Abstract
Keywords - e-Manufacturing, Laser sintering, Spare parts on demand, Economies, Mass
Customization
Abstract - Laser Sintering offers the possibility to adapt literally any design to specific customer requests thus realizing e-Manufacturing 1. OEMs have to be able to react both to interior designs differentiating their brand (e. g. passenger seat amenities such as cup holders, TV berths, rear seat entertainment, etc. ) and to interior standard designs that pose an immense challenge to variety handling (e. g. mobile phone berths, telematics applications) Laser Sintering manufacturing technology not only offers the manufacturing flexibility to address these design needs but also poses a significant cost advantage compared to traditional manufacturing methods when it comes to small lot sizes that stem from a high number of varieties as a result of heterogeneous customer demands. We argue that this is very much the case with spare parts.