Additive Manufacturing for Aftermarket Business – Utilizing Process Speed to Meet Demand with Minimal Inventory Levels
Authors: Gladkikh Mikhail , Minhas Naeem , Folks Greg , AlAdawy Ahmed 
Published: April 2020

Multiple industries are operating with the installed base of products, such as Valves for pipeline or fluid flow applications, Turbomachinery Equipment for power generating Plants, or Pumps for Oil & Gas Artificial Lift Services. This installed base of assets requires monitoring, predictive and preventative maintenance, as well as part or asset replacement when it is not performing to specifications. These additional performance requirements drive the Aftermarket business to maintain and repair these installed assets. One of the challenges is that many of the failure mechanisms resulting in part replacements or repair are unpredictable and require an immediate response to minimize operational downtime. Moreover, some assets are expected to last for decades, and in many cases, the original manufacturer is no longer in the business by the time the asset needs to be repaired or replaced. Often, the risk of part shortages is met by building and maintaining inventories, tying up cash in items that might never be used. Therefore, the nature of Aftermarket business places premium on quick response in spare part delivery and asset repair. This paper outlines how the relative simplicity and speed of Additive Manufacturing process can address this need and meet the associated demand with minimal inventory levels.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a novel manufacturing technology, growing rapidly and able to work with multiple materials, including many plastics, metal alloys, and ceramics. AM is characterized with relative simplicity and speed (less steps in Supply Chain process compared to conventional machining or casting), as well as ability to create very complex shapes for no additional cost and enabling favorable economic value for a product lot of one (thus solving mass customization challenge). These advantages make AM indispensable for the Aftermarket as it is uniquely positioned to meet quick response demands eliminating the need to hold inventories. Moreover, combining capabilities of AM with modern reverse engineering and modeling & simulation tools allows quick turnaround for parts that are no longer serviced by the original manufacturer.

We present several case studies on how AM is able to meet Aftermarket challenges in different businesses such as Valves and Turbomachinery Equipment, dramatically reducing lead time for spare parts and eliminating inventories. With rapidly growing footprint of AM, including new materials, larger and more versatile 3D printers, and scalable, economic processes, it is evident that the case for AM in Aftermarket business will only get stronger and we will see rapid proliferation of AM in many industries for years to come.

The application of AM processes to the Aftermarket business challenges results in a dramatic change of business models: no longer spare part shortage risks are addressed by building inventories; rather, speed of AM process allows meeting demand for part replacement and repair just in time, minimizing inventory levels and enabling economic Supply Chain solutions for a product lot of one.