The costs of additive manufactured parts often seem too high in comparison to those of
traditionally manufactured parts, as the information about major cost drivers, especially for
additive manufactured metal parts, is weak. Therefore, a lifecycle analysis of additive
manufactured parts is needed to understand and rate the cost drivers that act as the largest
contributors to unit costs, and to provide a focus for future cost reduction activities for the
Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology. A better understanding of the cost structure will
help to compare the AM costs with the opportunity costs of the classical manufacturing
technologies and will make it easier to justify the use of AM manufactured parts. This paper
will present work in progress and methodology based on a sample investigated with business
process analysis / simulation and activity based costing. In addition, cost drivers associated
with metal AM process will be rated.Mechanical Engineerin