3D Printers Implementation in the Medical Sector: Perspectives and Impacts

Responding to the global needs of the market has led organizations to transform their way of doing business mainly due to the changing scenario of recent years. The current scenario has radically changed the meaning of technology, that, from a simple production factor, has become a critical competitive factor capable of modifying business strategies and revolutionizing sectors and production processes. 3D printing is a production technique that is placed within a broader context, namely that of enabling technologies defined by Industry 4.0: its application extends to various sectors, such as aerospace, construction, art, domestic, up to healthcare. It is precisely in this domain that its adoption can mark the beginning of a new era, by offering technological solutions aimed at improving the individual life and at the same time guaranteeing organizational effectiveness from the point of view of cost involved and time employed for production. Therefore, the aim of this study is to understand the way in which the adoption of medical 3D printers has introduced economic-business changes at the supply chain, organizational and environmental level within business processes. To this end, a multiple case study has been developed, through the administration of a semi-structured interview to 7 Italian companies that design, manufacture and sell 3D printers offering additive technological solutions to the medical sector. The results show how companies believe that the organizational impact related to the adoption of this technology is quite significant, highlighting how it leads to the definition of a new organizational culture. Secondly, it emerges that the adoption of 3D printers within the medical sector also leads to a change in procedures and production activities. Finally, it also emerges that the impact at the supply chain level particularly affects the reduction in the number of players in the supply chain and product time to market.