Effect of SLM on the Supply Chain

 

Effect of SLM on the Supply Chain

At the moment, Promatrix does not have standard aluminium in stock with different sizes. Because they produce and deliver customer-specific, they order the aluminium for their molds as soon as the design is final. Several things will change when Promatrix starts using SLM for the moulds. Firstly, they no longer have to buy aluminium blocks for production, but aluminium powder. So, they have to find a new supplier for the aluminium powder. The aluminium powder has different mechanical properties, which can affect the quality of the end-product. (Promatrix, 2022)

Another change for Promatrix is the inventory management (Jacobs, 2020). Because they do not need a certain size of aluminium for the SLM, but powder, Promatrix can have a standard stock. If they have a standard stock, they can react faster on customers. So, choosing the SLM process would speed up the start of the production process. Since the machine is faster and can handle more complexity, it will have more options for the customers.

Promatrix will also have to change the CNC miling machines to SLM machines or they can choose to do both, but this will be inefficient. The reason that this would be inefficient is because they would have to have two different suppliers, one for the aluminium blocks and another for the aluminium powder. A reason to use both methods is to keep the customers happy who are attached to the quality of the aluminium and attract new customers who desire a fast production response time.

The engineering to order process stays the same and the change from CNC to SLM has no impact on the way customers can order. The customers have to design their desired product and send it to Promatrix, they will do some touch ups and make the molds. The delivery process to the customer will not change when using the SLM.

 

 

 

Source list

Jacobs, F. R. (2020). ISE Operations and Supply Chain Management. McGraw-Hill Education.

Promatrix. (2022, september 20). Informatie bedrijf. (B. Verschuuren, Interviewer)

 

 

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