Additive manufacturing has the potential to make a longstanding impact on the manufacturing world and is a core element of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Additive manufacturing signifies a new disruptive path on how we will produce parts and products. Several studies suggest this technology could foster sustainability into manufacturing systems based on its potential of optimizing material consumption, creating new shapes, customizing designs and shortening production times that, all combined, will greatly transform some of the existing business models. Although it requires reaching a certain level of design maturity to completely insert this technology in an industrial setting, additive manufacturing has the potential to favorably impact the manufacturing sector by reducing costs in production, logistics, inventories, and in the development and industrialization of a new product. The transformation of the industry and the acceleration of the adopting rate of new technologies is driving organizational strategy. Thus, through the lenses of Industry 4.0 and its technological concepts, this paper aims to contribute to the knowledge about the impacts of additive manufacturing technology on sustainable business models. This aim is accomplished through a proposed framework, as well as the models and scales that can be used to determine these impacts. The effects are assessed by taking into account the social, environmental and economic impacts of additive manufacturing on business models and for all these three dimensions a balanced scorecard structure is proposed.

Since its creation, Additive Manufacturing (AM) has experienced a tremendous growth particularly over the last decade due to the industrial paradigm shift intended for improving conventional manufacturing procedures. This work is focused on an emerging AM process known as Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) to assess its potential for further applications involving metallic costumer-oriented parts. Contrary to most AM processes, WAAM allows deposition of material layer-by-layer to be accomplished under high deposition rates, low production times and near 100% material efficiency using accessible equipment. The work stems from evaluating the economic viability in the production of parts by WAAM as an alternative for conventional processes such as those used in traditional subtractive approaches. For that purpose, a process-based cost model (PBCM) was developed for estimating production costs using a strong technological approach. The PBCM was tested with the production of a case study part by WAAM and its environmental impact was further assessed through life cycle assessment (LCA). Results show that WAAM can be economically and environmentally viable within specific industrial contexts. Moreover, further developments and optimizations of process variables and equipment will allow this technology to mature into tackling novel production challenges in a time and cost-effective manner.

Additive manufacturing technologies can produce complex components in a more efficient and environmentally sustainable way when compared with conventional manufacturing technologies. These advantages are expected to keep cementing Additive manufacturing role in several industries. Additive manufacturing technologies are fast-improving technologies with an estimated doubling of performance on average every five years. These fast developments make it difficult to keep track of current technological capabilities and environmental impacts. Among the most relevant additive manufacturing technologies there are the metal additive technologies of Powder Bed Fusion, Directed Energy Deposition and Binder Jetting. This paper assesses the current technological capabilities and environmental impact of these technologies. For that, resorting to data from literature, technical reports and company data sheets, the technological steps are defined, the relevant process parameters are established, and qualitative and quantitative data is gathered. A set of visualizations of process capabilities and their environmental impact is performed with the intent of helping designers and engineers with decision-making. It is also interesting for the research community to visualize and understand the current capabilities and to establish roadmaps for research. Limitations of this study include data currently available for each parameter, and the shortage of data for the environmental calculations.