3D Printing and Regional Manufacturing Competitiveness

Rock Stars of 3D Printing, March 17, 2015

Presented by:Cliff WaldmanDirector of Economic Studiescwaldman@mapi.net

• The New World of Process Innovation• The Role of 3D in the Evolving Production Paradigm• 3D Use By Manufacturers: A MAPI Council Survey• Clusters as a Cutting Edge Competitiveness Framework• An Advanced Manufacturing Cluster• Evolving Technology Will Change the Advanced Manufacturing Cluster• The Role of 3D Printing in the “New Factory” Cluster• New Elements of Regional Policy and Programs

Today’s Presentation: A Framework for Regional Competitiveness

• Another Industrial Revolution?: It Certainly Looks Like It!

• Everyday We Read About Human-Like Robots, Self-Replicating 3D Printers, and Software Programs that Direct Traffic Along Complex Supply Chains

• Such Innovations are Partially Responses to Global Competitive Pressures and Demographic Change

• Two Waves of Manufacturing Innovation: Lean and New Technology. Research Shows That They are Optimal When Used in Coordination With One Another

The New World of Manufacturing Process

• I Assert that, of All the New Manufacturing Technologies, 3D is the One that Most Straddles-and Even Blurs-the Line Between Process Innovation and Product Innovation

• 3D Is Allowing Customers to Participate in the Innovation Effort• In That Sense, these Printers, Will Have Sizable Implications for Supply

Chains and Business Models• With the Right Policies, 3D Could Stimulate Much-Needed

Entrepreneurship• If All Goes Well, Disruptive Competitors Will Increasingly Populate the

Landscape in Certain Goods-Producing Sectors

3D Printing in the Evolving Process Framework

• We Polled the MAPI Engineering, Research, and Development Council on Their Company’s Current and Near-Future Use of 3D Technology

• We Received a Total of 20 Responses• 17 of the 20 Indicated that Their Company is Currently Making Use of

Some Kind of 3D Printing• 2 of the 3 Remaining Indicated that Their Company Plans to Make Use of

3D Printing in the Next 5 Years• 17 of the 20 Indicated that They are Using 3D Technology for Prototyping• 12 Respondents Indicated that Their Use of 3D is Increasing Product

Innovation; 8 Respondents Said that Their Use of 3D is Shortening Their Supply Chains

• 9 Respondents Indicated that 3D is a “Stand Alone” Investment; 8 Respondents Said that it is Part of a Broader Effort With Technology

Use By Manufacturers: A MAPI Council Survey

• A Simple Regional Production Function Needs to Be Incorporated Into a Framework that Captures Inter-Industry, Public-Private, and Cross-Region Linkages, All of Which Make Up the Manufacturing World on a Sub-National Level

• Seminal Thinking Comes From Michael Porter. He observed that Regional Economies Have Their Own Distinct Behavior and Cycles

• Porter Noted the Presence-or Potential Presence-of Clusters in Regional Economies

• Cluster Definition:“ A Geographically Proximate Group of Inter-Connected Companies, Suppliers, Source Providers, and Associated Institutions in a Particular Field Linked By Externalities of Various Types.”

• Externalities Can Include Skills, Knowledge, Purchased Inputs, AND Common Technologies

Clusters

Porter’s Diamond Creates an Image of the Cluster Concept

Advanced Manufacturing Cluster Developed at MAPI

• Information Becomes a More Dominant Supply Chain and Cluster Driver

• Specialized Labor Will Grow in Demand

• Supply Chains Will Become Smaller and More Agile

New Process Technologies Will Alter the Advanced Manufacturing Cluster

• A More Explicit Role for Product Design in the Supply Chain

• Blurring of Supply and Demand as Customers Take Part in Product Innovation

• Increasing the Role of New and Small Firms, Which Offer 3D-Generated Supply Chain Services

• More Cluster-to-Cluster Spillover Impacts

• Less Need for Offshoring?

3D Printing in the “New Factory” Advanced Manufacturing Cluster

• Regional 3D Printing Development Centers: R&D for 3D!

• Regional Small Business Development Centers Focusing on Manufacturing Supply Chain Needs

• New Technologies as a Part of the Curriculum in Local Schools that Provide Specialized Labor for the Evolving Manufacturing Cluster

New Elements of Regional Policy and Programs