interview will be conducted for the qualitative research. Such an approach enables detailed consideration of individual opinions and perceptions while acquiring more general research data from a great number of subjects involved. With the help of the survey, the data will be collected relating to the 3D printing and as a result of this the research topic will be evaluated well.

Firstly, qualitative research which will involve conducting interviews with employees from aerospace industries will be used second, questionnaires and surveys will be used to gather quantitative data. These interviews will enable further understanding of the present practices and issues encountered as the firms strive to use 3D printing technologies. This will mean that the study will produce qualitative data that the quantitative research methodology misses out on due to rigidity in data collection methods (“Qualitative Data Analysis,” 2008). All data that might be collected in the framework of these interviews will be qualitative and the classification of this data will embrace such patterns as the common trends, opportunities, and threats related to the application of 3DP in the aerospace industry.

Apart from interviews, a self-completion survey in the form of a questionnaire will also be conducted among a larger population in aerospace organizations. This self-administered questionnaire will concentrate on the customers’ familiarity with sustainable products and their belief in 3D printing to fix sustainability problems in the supply chain. The quantitative data gathered will be analysed statistically to compare mean and frequencies thereby aiming at first generalization of the results of this study to other businesses as far as customers’ sentiments and general market demand for sustainable practices in aerospace are concerned.

Due to the nature of this research, the mixed-methods research approach will be used to achieve participation and validity in understanding the changes that 3D printing is bringing to the spare parts supply chain in the aerospace industry. This is reflected in the use of quantitative data including costs and supply chain statistics compared with qualitative data obtained from key stakeholders in the various industries revealed in the research study. Combining both qualitative and quantitative approaches, the study will identify the overall effects of adopting 3D printing on efficiency and green performance while also zooming in on the potential barriers and enablers from the organisational perspective as well as from the stakeholders’ perspective. The quantitative aspect will try to quantify lead times, costs, and environmental impacts that have improved due to such technological advances; Qualitative aspect will give details of the experiences of those that have implemented or are managing these technologies (Creswell, 2014).

This mixed-methods strategy is critical because the topic comprises technical (measurable) and human (non-measurable) aspects. Even though numerical data will reveal the relative advantages of 3D printing in operations, qualitative data will uncover limitations to its adoption including workforce, regulation, and customer consciousness of sustainability. The described research complexity cannot be addressed when employing a single method only (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009). Furthermore, a combination of both quantitative and qualitative research is capable of providing results from three sources, that is triangulation, and this increases the credibility of the results obtained. As Industry 4.0 technologies progress, this method is well-suited to discovering the complexities of 3D printing’s effect on aerospace supply chains.

Ethical issues will form an important part of this research since people will be involved in the study (Shek & S, 2011). Every participant will complete a consent form before the data will be collected and this will entail the participant to the overall purpose of the study and the right of the participant to pull out of the study at any one time. Again, participants will be given an assurance of the anonymity and confidentiality of their responses which will be vital when interviewing the participants and filling out questionnaires. In addition, ethical principles set by the university before conducting the study will be followed later to warrant a credible study. Hence, by adopting this approach and ensuring high research ethics, the research seeks to generate a significant and valid understanding of the use of 3D printing in contributing to sustainability in the aerospace spare part supply chain.

Programme of work

What will the results be used for?

The outcomes of the present research will be useful in informing organisations, especially within the aerospace spare part supply chain, about 3D printing technologies’ applicability and the world’s largest manufacturer of aircraft engine components, Rolls-Royce, about the possibilities of integrating the 3D printing technologies into the aerospace spare part supply chain. Interviews, questionnaires, and case studies are used for this purpose, and the study seeks to discover the best adaptable and effective practices, the gaps, and the possible environmental gains from integrating manufacturing technology into manufacturing processes. The knowledge obtained is going to be applied in the formulation of Organizational Strategies to assist Rolls-Royce to improve on sustainability and generally the supply chain metals (Ryan et al., 2017).

The findings will feed directly into Rolls-Royce's initiatives to de-escalate waste and carbon emissions, reflecting the company’s mission statement and Corporate and Social Responsibility. The study implications can be of particular value for Rolls-Royce as the presented results of awareness and demand for sustainable aerospace products outline potential adjustments in selling propositions and existing offerings that would appeal to customers with an interest in environmental issues. In addition, the study will reveal the factors that hinder Innovation in adopting 3D printing technology and then help the organization avoid these barriers or mitigate them hence adding Competitive advantage in the Aerospace market. Besides the organization, the results will benefit the aerospace industry as a whole, as it will create a guide for other companies intending to implement equivalent technologies. The results can be used as a benchmark in terms of how actual implementations of 3D printing look like, and how a sustainable integration of this technology into supply chains can be implemented (Petrovic et al., 2010). These findings will contribute to enhancing the knowledge and distinguish the position of additive manufacturing toward environmentally supportive practices within the industry. However, apart from the enhancement of overall organizational performance, the knowledge generated by this study will also inform both the theoretical and practical discourse on 3D printing and sustainable supply chain management. Drawing on these considerations of technology, sustainability, and customer awareness, this study will help to meet these gaps, upon which, subsequent empirical research on this critical subject can build. In conclusion, the results have the overall impact of enabling the decision-making process at Rolls-Royce and potentially other companies, thus pushing the aerospace industry and its companies into the sphere of sustainable development.

References

• Attaran, M. (2017). The rise of 3-D printing: The advantages of additive manufacturing over traditional manufacturing. Business Horizons, 60(5), 677–688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2017.05.011
• Baumers, M., Dickens, P., Tuck, C., & Hague, R. (2015). The cost of additive manufacturing: machine productivity, economies of scale and technology-push. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 102, 193–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2015.02.015
• Borrello, M., Caracciolo, F., & Cembalo, L. (2017). Sustainability in the food sector: Consumer awareness and preferences. Sustainability, 9(10), 1840.
  Creswell, J.W., 2014. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.
• Duflou, J. R., et al. (2012). Towards energy and resource efficient manufacturing: A literature review on sustainable manufacturing. CIRP Annals, 61(2), 695-718.
  Gao, W., et al. (2015). The status, challenges, and future of additive manufacturing in engineering. Computer-Aided Design, 69, 65-89.
  Geissdoerfer, M., et al. (2018). The Circular Economy – A new sustainability paradigm? Journal of Cleaner Production, 143, 757-768.
  Hwang, T., et al. (2017). A framework for additive manufacturing in the aerospace supply chain. International Journal of Production Research, 55(23), 7121-7133.
• Holmström, J., Liotta, G. and Chaudhuri, A., 2017. Sustainability outcomes through direct digital manufacturing-based operational practices: A design theory approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 167, pp.951-961.
• Khajavi, S.H., Partanen, J. and Holmström, J., 2014. Additive manufacturing in the spare parts supply chain: Spare parts manufacturing using 3D printing. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 25(1), pp.128-144.
• Laplume, A.O., Petersen, B. and Pearce, J.M., 2016. Global value chains from a 3D printing perspective. Journal of International Business Studies, 47(5), pp.595-609.
• Petrovic, V., Gonzalez, J. V. H., Ferrando, O. J., Gordillo, J. D., Puchades, J. R. B., & Griñan, L. P. (2010). Additive layered manufacturing: sectors of industrial application shown through case studies. International Journal of Production Research, 49(4), 1061–1079. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207540903479786
• Qualitative Data Analysis. (2008). In Springer eBooks (pp. 101–120). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-77282-0_6
• Ryan, M. J., Eyers, D. R., Potter, A. T., Purvis, L., & Gosling, J. (2017). 3D printing the future: scenarios for supply chains reviewed. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 47(10), 992–1014. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijpdlm-12-2016-0359
• Shek, D. T. L., & S, C. M., MA. (2011). Longitudinal Data Analyses Using Linear Mixed Models in SPSS: Concepts, Procedures and Illustrations. The Scientific World JOURNAL, 11, 42–76. https://doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2011.2
• Scully, S. J., et al. (2020). Quality assurance in additive manufacturing: A review. Additive Manufacturing, 34, 101246.
  Teddlie, C. and Tashakkori, A., 2009. Foundations of mixed methods research: Integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social and behavioral sciences. Sage.
• Weller, C., et al. (2015). Towards the "third" industrial revolution: 3D printing in supply chain management. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 45(2), 134-157.

Author Bio

Casey Bennett   7 years | PhD

My name is Casey Bennett and I have obtained my graduation, post-graduation and PhD from London Business School. I have been giving education to students for the last 7 years in the United Kingdom. I can help you deal with complex dissertation topics, assignments, and essays and finish them fast.