Influence of 3D printing on transport: a theory and experts judgment based conceptual model

Figures & data

Figure 1. Overview of the methodological steps taken to produce an expert-validated conceptual model.

Table 1. Bibliometric scope of publications used.

Authors	Year	Type of research	Journals
Fawcett S.E. 4	2014 33	Review 28	International Journal of
Waller M.A. 4	2016 21	Modelling 12	Production Research 7
Holmstrom J. 3	2013 12	Foresight 6	Journal of Business Logistics 5
Pearce J.M. 3	2015 10	Conceptual paper 5	Journal of Cleaner Production 5
Baumers M. 2	2012 6	Cases 4	Technological Forecasting and
Chan H.K. 2	2010 5	Experiment 3	Social Change 4
Despeisse M. 2	2011 3	Survey 3	IFIP Advances in Information and
Hague R. 2	2006 3	Essay 2	Communication Technology 4
Hao L. 2	2008 3	Research agenda 2	International Journal of Physical
Kostakis V. 2	2009 2	Storytelling 2	Distribution and Logistics
Kreiger M.A. 2	2004 2	Workshop 2	Management 3
Mourtzis D. 2			International Journal of
Partanen J. 2			Production Economics 3
Rayna T. 2			Logistics Research 3
Striukova L. 2			First Monday 2
Tuck C. 2			Journal of Manufacturing
Wang X. 2			Technology Management 2
			Production Planning and Control2
			PICMET 2014 2

Figure 2. Preliminary conceptual model for the impact of 3D printing on accessibility, the environment and safety.

Table 2. Summary of the articulated variables in the model over the course of the research.

	Literature review	First expert round	Second expert round
Location decision	Decentralisation, but depending on volume, added-value, flexibility, demand/supply uncertainty	Decentralisation, but there is an array of possible forms of 3D printing locations (home-based, neighbourhood-level, hybrid forms)	City-level hubs most likely because they can coordinate material flows and have expertise
Wants and needs	Flexibility and adaptability, but probably of limited and simple variety	Mass-individualisation becomes more important	Mass-individualisation becomes more important; influence on buying frequency (which way is undecided)
Transport resistance	Reduction in shipping but raw materials still needed	Goods transport more efficiently organised as production chains become simpler. Change in transport costs uncertain	Distribution networks will be organised more efficiently, less empty vehicles; but raw materials still need shipping
Impact on time of delivery	Not mentioned	New ways of delivery will emerge	No real influence (other developments have more impact)
Development of transport technologies	Not mentioned	Dedicated transport technology needed, containers less important	No real influence (other developments have more impact)
Impacts on transport volumes	Not mentioned	Not mentioned	Diverging opinions: either increase or decrease
Impacts on the environment	Not mentioned	Slightly positive	Diverging opinions: either increase or decrease
Impacts on traffic safety	Not mentioned	Not mentioned	No influence due to 3D printing
External impacts	Not mentioned	Policy changes on transport networks, recycling, waste flows	Economic growth; 3D printing technological developments; 3D printing market developments

Table A.1. Search strategies for 3D printing in transport (date of search: 10 November 2016).

Search strategy	Search term	Number found	Relevant	Precision
3D print in social sciences	TITLE-ABS-KEY (3d print*) AND SUBJAREA (mult OR arts OR busi OR deci OR econ OR psyc OR soci)	338	37	10.9%
3D print in natural sciences but focused on transport, economics, decision studies, etc.	TITLE-ABS-KEY (3d print*) AND SUBJAREA (mult OR ceng OR CHEM OR comp OR eart OR ener OR engi OR envi OR mate OR math OR phys) AND (LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “BUSI”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “SOCI”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “ENVI”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “MULT”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “DECI”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “ECON”))	474	27	5.7%
3D printing with biomaterials in social sciences	(TITLE-ABS-KEY (“Bioprint*” OR “Prosthetic*” OR “Printed biomaterial” OR “organ-on-a-chip” OR “printed organ” OR “Biofabrication” OR “Tissue print*” OR “3D scaffolds” OR “Tissue engineering” OR “Tissue scaffold*” OR “Regenerative medicine” OR “3d print*”) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY (transport OR logistic* OR “supply chain” OR traffic)) AND (LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “ENVI”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “MULT”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “SOCI”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “DECI”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “ENER”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “BUSI”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “ECON”))	123	18	14.6%
Broader search terms for 3D printing in social sciences	(TITLE-ABS-KEY (“Rapid prototype*” OR “Home fabricat*” OR “distributed manufactur*” OR “Rapid manufactur*” OR “Additive manufactur*” OR “3d print*”) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY (transport OR logistic* OR “supply chain” OR traffic)) AND (LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “DECI”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “BUSI”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “ECON”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “SOCI”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “ENVI”) OR LIMIT-TO (SUBJAREA, “ENER”))	112	38	33.9%
Review publications on 3D printing	TITLE-ABS-KEY (“3d print*”) AND (LIMIT-TO (DOCTYPE, “re”	274	7	2.6%
Broader search terms for 3D printing in transport-related journals	ALL (“Rapid prototype*” OR “Home fabricat*” OR “distributed manufactur*” OR “Rapid manufactur*” OR “Additive manufactur*” OR “3d print*”) AND SRCTITLE (transport* OR logistic*)	59	16	27.1%
Total publications found (with overlap)		1380	127	9.2%
Total publications (without double counting) downloaded		959	93	9.7%
Publications after “snowballing”			12
Publications after search for “grey literature” on Google and Google Scholar (using 3D printing and transport/logistics as search terms)			6
Total publications included in literature search			111