ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING IN SMES

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING IN SMES: A VIABLE PATH TO GROWTH AND COMPETITIVENESS? Giacomo Marzi UNIVERSITY OF PISA - Pisa, Italy Lamberto Zollo UNIVERSITY OF FLORENCE - Florence, Italy Andrea Boccardi UNIVERSITY OF FLORENCE - Florence, Italy Cristiano Ciappei UNIVERSITY OF FLORENCE - Florence, Italy Category: 03 ENTREPRENEURSHIP >> 03_04 INTERNATIONALIZATION & GROWTH STRATEGIES FOR SME

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ISSN 2466-7498.

Additive Manufacturing in SMEs: A Viable Path to Growth and Competitiveness? ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to analyze Additive Manufacturing (AM) in SMEs to investigate its effects on competitiveness and performance. Thanks to the analysis of an Italian gold jewelry district’s firms,

the

paper

examines

the

effects

related

to

AM

on

firms

highlighting empirical evidences suitable for other industry contexts. Thanks to latent content analysis, six conceptual themes have emerged concerning the main effects of AM. Such categories are process innovation, customer satisfaction, costs, revenues, profits, and sustainable competitive advantage. As a results, the introduction of AM has increased

the firms’

competitiveness

by

strengthening

customer

satisfaction

and

revenues, and may be therefore interpreted as a viable growing strategy for SMEs. Furthermore,

thanks

to

AM customers’

demand

and

payment

availability

increased and evident advantages on firms’ performance have been recorded. Keywords: Additive Manufacturing, Innovation, SMEs, 3D printing

have

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