Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies alter the manufacturing-based competitive capabilities and provide proven benefits to firm-level performance. This paper classifies the AM-enabled competitive capabilities and examines their relationships with market performance.
A theoretical model is developed and validated by surveying manufacturing firms implementing AM technology. For data analysis, structural equation modeling is used.
AM-enabled design flexibility and product quality lead to improved market performance. Design flexibility is the most significant capability that AM technologies enable.
The findings contribute to the managerial literature on the relationships between competitive capabilities and market performance in general and examine this relationship in the context of AM technology in particular. It provides insightful implications that help practitioners recognize which specific AM’s capability can result in higher levels of market performance through which they can formulate their manufacturing strategy.
