Business Models

In addition to the pre-, in- and post-processes, additive manufacturing is also embedded in a chain of processes in terms of company type, the structure of which reflects the respective business model. The following sections deal with the idea of these business models/business cases and the resulting process chains as well as the questions about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks of additive manufacturing in the context of the process chains. Ten typical business cases are outlined as examples. Real mixed forms and further business cases can be found. In the following, we briefly describe the respective business cases, summarise the process chain and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the respective business model.