Hybrid Additive Manufacturing for Metal Component Repair: An Economic Feasibility Study

The global trend of moving towards more sustainable business practices is involving the manufacturing industry as well, which shows increasing interest in remanufacturing practices. Additive manufacturing technologies can be an enabler for this shift as they are suitable both from the engineering and the economic standpoints. Although not fully mature, the research regarding the quality aspects of the possible additive manufacturing applications is abundant, but studies regarding the economic advantages at the supply chain level are mostly qualitative. This thesis aims at filling this gap through proposing a theoretical model to quantitatively assess the remanufacturing costs and to study the configuration of the supply chain built on the repair activity enabled by the hybrid additive manufacturing technology. The case of the restoration of metal industrial components in the continental U.S. is considered, as it is an already existing and fast-growing market that allows to make the case for large-scale adoption of the mentioned technologies. The unitary reparation costs are assessed for different component classes of dif ferent materials, their cost structure is provided, and sensitivity analysis is performed over the most impactful parameters. Subsequently, the optimal supply chain configuration is studied un der different conditions, resulting into the evidence that a decentralized, territorially widespread presence of remanufacturing facilities is not only feasible but economically encouraged