Understanding how additive manufacturing influences organizations’ strategy in knowledge economy

Industry 4.0 constituted a trigger to a new phase in the Industrial Revolution, heavily focused in the interconnectivity of the systems, bringing disruptive technologies such as Additive Manufacturing (AM). On top of that, the shift from an industrial economy to a knowledge-based economy, where knowledge is the actual raw material, is implicating changes on the labor market, as new jobs strongly rely on knowledge-intensive activities. This is forcing organizations to rethink their way to operate, since markets are getting even more competitive and susceptible to greater volatility. Herewith organizations are resorting to AM as way to strengthen competitive position, as this technology allows to seize new opportunities. As response to that, this paper presents an industry analysis to AM based on Porter’s Five forces model, where forces such as threat of new entrants, bargaining power of customers, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of suppliers and rivalry among the existent competitors will be discussed under a knowledge perspective. The compiled evidence show that AM industry will plausibly suffer from a high rivalry in the next few years, as consequence of the increased power of customers and suppliers, low entry barriers for new entrants and due to pressures for a more sustainable society. Although these forces will not be totally controllable, organizations can plan their business strategy according to the knowledge they have on them. This type of approach will allow organizations to influence these forces more closely and at the same time to predict possible scenarios, identify tendencies and map the sector. In the present paper is proposed a conceptual model based on Porter’s five forces to analyze the impact of AM on firms’ strategy. For future development this model will be extended to organizations operating with AM in Portugal for validating its practical applicability, which will be performed through questionnaire and/or case study.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Porter’s Five Forces Model Proposal for Additive Manufacturing Technology: A Case Study in Portuguese industry

Industry 4.0 constituted a trigger to a new phase in the Industrial Revolution, heavily focused on the interconnectivity of the systems, bringing disruptive technologies such as Additive Manufac-turing (AM). On top of that, the shift from an industrial economy to a knowledge-based economy, where knowledge is the actual raw material, implies changes in the labor market, as new jobs strong-ly rely on knowledge-intensive activities. This forces organizations to rethink their way of operating, since markets are getting even more competitive and susceptible to greater volatility. Herewith or-ganizations, are resorting to AM to strengthen their competitive position, as this technology allows them to seize new opportunities. As a response to that, this dissertation presents an industry analysis to AM based on Porter’s Five Forces model, where forces such as the threat of new entrants, bar-gaining power of customers, the threat of substitutes, bargaining power of suppliers and rivalry among the existent competitors will be discussed under a knowledge perspective. To validate the proposed model's practical applicability, a case study was conducted based on a questionnaire that was applied to organizations operating with AM in Portugal. The information collected on the ques-tionnaire supplied the forces of the proposed model. After the analysis was possible to conclude that all the participating firms, except one, fit in the incremental stream of development as regards to Additive Manufacturing technology: Closed-incremental stream, in this stream AM technologies ap-pear as a complementing tool. Regarding the case study results, the participating firms seem to expe-rience the low capability to capture specialized workforce for AM, high capital requirements to enter the market and low IPR regulation. AM brings an opportunity for higher bargaining power to arise due to 'prosumerism', yet it does not add value as a tool for the standard products industry. Moreo-ver, suppliers strongly influence sectors' competition, which will presumably suffer from increased rivalry tensions. For future development, the study of the developed model in a corporate environ-ment where the adoption of the Additive Manufacturing technology is at a more advanced level is suggested.O despoletar da Indústria 4.0 desencadeou uma nova fase da Revolução Industrial, fortemente ligada à interconectividade dos sistemas, fomentado o aparecimento de tecnologias de carácter disruptivo como o Fabrico Aditivo (FA). Para além disso, a transição de uma economia material para uma economia baseada no conhecimento, onde o conhecimento é a matéria-prima, tem implicado mudanças ao nível dos mercados de trabalho, onde as novas tarefas dependem agora de atividades intensivas de conhecimento. Uma vez que os mercados estão cada vez mais competitivos e suscetí-veis a grande volatilidade, as organizações têm sido forçadas a repensar o seu modo de operar. Para isso têm recorrido ao FA, que se apresenta como um meio para reforçar a sua posição competitiva e aproveitar novas oportunidades. Por forma a responder a este problema, esta dissertação apresenta uma análise da indústria, segundo uma perspetiva de conhecimento, aplicada ao FA baseada no Mo-delo das Cinco Forças de Porter, onde as forças analisadas são a ameaça de novos entrantes, poder de negociação dos clientes, ameaça de substitutos, poder de negociação dos fornecedores e rivalida-de entre os concorrentes. Para validação do modelo proposto, foi realizado um estudo de caso atra-vés da aplicação de um questionário a empresas que operam com o FA em Portugal. Depois da análi-se efetuada a essa informação foi possível concluir que todas as empresas que participaram do estu-do, exceto uma, se encontram numa fase incremental da adoção da tecnologia de FA, onde as tecno-logias de FA surgem como ferramentas complementares à produção. Em relação ao estudo de caso, as empresas participantes experienciam dificuldades em recrutar trabalhadores qualificados na área do FA, elevados investimentos para entrar no mercado e baixo controlo quanto a direitos de Propri-edade Intelectual. O FA proporciona o aumento do poder de negociação dos clientes, como conse-quência do 'prosumerismo', no entanto não acrescenta valor como ferramenta para a produção de produtos standard. Os fornecedores detêm grande influência sobre os setores, que presumivelmente sofrerão de elevadas tensões de rivalidade. Como proposta de trabalho futuro sugere-se a extensão deste estudo a um ambiente corporativo, onde a situação de adoção do FA esteja mais avançada

Augmented reality tools for structural health monitoring applications

A novel Augmented Reality (AR) tool for structural health monitoring is illustrated in this work. It provides maintenance operators with the results of an impact detection methodology. It interacts with an eyepiece allowing the inspector to see the estimated impact position on the structure. Electric signals are collected by a network of piezosensors bonded on the structure to be monitored. Dispersive propagation compensation is performed to improve estimation robustness. Hyperbolic beamforming is exploited to locate the impact. Real-time impact data are finally fed to the AR eyepiece. The proposed approach is tested on a Cessna 150 engine cowling. Experimental results confirm the feasibility of the method and its exploitability in maintenance practice