Table 2

3DP adoption drivers in organizations

Technology context#Relevant authors*
Investment costs(e.g. high acquisition, maintenance, materials and labor costs)16Attaran (2017), Chaudhuri et al. (2018), Marak et al. (2019), Gartner et al. (2015), Murmura and Bravi (2018), Schniedeijans and Yalcin (2018), Yeh and Chen (2018a, b) 
Acceleration of time to market(e.g. rapid prototyping, rapid manufacturing, shortened lead-times and shortened ramp-up times)16Sandström (2015), Schniedeijans and Yalcin (2018), Westphal (2018), Chaudhuri et al. (2018), Tsai and Yeh (2019), Jirsák and Brunet-Thornton (2019) 
Technology maturity(e.g. technological maturity and lack of standardization)13Oettmeier and Hofmann (2017), Schniedeijans and Yalcin (2018), Gartner et al. (2015), Candi and Beltagui (2019) 
Simplification of supply chains(e.g. no molding, no tooling, lower inventory, shortened supply chains, fewer production errors and reduced supplier independence)11Long et al. (2017), Martinsuo and Luomaranta (2018), Chaudhuri et al. (2018), Marak et al. (2019) 
Ease of use(e.g. easy usage of 3DP, digital models make replication of products easy and designs are easy to change)10Cohen (2014), Mellor et al. (2014), Weller et al. (2015), Attaran (2017), Marak et al. (2019) 
Reduction of environmental impact(e.g. lower waste production, lower energy consumption and local production)9Schniederjans and Yalcin (2018), Chatzoglou and Michailidou (2019), Marak et al. (2019) 
Agility(e.g. on-demand production and manufacturing flexibility)9Oettmeier and Hofmann (2017), Schniederjans and Yalcin (2018), Murmura and Bravi (2018) 
Customization(e.g. customer co-design, visual validation of final prototype with customer, customization and mass customization)9Cohen (2014), Long et al. (2017), Niaki and Nonino (2017), Schniederjans (2017), Candi and Beltagui (2019) 
Material maturity(e.g. lack of trust in reliability and durability of materials, lack of materials and lack of colors)9Mellor et al. (2014), Rylands et al. (2016), Long et al. (2017), Schniederjans and Yalcin (2018) 
Freedom of design(e.g. creative freedom, production of complex structures and production of lightweight structures)9Garza (2016), Attaran (2017), Marak et al. (2019), Tsai and Yeh (2019) 
Information asymmetries(e.g. lack of cases in industry application and lack of general knowledge on technology)7Cohen (2014), Fontana et al. (2019), Marak et al. (2019), Tsai and Yeh (2019) 
Output quality(e.g. improved output quality and standardization of output)7Tsai and Yeh (2019), Sandström (2016), Niaki and Nonino (2017), Chatzoglou and Michailidou (2019) 
Cost reduction(e.g. printer acquisition, materials and maintenance)7Niaki and Nonino (2017), Chatzoglou and Michailidou (2019), Tsai and Yeh (2019) 
Slow production process 6Mellor et al. (2014), Rylands et al. (2016), Attaran (2017), Fontana et al. (2019) 
Overall relative advantage 5Martinsuo and Luomaranta (2018), Fontana et al. (2019), Marak et al. (2019) 
IP right issues 4Mellor et al. (2014), Martinsuo and Luomaranta (2018) 
Low volume production(e.g. small production batches and no need to leverage economies of scale)4Weller et al. (2015), Rylands et al. (2016), Long et al. (2017) 
Market competitiveness(e.g. access to new markets and lower market entry barriers)4Yeh and Chen (2018a), Tsai and Yeh (2019) 
Overall productivity(e.g. improved firm performance)4Weller et al. (2015), Garza (2016), Niaki and Nonino (2017), Murmura and Bravi (2018) 
Workforce benefits(e.g. employee effectiveness, facilitation of job, fewer assembly steps and perceived enjoyment)3Schniederjans (2017), Yeh and Chen (2018a), Candi and Beltagui (2019), Jirsák and Brunet-Thornton (2019) 
No economies of scale 3Oettmeier and Hofmann (2017), Schniedeijans (2017), Westphal (2018) 
Complexity of software(e.g. complex CAD software usage and complex manipulation of files)1Garza (2016) 
Size restrictions 1Weller et al. (2015), Long et al. (2017) 
Organizational context#Relevant authors*
Innovativeness and technology readiness(e.g. willingness to adopt, experience with similar technology and internal resistance)12Candi and Beltagui (2019), Oettmeier and Hofmann (2017), Schniedeijans (2017), Yeh and Chen (2018a, b) 
Skilled human resources(e.g. existence of skilled workforce and need for workforce training)11Oettmeier and Hofmann (2017), Schniedeijans (2017), Candi and Beltagui (2019), Tsai and Yeh (2019) 
Compatibility(e.g. with mission, with structure and with existing technology)9Cohen (2014), Mellor et al. (2014), Weller et al. (2015), Tsai and Yeh (2019) 
Management qualities(e.g. top management support, top management obstacles and managerial experience)7Mellor et al. (2014), Niaki and Nonino (2017), Westphal (2018), Chatzoglou and Michailidou (2019) 
Company size 6Mellor et al. (2014), Kianian et al. (2016), Rylands et al. (2016), Westphal (2018) 
Supportive organizational culture(e.g. vision, strategy, mission and innovativeness)5Wang et al. (2016), Schniedeijans and Yalcin (2018), Marak et al. (2019), Tsai and Yeh (2019) 
Internal alignment 4Cohen (2014), Dwivedi et al. (2019), Tsai and Yeh (2019) 
Company age 1Steenhuis et al. (2020) 
Company origin(e.g. start-up, academic spin-off and corporate spin-off)1Steenhuis et al. (2020) 
Environmental context #Relevant authors*
Coercive forces from trade partners(e.g. high bargaining power from supplier/clients and supplier/client dependence)5Cohen (2014), Mellor et al. (2014), Candi and Beltagui (2019) 
Outside support(e.g. government, facilitating conditions)5Tsai and Yeh (2019), Mellor et al. (2014), Attaran (2017), Dwivedi et al. (2019) 
Overall social influence(e.g. community, environment and customer rejection)5Attaran (2017), Dwivedi et al. (2019), Westphal (2018), Tsai and Yeh (2019) 
Competitive pressure(e.g. technology turbulence and competitive environment)4Tsai and Yeh (2019), Yeh and Chen (2018a), Candi and Beltagui (2019), Chaudhuri et al. (2018) 
3DP supplier landscape(e.g. material vendors and 3DP vendors)4Yeh and Chen (2018a), Candi and Beltagui (2019), Chaudhuri et al. (2019), Tsai and Yeh (2019) 
Mimetic forces from competitors(e.g. extent of adoption among competitors)3Chaudhuri et al. (2018), Martinsuo and Luomaranta (2018), Mellor et al. (2014), Tsai and Yeh (2019) 
Market trends 2Schniederjans (2017), Martinsuo and Luomaranta (2018), Schniedeijans and Yalcin (2018) 
Macro-economic situation 2Yeh and Chen (2018a), Tsai and Yeh (2019) 
Environmental legislation 1Martinsuo and Luomaranta (2018) 

Note(s): * Relevant authors but not exclusive

or Create an Account

Close subscription notice
Close access options