The FaaS system using additive manufacturing for personalized production

Purpose In this paper, a three-dimensional (3D) printer-based manufacturing line and supporting system, which supports personalized/customized manufacturing for individual businesses or start-up companies, was studied to evaluate the practicality of using additive manufacturing for personalization/mass customization. Design/methodology/approach First, factory-as-a-service (FaaS) system, which provides factory as a service to customers, was proposed and designed to manufacture various products within a distributed manufacturing environment. This system includes 3D printer-based material extrusion processes, vapor machine/computer numerical control machines as post-processes and assembly and inspection processes with an automated material handling robot in the factory. Second, a virtualization module for the FaaS factory was developed using a simulation model interfaced with a cloud-based order and production-planning system and an internet-of-things-based control and monitoring system. This is part of the system for manufacturing operations, which is capable of dynamic scheduling in a distributed manufacturing environment. In addition, simulation-based virtual production was conducted to verify and evaluate the FaaS factory for the target production scenario. Main information of the simulation also has been identified and included in the virtualization module. Finally, the established system was applied in a sample production scenario to evaluate its practicality and efficiency. Findings Additive manufacturing is a reliable, feasible and applicable technology, and it can be a core element in smart manufacturing and the realization of personalization/mass customization. Originality/value Various studies on additive manufacturing have been conducted with regard to replacing the existing manufacturing methods or integrating with them, but these studies mostly focused on materials or types of additive manufacturing, with few advanced or applied studies on the establishment of a new manufacturing environment for personalization/mass customization.