Shift to social manufacturing: Applications of additive manufacturing for consumer products

Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies are one of the foundations of the so-called third industrial revolution. Additive Manufacturing can reshape the typical structure of manufacturing, shifting it toward more collaborative manufacturing. Currently, Additive Manufacturing of end products is only a small niche market. However, many Additive Manufacturing start-ups enter this market every day, and market opportunities and applications grow rapidly. At the same time, the prices of machines and materials applied in Additive Manufacturing are continuously decreasing. Consequently, this enables a new manufacturing paradigm termed “Social Manufacturing”. The principle of Social Manufacturing includes the involvement of the consumer in all stages of the manufacturing process, starting from the design and ending in the manufacturing. The objective of this paper is to show how Additive Manufacturing can be an enabler in the paradigm shift toward Social Manufacturing. We contribute to the discussion of Social Manufacturing by analyzing it in a previously under-explored context, i.e., the manufacturing of consumer products. To achieve the research objective, we review applications of Additive Manufacturing and, based on the review, propose a path for a paradigm shift to Social Manufacturing.