Adoption of 3D printing technology and its impact on the business

Abstract

The goal of this research is explore the 3DP technology adoption of the Finnish companies and the impact of the 3DP technology on their businesses. The reason for this research is Finland’s high innovation ranking on a global level which triggered the need to explore more in-depth the innovation adoption process and its business impact through the 3DPT context. Hereby, this research explores different technology adoption models and theoretical concepts that give rationale why technological innovations are important to adopt and how they can affect the business. In addition the theoretical research explains the values, the challenges and the potential impact of the 3DP technology on the business. Hence, for the empirical part of this research, eight companies, members of the Finnish Rapid Prototyping Association (FIRPA), were purposely chosen for interviewing. The empirical results showed that 3DP technology is mainly adopted by the Finnish SMEs which are yet in their early maturity stage. The research showed that Finnish SMEs do not systematically integrate the 3DP technology in their operations and therefore they don’t recognize significant impact of the 3DP technology on their business performance. Although, the findings of this research indicated three main aspects in which 3DP technology as an innovation impacts the business: business model transformation, growth efficiency and operational efficiency.