Following the successes of previous projects between MRO procurement and supply chain specialists Entec International and their academic partners at the University of Portsmouth in the UK, a new Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project has been launched to assess the potential of Additive Manufacturing (AM), or 3D Printing, in the spare parts supply chain.
According to CEO Mike Robinson, Entec is looking to build upon its expertise in complex supply chain management through the supplementary implementation of localised manufacturing. This innovative new model will help across several economic, sociological, and environmental areas by driving down growing air-freight costs, reducing shipping times, cutting carbon footprint, and by further optimising the holding inventory of spare parts – ultimately increasing the customer’s bottom line through the accessibility of near-instantaneous MRO inventory supply.
The project will follow the life-cycle of a product against the Environmental Management Systems standards as described in the ISO 14000 series, and will have a focus on enviro-economic effects of 3D printed suitable materials to ensure a sustainable solution is delivered in alignment with Entec’s environmental centric growth.
