Purpose




Additive manufacturing has achieved rapid development in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to visualize the intellectual landscapes of additive manufacturing and identify the hotspots and emerging trends of additive manufacturing, which can provide references for scholars, enterprises and governments to promote the development of theory and practice in the additive manufacturing field.




Design/methodology/approach




Science mapping is a fast-growing interdisciplinary field originated in information science and technology. Based on this methodology, guided by a computational approach, the paper visualizes the co-occurring keywords network and co-citation references network by CiteSpaceIII software to explore the hotspots and emerging trends of additive manufacturing by the following five indicators: highly cited keywords, burst keywords, clusters, landmark references and burst references.




Findings




“Additive manufacturing,” “3D printing,” “3D powder printing,” “consolidation phenomena,” “microstructure,” “rapid prototyping,” etc., are the main hotspots of additive manufacturing. The trends of additive manufacturing generally consist of three stages: the fundamental concepts stage from 1995 to 2000 (“rapid prototyping,” “additive manufacturing,” etc.), the approaches and techniques applications stage from 2001 to 2010 (“stereolithography,” “scaffold,” etc.), and the emerging trends stage from 2011 to the present (“stem cell”, “selective laser,” “ti-6al-4v,” etc.). The research is most abundant in 2010 and 2012. The medical field is an important hotspot of additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing has been researched in interdiscipline.




Originality/value




The paper maps the perspective of additive manufacturing and explore the hotspots and emerging trends of additive manufacturing.

A scientometric review of hotspots and emerging trends in additive manufacturing

Retailing thought and practice is premised on the assumption that consumers visit retailers to search for and acquire objects produced by manufacturers. In essence, we assume that the acts of consuming and producing are conducted by separate entities. This unspoken yet familiar premise shapes the questions retail scholars ask and the way retail practitioners think about their industry. Although this assumption accurately depicted retailing since the Industrial Revolution, its relevance is being challenged by a growing set of individuals who are equipped with new digital tools to engage in self-manufacturing. In this chapter, we examine self-manufacturing with a particular focus on the recent rise of desktop 3D printing. After discussing this new technology and reviewing the literature, we offer a conceptual classification of four distinct types of 3D printed objects and use this classification to inform a content analysis of over 400 of these objects. Based on this review and analysis, we discuss the implications of self-manufacturing for retailing thought and practice.

Self-manufacturing via 3D Printing: Implications for Retailing Thought and Practice

In a context of downward trends in mail volumes, recent postal reforms have allowed postal operators to build tariffs with a more balanced approach between cost based and demand based pricing. In the United States, some increased pricing flexibility was granted to the USPS in 2006 with the adoption of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. In Europe, the adoption of the 2008 postal directive which liberalizes the postal sector confirmed the application of the subsidiarity principle, according to which European Union member states are free to determine the scope of regulated services, and consequently the degree of pricing flexibility for postal operators. In line with these regulatory changes, postal operators practice has been characterized by more innovations, both in the United States and in Europe. Analyzing recent product launch and commercial policies, we identify a link between demand based pricing and legislations which set up liberalization and a more flexible approach of cost orientation principles. Through increased market segmentation, postal operators have developed differentiated pricing in relation to specific products and specific customers. The paper provides insights from postal operatorsâ€™ strategies and interactions with regulatory authorities concerning price, in a context of growing pressure from various stakeholders on postal operatorsâ€™ marketing strategies.

Pricing Strategies in Regulated Markets: Innovative Pricing in the Postal Sector

The growing competitive threat to the Postal Service’s role as a medium for electronic bill presentment and payment (“EBPP”) is similar to the competitive challenges that other regulated network industries—including the transportation, energy, and telecommunications industries—have faced from intermodal competition. Unlike other regulated industries, however, the Postal Service has not tried to meet this threat by offering targeted rate reductions aimed at stemming the loss of this high-margin business. The inaction appears to stem from the belief, widely shared in the postal community, that volume-retention discounts constitute undue discrimination, or are otherwise inconsistent with the Postal Service’s common carrier status. This paper has argued that volume-retention discounts of this kind, if reasonably calibrated to the competitive threat from the Internet, would be consistent with established legal standards for price discrimination.

Selective Rate Discounts To Preserve First-Class Mail Volume

Disruptive innovation is a powerful tool for broadening and developing new markets and providing new product functionality, which, in turn, may disrupt existing markets, platforms and ecosystems. From the case of 3D printing technology, we find a clear example of disruptive technology. This chapter examines how disruptive the technology of 3D printing on the strategic scope of manufacturing activities in terms of product scope, market scope, geographical scope, and competence scope.

3D Printing as a Case of Disruptive Technology: Market Leverage and Strategic Risks for Traditional Manufacturing

3D printing refers to a set of technologies that builds physical objects from virtual representations. While approaches vary, these technologies process a digital model of an object into horizontal slices, like a loaf of bread standing on end. A 3D printer then iteratively prints each (nearly) two-dimensional slice, layer-by-layer, from the bottom up. By allowing physical objects to be created from virtual representations on demand, 3D printing could disrupt supply chains, warehousing, manufacturing, and the myriad industries that rely on them. These prognostications, however, assume technological advances and consumer acceptance not yet realized. It is not clear which businesses will have the problems and which will have the opportunities. The United States Postal Service® (USPS) stands to benefit from a major 3D disruption. The outcome for USPS depends upon the advancement of the technology, its adoption by consumers, and the strategies it takes to position itself to capture benefit or avoid injury. This paper provides a framework for considering potential outcomes for USPS should a 3D printing “revolution” occur.

Implications of 3D Printing for the United States Postal Service

This paper argues for the importance of pricing innovation in postal administrations that are transitioning gradually from highly regulated monopolies to less regulated, competitive entities. We argue that the incumbent operator ought to seek pricing innovation and flexibility under current regulatory constraints, with the anticipation that these strategies will better position the entity for competition in the future, if and when constraints are lifted. This paper offers a conceptual framework for pricing innovation based on established principles of market segmentation and value-based pricing. We illustrate the framework in the context of a Negotiated Service Agreement (NSA) that United States Postal Service (USPS) recently concluded with Capital One. The case study offers an opportunity to highlight the strategies, organizational changes, and resources needed for successful implementation of value-based pricing.

Charles L. Crum

Papers

Implications of 3D Printing for the United States Postal Service

Pricing Innovation for a Transitioning Postal Administration