Additive manufacturing (AM) is gaining momentum due to the decreasing costs of AM machines and materials as well as improvements in AM technology. The integration of modern Internet technologies enables distributed production using AM on a global scale and conditioning monitoring of machines and processes. The manufacturing of products distributed in locations closer to the final usage point may have several advantages, such as reduced logistics costs and reduced inventory levels over the supply chain. However, distributed manufacturing imposes many challenges on standards, quality control and information management across different manufacturing sites. The potential benefits and the difficulties are increased when considering the high value added spare parts market. To supply ad hoc demand in diverse locations, inventory and logistics costs are comparatively high. The advent of Industrie 4.0 coupled with the development of AM for final metal parts provides the technical base for a distributed AM solution for spare parts. The aim of this paper is to discuss the technical aspects involved in the conception and implementation of distributed manufacturing use cases based on AM. These use cases have been developed with design and engineering – providing the product model – in Germany, and the AM site – providing the manufacturing structure and machines – in Brazil, together forming a distributed development and manufacturing network. Four implemented use cases demonstrate the potential of the approach developed, varying the degree of information control of the central factory over the production.
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