Additive manufacturing technology: Identifying value potential in additive manufacturing stakeholder groups and business networks

The development of additive manufacturing (AM) technology is expected to transform product design and manufacturing. It is predicted that the effects of AM on business will be diverse and extensive. It will be critical for business owners to observe how AM impacts on conventional supply chains and business networks, plus the effects on customers’ value propositions and on value creation. Value creation and value capture are concepts strongly linked to business relations and to stakeholder management. However, the concept of value is inherently complex and multifaceted, and so are the structures within which value potential exists in business networks and business environments. The critical issue for business managers is to identify where and how value is created in business relations. In this study, the primary purpose was to observe how AM technology impacts on company value creation within complex business relations.