located at the installed base of the capital goods. In this case, the OEM can send drawings to the customers, who can then print parts on demand. Disadvantages of AM can be the limited availability of materials, and the potentially lower quality of parts produced with AM. Next to that, AM machines are expensive, so a high utilization is needed to make the investment worthwhile. An alternative is to outsource AM production to an AM service provider. Furthermore, in the aviation industry, airworthiness certification of AM parts can be a significant cost factor that can limit the use of AM. Despite the disadvantages, many companies and research institutes have recognized the potential of AM, and are looking to increase knowledge on not only technical possibilities, but also the logistical impact of AM. One of these projects is the SINTAS research project, which is described in Section 1.4.
SINTAS research project This thesis project is part of the SINTAS (Sustainability Impact of New Technologies on After-sales Service supply chains) research project. In this project the Eindhoven University of Technology and the University of Twente collaborate with several industry partners to research if and how AM can influence service supply chains. The project consists of three Work Packages (WP’s). WP1 consists of mainly technical capabilities of AM. WP2 looks into the effect of AM on the after-sales service supply chain: when AM costs decline, it may be possible to deploy AM machines close to the customers. In this way, the number of echelons in the supply chain can be reduced. This leads to shorter lead times. WP3 researches, given the network design from WP2, the impact of AM on the logistics processes. This can be a reduction of spare parts inventory, or a decrease in obsolescence problems. Other effects can be more efficient transportation and a reduction of pollution as a result. Given the interests of TC, this thesis project fits best with WP3, with links to WP1 (technical requirements) and WP2 (network design). The main research questions of WP3 are: 1. How will spare part inventory levels be influenced in the various stages of the asset life cycle as consequence of the use of 3D printing, proceeding from the supply chain design (WP2), the component failure behavior (WP1) and the modified maintenance requirements (WP1)? 2. For which type of parts may we expect the highest impact on sustainability in terms of obsolescence reduction? 3. What is the impact of the use of 3D printing on (emergency) transportation in the supply chain, and for which types of components can we expect most sustainability impact in this respect? This thesis project will contribute to Research Questions 1 and 2. It can give important insights into the application of AM in industry.
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