Additive Manufacturing in the Aerospace Industry: Impact on Purchasing Process

Additive manufacturing (AM) has become an important tool in manufacturing companies that seek to improve their competitiveness by adapting their manufacturing processes to their customer requirements. In this study, the authors seek to deepen the knowledge about the disruptive potential impact of additive manufacturing (AM) implementation in aerospace sector purchasing processes. During the study it has been analyzed the changes on the purchasing processes, activities, and cost-related issues, when aerospace companies decide to change from their traditional manufacturing models to one new manufacturing model based on AM adoption. Result analysis allow authors to infer quite several relevant changes in terms of purchasing function definitions, investments, and costs involved which could be relevant to consider before AM implementation is decided by aerospace companies.