3DP-RDM: Defining the research agenda for 3D printing enabled re-distributed manufacturing

Manufacturing value chains have changed substantially in the last ten years. It is anticipated that the adoption of 3D printing (3DP) will bring dramatic transformations as companies simplify their supply chains and adopt novel business models. The importance of 3DP to the UK economy has been acknowledged with the TSB defining it as one of the UK's 22 priority process technologies, and the Government Office for Science expecting 3DP to have "a profound impact on the way manufacturers make almost any product". As the latter report commented, additive manufacturing "will become an essential 'tool' allowing designs to be optimised to reduce waste; products to be made as light as possible; inventories of spare parts to be reduced; greater flexibility in the location of manufacturing; products to be personalised to consumers; consumers to make some of their own products; and products to be made with new graded composition and bespoke properties". The report recommended that greater efforts should be made to understand key technologies such as 3DP in order to guide policy, a recommendation that this proposal seeks to address.

The 3DP-RDM network is a response to this call for greater understanding. The organisation of the network is based around the core idea of using a 'network of networks' to efficiently bring together the relevant academic, industry and policy experts to jointly define a series of feasibility studies, the outputs of which will define the research agenda for 3DP enabled re-distributed manufacturing. These 'network or networks' provide a unique platform on which to deliver a programme of targeted feasibility studies. The following five themes have been identified by researchers on the EPSRC/ESRC-funded 'Bit by Bit' project (EP/K039598/1) as needing to be explored in greater depth:

1. The economics of 3D printing, including assessment of the cost advantages;
2. The protection of intellectual property and competitive advantage, including the protection of copyrights;
3. Manufacturing issues such as the quality of materials and recyclability;
4. Education issues and the presence of the necessary skills in the labour market;
5. Manufacturing standardisation.

The initial network that has been assembled possesses expertise from across these five research themes. In addition to the research themes, industry consultations have highlighted numerous sectors and application areas where these issues could be readily examined. From this broader list, five potential application areas for case studies have been identified: pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food, retail, and repairs and spares. While these themes and sectors/application areas provide us with a structure to design our potential feasibility studies, the actual final choice of studies will emerge from a research competition process involving scoping workshops and short proposals for feasibility studies.

The outputs of the feasibility studies will provide insight into sector-specific features of 3DP technologies that help enable re-distributed manufacturing, and the barriers preventing their wider diffusion. They will begin to answer the research objectives of this network.

1. The features of 3DP technologies that help enable re-distributed manufacturing;
2. How re-distributed manufacturing may accelerate the diffusion of 3DP technologies and vice-versa;
3. Sector specific and generic aspects of 3DP enabled re-distributed manufacturing.

In combination, these studies will enable the identification of the interconnections between 3DP and re-distributed manufacturing, and the research capabilities required to address the research gaps that this analysis identifies. The consolidated knowledge from these studies and the on-going access to defined academic-industry-policy communities of interest will provide a key input to the Research Councils, established a clear research agenda and assisting them with the allocation of future funding.

3D printing (3DP) includes a broad range of technologies which offer the prospect for on-demand, mass personalisation, localised, flexible and sustainable production. The envisioned societal and economic benefits for such transformative manufacturing technologies are numerous. They include the localisation of production, more personalised products and services, and the reshoring of manufacturing.

The 3DP-RDM network will draw together existing networks from academia, industry and policy, creating a wider base of participation and enabling the 3DP-RDM network to deliver informed direction and guidance for future research. These networks include the existing industry networks of the core team, IfM and the EPSRC Centre for Innovation Manufacturing in Additive Manufacturing, as well as those of the network partners. Of these network partners, the Bit by Bit Advisory Network, CSaP and MTC have extensive reach to academia, policy and industry respectively.

The 3DP-RDM network approach will ensure that multiple perspectives are brought to bear on the issues identified, that the feasibility studies conducted are industrially-engaged, and that the results of these feasibility studies are incorporated into future decision-making.

Identifying opportunities for UK economic growth
Current understanding of 3DP is relatively well advanced in terms of knowing how the technology can be used to improve product performance or reduce weight, as well as when low volume manufacturing becomes economically viable. Where there is less knowledge and greater uncertainty is in the social, economic, legal and educational implications of the technology's application.

Through attending the network events and hearing the perspectives of other attendees, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the challenges in each of the issues identified and the barriers that need to be overcome if a future vision of 3D printing enabled re-distributed manufacturing is to be achieved. The outputs of the project will provide a wider dissemination route to industry, policy makers and academia, highlighting the obstacles that need to be overcome, defining what needs to be done to help realise the opportunities for the reorganisation of manufacturing activity, and identifying possible routes for the future exploitation of 3DP. This guidance will support the strategic planning of policy makers, enabling more informed choices and progress to be made more quickly and effectively.

The 3DP-RDM network will lead to a more coordinated national activity, helping to make research more efficient, ultimately enabling better innovation and new business opportunities. The knowledge generated by the network into the barriers and opportunities for 3DP will help to de-risk the landscape for investment, with companies and investors being better informed when allocating their resources, and placing the UK economy at the forefront of manufacturing's localisation and personalisation transformation.

Informing national research and industrial policy
The insights from the scoping workshops and feasibility studies will establish a baseline for research activity into the interactions between 3DP and re-distributed manufacturing, with the outputs of the feasibility studies giving clear directions for the research topics that need to be investigated in greater depth by the EPSRC and ESRC.

As an emerging technology, research and industrial activity into 3DP is currently highly fragmented. Creating this network will bring together a wide variety of stakeholders, with the results of the scoping workshops helping to not only support the research councils but also inform BIS as it begins to formulate its National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing in the UK. The results of the feasibility studies will be able to be fed directly into this national strategy, with any knowledge gaps identified enabling the UK to develop a concerted R&D program for the future.