Table A1 quotations from interviews and... | Emerald Publishing

Table A1

quotations from interviews and codes for data analyses

Variables		Code	Quotes	Company
Impact on upstream SC	Make or buy	Make	Initially we relied on an Italian service provider, as we did not yet have our own 3D printer. When we saw that the mechanical and hydraulic world reacted very well and with great interest to the first 3D printed components, we decided to make the leap and buy our first metal printer	Company A
		Buy	We don't have in-house printers for the production of metal parts. This is because the technology today is capital intensive, requiring a large investment	Company C
		Make and buy	Unfortunately, we are not able to afford sintering machines or stereolithography equipment, which are quite expensive investments […], so we have our own network of suppliers	Company E
		Vertical Integration	There is a tendency to apply additive to new components instead of replacing existing ones. So, the company tends to buy the key suppliers of the technology (machinery and powders) and make them part of the same business'	Company F
	Centralized vs decentralized	Centralized	Geographically, there is only one production plant where all the printers are located	Company G
	Centralized vs decentralized	Decentralized	-	-
	Supply network	Increase in number of suppliers	New suppliers are needed for the post-processing stages (e.g. dyeing). [ …] if you decide to bring the technology in-house, you should then have whoever supplies the material, the machine, the finishing … so in this case the number of suppliers increases	Company J
	Supply network	Decrease in number of suppliers	-	-
	New suppliers	Equipment and raw materials suppliers	Unfortunately, we are not able to afford sintering machines or stereolithography equipment, which are quite expensive investments […], so we have our own network of suppliers	Company E
		AM-related service providers	New suppliers are needed for the post-processing stages (e.g. dyeing). [ …] if you decide to bring the technology in-house, you should then have whoever supplies the material, the machine, the finishing … so in this case the number of suppliers increases	Company J
	Relationship with suppliers	Long-term collaboration	We have created a sort of partnership with the suppliers [ …] they provide us with a series of information, that the powder is certified with practical tests, the fact that the machine has used certain parameters and that if tomorrow I want to do the same piece, I have to do it the same way. They gave us a lot of information, it is such a new topic that the more we share this information, the more we are able to achieve the common goal	Company H
	Relationship with suppliers	Lock-in effect	We started at the beginning using the raw material recommended by the manufacturer of the machine [ …] We tried then to purchase it on Amazon, which was much cheaper but with very different results. So, I have to say a very first impact on the SC was “Ok, let's go back to the supplier that has an agreement with the machine, which although more expensive, however, guarantees us not to have much waste”	Company A

Variables		Code	Quotes	Company
Impact on upstream SC	Make or buy	Make	Initially we relied on an Italian service provider, as we did not yet have our own 3D printer. When we saw that the mechanical and hydraulic world reacted very well and with great interest to the first 3D printed components, we decided to make the leap and buy our first metal printer	Company A
		Buy	We don't have in-house printers for the production of metal parts. This is because the technology today is capital intensive, requiring a large investment	Company C
		Make and buy	Unfortunately, we are not able to afford sintering machines or stereolithography equipment, which are quite expensive investments […], so we have our own network of suppliers	Company E
		Vertical Integration	There is a tendency to apply additive to new components instead of replacing existing ones. So, the company tends to buy the key suppliers of the technology (machinery and powders) and make them part of the same business'	Company F
	Centralized vs decentralized	Centralized	Geographically, there is only one production plant where all the printers are located	Company G
	Centralized vs decentralized	Decentralized	-	-
	Supply network	Increase in number of suppliers	New suppliers are needed for the post-processing stages (e.g. dyeing). [ …] if you decide to bring the technology in-house, you should then have whoever supplies the material, the machine, the finishing … so in this case the number of suppliers increases	Company J
	Supply network	Decrease in number of suppliers	-	-
	New suppliers	Equipment and raw materials suppliers	Unfortunately, we are not able to afford sintering machines or stereolithography equipment, which are quite expensive investments […], so we have our own network of suppliers	Company E
		AM-related service providers	New suppliers are needed for the post-processing stages (e.g. dyeing). [ …] if you decide to bring the technology in-house, you should then have whoever supplies the material, the machine, the finishing … so in this case the number of suppliers increases	Company J
	Relationship with suppliers	Long-term collaboration	We have created a sort of partnership with the suppliers [ …] they provide us with a series of information, that the powder is certified with practical tests, the fact that the machine has used certain parameters and that if tomorrow I want to do the same piece, I have to do it the same way. They gave us a lot of information, it is such a new topic that the more we share this information, the more we are able to achieve the common goal	Company H
	Relationship with suppliers	Lock-in effect	We started at the beginning using the raw material recommended by the manufacturer of the machine [ …] We tried then to purchase it on Amazon, which was much cheaper but with very different results. So, I have to say a very first impact on the SC was “Ok, let's go back to the supplier that has an agreement with the machine, which although more expensive, however, guarantees us not to have much waste”	Company A

Source(s): Created by author