Researchers Carl Philip T. Hedenstierna, Stephen M. Disney, and Jan Holmström explore one of the most fascinating new areas of manufacturing today as 3D printing service bureaus offer assistance to a wide range of professionals, businesses, designers, and users on any level the chance to see their 3D designs come to fruition—while eliminating the need on the consumer level for huge investments in materials and equipment.

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In the recently published ‘ Service levels in make-to-order production: 3D printing applications ,’ the authors explain how 3D printing servicers can manage their workload, deliver on time, and still keep production costs low; however, they also discuss what can often be a tradeoff in business: the realistic dilemma of atrocious service being provided at a minimal cost, or near-perfect service given at a higher cost.

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While the ability to offer customized parts on-demand is extremely advantageous for everyone involved, this new way of doing business also presents new challenges—especially due to a lack of inventory. The authors are very clear about the enormous issue this can cause, despite the benefits of not having to keep warehouses full of goods and the ability to offer one-of-a-kind work for customers: because the service bureau can’t ‘build inventory to decouple demand variability from production – any demand variability must be absorbed by capacity, or by the delivery time.’

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