Life Cycle Assessment of 3D Printed Products in a Distributed Manufacturing System

TLDR

Rising costs of overseas production and digital technologies are prompting exploration of closer production‑demand models, with 3D printing enabling accelerated product development and new supply chain models that shift material supply chains and energy consumption across the product life cycle, creating risks of shifting environmental burdens. The study compares a conventional mass‑scale centralized manufacturing system with a 3D‑printing‑supported distributed manufacturing system for producing a single eyeglass frame using life‑cycle assessment. Life‑cycle assessment methodology is applied to evaluate and compare the environmental impacts of the two manufacturing systems. The analysis shows that optimization opportunities are mainly in unit‑process energy consumption and are closely linked to the printing material used.

Abstract

Summary Motivated by the rising costs of doing business overseas and the rise and implementation of digital technologies in production, new strategies are being explored to bring production and demand closer. While concepts like cloud computing, internet of things, and digital manufacturing increasingly gain relevance within the production activities of manufacturing companies, significant advances in three‐dimensional (3D) printing technologies offer the possibility for companies to accelerate product development and to consider new supply chain models. Under this production scheme, material supply chains are redefined and energy consumption hotspots are relocated throughout the life cycle of a product. This implies a diversification of energy mixes and raw material sources that poses a risk of shifting problems between life cycle phases and areas of protection. This study compares a conventional mass scale centralized manufacturing system against a 3D printing‐supported distributed manufacturing system on the basis of the production of one frame for eyeglasses using the life cycle assessment methodology. The study indicates clearly that the optimization potential is concentrated mainly in the energy consumption at the unit process level and exposes a close link to the printing material employed.