A strategic and operational guide to using 3D printing to drive value in the supply chain—featuring case studies and illustrated examples from across industries After many years as a tool for designers, 3D printing today promises to revolutionize supply chains. Cut through the hype and hyperbole, and it becomes clear that it offers unprecedented potential to redesign supply chain models, simplifying and shrinking them, enabling previously unimaginable designs to be produced where they are most needed. However, adopting it is a strategic endeavor, one that involves the consideration of several wider implications. This book goes beyond touting the latest technological advances or listing the many wonderful things that 3D printing is being used to make. It teaches readers what is important about 3D printing, why they need to prepare for its emergence today, and how they can go about adopting it. Supercharg3d: How 3D Printing Will Drive Your Supply Chain shows readers how to drive value in their supply chain by supercharging it—giving it more power—with 3D printing. Aimed at being a first reference for those in businesses who make strategic decisions on operations and supply chain matters, it takes a pragmatic position, balancing the opportunities that 3D printing presents with the reality of the limitations that it continues to have, so that readers can make the best decisions possible. Strategic guide that covers 3D printing and its implications in the supply chain Operational guidance and best practices for how and when 3D printing can be adopted Identification of 3D printing’s impacts on the individual SCOR® supply chain elements Features new, transformative supply chain models that are enabled by 3D printing Includes case studies and illustrated examples from diverse industries including aerospace (Airbus), energy (Shell), consumer goods (Nike), medical (Align Technology) and transportation (Deutsche Bahn) Supercharg3d: How 3D Printing Will Drive Your Supply Chain is the go-to book for operations and supply chain decision makers in manufacturing, engineering and technology companies looking to incorporate the technology into their business operations.

Drawing on the expertise of leading marketing scholars, this book provides managers and researchers with insights into the fundamentals of customer centricity and how firms can develop it. Customer centricity is not just about segmentation or short-term marketing tactics. Rather, it represents an organization-wide philosophy that focuses on the systematic and continuous alignment of the firm’s internal architecture, strategy, capabilities, and offerings with external customers.

Strategy decision making and action used to be off limits to all but the select few at the very top of an organization. It was a largely cerebral activity focused on grand long-terms plans made at annual off-site retreats away from the daily challenges of the business. That is no longer the case. The current business environment does not wait for companies to slowly adjust in an annual meeting. The relentless pace of change renders today's long-term future tomorrow's history. Rapid innovations and ever-increasing complexities limit executives' ability to make decisions with perfect information. Does this mean strategy is no longer useful, or even feasible? No. Good strategists are needed now more than ever. But today's high-performing organizations think of strategy differently than in the past. These companies make strategy part of every manager's role; they strategize continuously and tackle strategic problems through individuals from all parts of the organization. Strategy in this new, fast-paced world is about diagnosing the diverse array of complex challenges confronting organizations, deciding on novel solutions to address those challenges, and delivering by taking action on those solutions. Including a novel organizational framework and never-before-published application examples, Strategy in 3D helps build these foundational skills and prepares the reader for success as a strategist in the 21st century.

This proceedings volume presents the latest research from the worldwide mass customization & personalization (MCP) community bringing together new thoughts and results from various disciplines within the field. The chapters are based on papers from the MCPC 2017. The book showcases research and practice from authors that see MCP as an opportunity to extend or even revolutionize current business models. The current trends of Industrie 4.0, digital manufacturing, and the rise of smart products allow for a fresh perspective on MCP: Customization 4.0. The book places a new set of values in the centre of the debate: a world with finite resources, global population growth, and exacerbating climate change needs smart thinking to engage the most effective capabilities and resources. It discusses how Customization 4.0 fosters sustainable development and creates shared value for companies, customers, consumers, and the society as a whole. The chapters of this book are contributed by a wide range of specialists, offering cutting-edge research, as well as insightful advances in industrial practice in key areas. The MCPC 2017 has a strong focus on real life MCP applications, and this proceedings volume reflects this. MCP strategies aim to profit from the fact that people are different. Their objective is to turn customer heterogeneities into opportunities, hence addressing “long tail” business models. The objective of MCP is to provide goods and services that best serve individual customers’ needs with near mass production efficiency. This proceedings volume highlights the interdisciplinary work of thought leaders, technology developers, and researchers with corporate entrepreneurs putting these strategies into practice. Chapter 24 is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license via link.springer.com.

For a company to survive in the manufacturing industry, it must not only accumulate light-weight 3D data, but also share this information within the company and with related companies as well as train key personnel. 3D Manufacturing Innovation introduces the best practices developed by Toyota, Sony, Nikon, Casio and other pioneers in the global engineering scene, providing the reader with invaluable tips for manufacturing innovation.

This volume presents new directions and solutions in broadly perceived intelligent systems. An urgent need this volume has occurred as a result of vivid discussions and presentations at the "IEEE-IS’ 2006 – The 2006 Third International IEEE Conference on Intelligent Systems" held in London, UK, September, 2006. This book is a compilation of many valuable inspiring works written by both the conference participants and some other experts in this new and challenging field.