Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the relationship implications of additive manufacturing (AM), which has the ability to produce layer-by-layer three-dimensional complex products by adding material in comparison to traditional manufacturing processes which remove material – for industrial marketing.

Design/methodology/approach

After presenting the literature on customer relationships and digital technologies in business-to-business, the study uses a “zoom-out” and “zoom-in” perspective to review the extant literature on AM and then makes study propositions for industrial marketing.

Findings

Through the adoption of AM technologies, the study suggests that firms can improve their level of servitization through customized products, offer more sustainable value propositions and empower their customers through the sale of digital files, which can be considered as levers to strengthen relationships with customers.

Research limitations/implications

This paper makes several propositions regarding the relationship implications of AM for industrial marketing that further research should test.

Practical implications

This paper highlights the relational benefits that adopting AM may represent for companies.

Originality/value

While AM which is considered as an industrial revolution has generated a wide body of research in engineering and operations and technology management sciences, its impact on industrial marketing remains understudied.

中文翻译：

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增材制造（3D 打印）对工业营销的关系影响框架：服务化、可持续性和客户授权

目的

本文的目的是展示增材制造 (AM) 的关系含义，与去除材料的传统制造工艺相比，增材制造能够通过添加材料来生产逐层三维复杂产品——用于工业营销.

设计/方法/方法

在介绍了 B2B 中客户关系和数字技术的文献后，该研究使用“缩小”和“放大”的视角来回顾现有的 AM 文献，然后为工业营销提出研究建议。

发现

该研究表明，通过采用 AM 技术，公司可以通过定制产品提高服务水平，提供更可持续的价值主张，并通过销售数字文件赋予客户权力，这可以被视为加强与客户关系的杠杆。

研究限制/影响

本文就 AM 对工业营销的关系影响提出了几个建议，进一步的研究应该加以检验。

实际影响

本文重点介绍了采用 AM 可能为公司带来的相关利益。

原创性/价值

虽然被视为工业革命的 AM 在工程、运营和技术管理科学方面产生了广泛的研究，但其对工业营销的影响仍未得到充分研究。