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Agility through rapid prototyping

technology in a manufacturing
environment using a 3D printer
S. Vinodh
Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology,
Tiruchirappalli, India

G. Sundararaj

Agility through
RP technology

1023
Received April 2008
Revised January 2009
Accepted March 2009

Department of Mechanical Engineering, PSG College of Technology,

Coimbatore, India

S.R. Devadasan and D. Kuttalingam

Department of Production Engineering, PSG College of Technology,
Coimbatore, India, and

D. Rajanayagam
Salzer Electronics Limited, Coimbatore, India
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the adoption of rapid prototyping (RP)
technology using three dimensional (3D) printer for infusing agility in traditional manufacturing
environment.
Design/methodology/approach The computer aided design (CAD) model of a knob of an
electronics switch is developed using Pro/E software. Keeping this model as a reference, CAD models
of new six knobs are developed. A 3D printer is used to build the prototypes of five of those CAD
models. The receptivity of the practitioners over adopting CAD models and 3D printer for achieving
agility is investigated.
Findings The sensitisation of the industry captains and employees of traditional manufacturing
sector is the imperative for exploiting the power of 3D printer and achieving mass customisation.
Originality/value The paper reports an original research in which the practicality of using
3D printer is investigated with the objective of enabling the traditional manufacturing companies to
imbibe agile characteristics.
Keywords Printing industry, Agile production, Rapid prototypes, Computer aided design,
Computer aided manufacturing
Paper type Research paper

The research reported in this paper has been funded by All India Council for Technical
Education (AICTE), New Delhi, India under the National Doctoral Fellowship (NDF) offered to
the first author of this paper. AICTE is thanked in this regard. The generous support extended
by Mr Prabahar Annamalai, Director, VectraFORM Engineering & Solutions Private Limited,
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India towards using the 3D printer for developing the prototypes is
gratefully acknowledged.

Journal of Manufacturing Technology

Management
Vol. 20 No. 7, 2009
pp. 1023-1041
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1741-038X
DOI 10.1108/17410380910984267

JMTM
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1. Introduction
The ever increasing competition has been compelling the contemporary organisations to
evolve products quickly but without compromising profitability, innovativeness and
quality (Saisse and Wilding, 1997; Maskell, 2001). As a result of this emphasis, modern
organisations are required to be agile. This means that todays organisations are required
to evolve products within a quick period of time to satisfy a mass of customers (Zhang et al.,
2009). This capability is called as mass customisation and the issues concerning it are
addressed in literature under the topic agile manufacturing (AM; Vazquez-Bustelo and
Avella, 2006). Researchers working in AM arena have been indicating the power of
advanced manufacturing technologies like computer numerical control (CNC), computer
aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM) on infusing agile
characteristics in manufacturing organisations (Maskell, 2001; Bhandarkar and Nagi,
2000; Wang et al., 1996). Despite the increasing usage of these technologies, manufacturing
time could not be compressed significantly. This is due to the reason that, till 1990s, the
manufacturing community had to spend considerably a long time to develop prototypes of
the products and components and test their performance. Amidst this situation, the rapid
prototyping (RP) technology emerged in the world to support the manufacturing
community (Zhang et al., 2009; Mansour et al., 2007; Buswell et al., 2007).
The growth of rapid manufacturing (RM) and RP field has been tremendous during
the last one decade (Horii et al., 2009; Miranda et al., 2008; Rochus et al., 2007; Campbell
and de Beer, 2005; Furrens, 1999). However, RP technology still struggles to enter into
the organisations due to various reasons which include difficulty in management and
implementation and high cost of machines, processes and materials (Ruffo et al., 2007;
Hopkinson and Dickens, 2001). This is a concerning situation since RP technology has
the ability to infuse agility in organisations through the compression of time for
developing and testing prototypes and thereby assuring high quality and
innovativeness of products and profitability to the organisation (Onuh et al., 2006).
Hence, the need of the hour is to explore the possibility of adopting RP technology in
traditional manufacturing environments with the orientation of imparting agility. In
order to fulfil this imperative, this paper reports a research in which the three
dimensional (3D) printing device of RP technology was utilized to investigate its
potential to infuse agility in traditional manufacturing organisations. The experiences
of this research are reported in this paper with the aim of instigating the traditional
manufacturing organisations to imbibe RP technology for becoming AM companies
and thereby achieving competitiveness.
2. Literature review
A review of articles indicates that the formal scientific birth of AM was marked by the
formation of agile forum at Iacocca Institute in the year 1991 (Gunasekaran, 1998;
Meredith and Francis, 2000; Yusuf et al., 1999). Thereafter, many researchers have
worked on AM in different contexts. Hence, various researchers have brought out the
definitions of AM. The summary of those definitions are enumerated by Jin-Hai et al.
(2003) and Dowlatshahi and Cao (2006). A careful study of these definitions indicates
that the researchers mean AM as the capability of an organisation to respond quickly
in accordance with the customers dynamic demands without compromising quality
and profitability (Vokurka and Fliedner, 1998). Besides, exploring its meaning, a
section of the researchers has worked on identifying the enablers of AM (Gunasekaran,

1999). Few of them have mentioned RP technology as an enabler of infusing agility in

organisations (Gunasekaran, 1998; Onuh and Hon, 2001). However, the practical
research on RP technology, as an enabler of agility is reported only to a very little
extent. Meanwhile it was interesting to note that RP and RM are interchangeably used
in literature to mean the same family of processes (Buswell et al., 2007; Zarringhalam
et al., 2006). In this context, a review conducted in this research on both RP/RM and
AM literature was useful in finding the capabilities of RP technology and the
requirements of AM. The unique benefit of applying RP technology in real time
situations is the reduction of lead time in manufacturing and time to market (Buswell
et al., 2008). These benefits fulfil the major criteria of AM (Mansour et al., 2007;
Hopkinson and Dickens, 2000, 2001; Ruffo et al., 2007). Despite this fact, only few
researchers have espoused the adoptability of RP technology for achieving agility.
The commonly used techniques of RP/RM are stereo-lithography (Hopkinson and
Dickens, 1999), selective laser sintering (Ajoku et al., 2006; Hopkinson and Dickens,
2001; Zarringhalam et al., 2006), fused deposition modelling, laser engineered net
shaping (Yang et al., 2008; Paul et al., 2007), 3D micro welding (Horii et al., 2009) and 3D
printing (Mansour et al., 2007; Buswell et al., 2007; Rochus et al., 2007; Suwanprateeb,
2007; Dimitrov et al., 2006, 2007; Zarringhalam et al., 2006; Saleh et al., 2004). Zhang
et al. (2009) have described about the issues related to the concept of product and
prototype flexibility as the drivers for achieving customer satisfaction. Horii et al.
(2009) have attempted the application of RP technique for manufacturing metal parts.
Miranda et al. (2008) have presented the applications of integrating high power laser
fibers with RP technology. While the adoptability of RP technology for achieving
agility is espoused by few researchers (Onuh and Hon, 2001; Onuh et al., 2006), the
emanation of researches advocating 3D printing as the state of the art technology in RP
technology field is noticed with interest (Buswell et al., 2007; Suwanprateeb, 2007). The
contributions of few papers which support this claim are illustrated here.
Dimitrov et al. (2007) have pointed out that 3D printing process has emerged during
the recent years as a competitive process leading to the saving of time and cost in
producing prototypes quicker than any other conventional RP technologies. They have
indicated that the sales of 3D printing machines have been increasing during the recent
years. Similar trend with regard to the sale of 3D printers in South Africa is indicated
by Campbell and de Beer (2005). Dimitrov et al. (2007) have also pointed out that high
scope exists to carry out researches involving 3D printing. They have presented the
prototypes that they developed using 3D printing machine and reported its
performance using factors like accuracy, surface finish and cost issues. Buswell et al.
(2007) have described their research which they conducted to investigate the
application of 3D printing process in construction industry. The unique feature of their
contributions in this paper is the lucid description about the 3D printing process.
They have also established that the 3D printing process and the materials used in
it shall be exploited to develop the prototype of the components used in construction
industry. In their research, they have developed the prototypes of two panel designs
using the Z corporation 3D Printing process.
Dimitrov et al. (2006) have presented a case study involving the development of
patterns using 3D printing process. They have shown a number of prototypes
developed using 3D printing machine. They have exclaimed the provision for
correcting the mistake while building the prototype development using the 3D printer.

Agility through
RP technology

1025

JMTM
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They have also enumerated the strengths of 3D printing technology in comparison to

other RP technologies. Suwanprateeb (2007) has claimed that 3D printing is a fast and
low cost RP system. He has pointed out that 3D printing does not require support
structure. He has enumerated the superiority of the materials used in 3D printing. One
important advantage is its capability in producing prototypes of slightly complex
shaped objects. The modern researchers have been successful in modifying the 3D
printing system to produce even highly complex shaped prototypes. In this line, it is
interesting to note the research reported by Lee et al. (2005). They have shown the
method of producing highly complex shaped scaffold using indirect 3D printing
approach.
On the whole, the findings of the literature review conducted during this research
favour the adoption of 3D printer for acquiring agility. This observation is espoused in
Bak (2003) who has hinted that 3D printer would be a feasible machine for achieving
agility. In this background, this research was further navigated by investigating the
suitability of adopting 3D printing technology to acquire agility in a traditional
manufacturing environment.
3. RP technology through 3D printing
The working principle of the 3D printer used during this research is briefly described
in this section. The photograph of this 3D printer can be viewed by visiting www.sol
ido3d.com. This 3D printer is made by Solido, Israel and its model name is SD300. The
price of the SD300 3D printer in Indian National Rupees (INR) is 1.5 millions
approximately, whose equivalence in US$ is 37,500 (INR 40 1 US$). According to
Solido, the benefits of this printer are affordability, ease of operation, improved design
communication, confidentiality and production of durable models (www.solido3d.com).
This machine uses additive process of RP. This machine builds prototypes by laying
sheets of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and stacking them together in succession.
SD300 is incorporated with a software called SD view. SD view imports and checks
the correctness of the STL file of the CAD model. If any error found in the STL file, then
it is displayed by SD view. The reason for the error on the STL file is also indicated by
SD view. In order to ensure optimum stacking of the PVC material, SD view orients the
position of the model by aligning the smallest dimension in Z-axis. For example, if a
model with longest dimension is kept in Z position, it may have to be stacked with
relatively more layers. This aspect is taken care of by SD view. SD view allows the
generation of the peeling cuts which are required for easy removal of the excess
support from the end prototype upon its completion.
During the time of building the model, SD view displays the progress made and the
layers stacked. Even before the building of the prototype, SD view displays the
material required, total build time as well as its price in money value. In this research,
the software was set to display the value of material in INR. Thus, both hardware
and software of SD300 work in tandem to produce prototypes in a rapid manner with
high precision and accuracy.
4. Investigation
The practical implications of adopting 3D printing as a RP technology were
investigated using SD300 in a traditional company manufacturing electronic switches.
The name of this company is Salzer Electronics Limited (hereafter referred to as

Salzer). Salzer is located in Coimbatore city of India and was started in the year 1986
with the collaboration of Saelzer Scaltgeratefabrik, Germany. Salzers main product is
cam operated rotary electronic switches. Other products manufactured include direct
current switches, relays, starters and modular switches. Currently 350 employees are
working in Salzer. At the time of inception in the year 1986, Salzers turnover was less
than 10 lakhs INR (equivalent to 25,000 US dollars). The current turnover of Salzer is
18 crores INR (equivalent to 4,500,000 US dollars). Further, Salzers products are also
accredited by Conformite Europene, Underwriters Laboratories Inc, USA and
Canadian Standards Association. These accreditations are prerequisites for selling
these products in international market. Today Salzers products are sold in 45
countries. Because of its internationalisation of activities, Salzer is aggressively
journeying towards world class manufacturing ports through ISO 9001 certification
and adopting concepts like Kaizen and total productive maintenance (Jin-Hai et al.,
2003). Thus, the culture prevailing in Salzer is conducive for learning and developing
knowledge. Even Salzer management is permitting the students studying in
engineering colleges to use their premises for carrying out applied research. The
research being reported in this paper itself has been carried out because of the
conducive culture prevailing at Salzer. Even though the Salzer management is not
currently having any plan to adopt RP/RM technologies, the first author of this paper
was allowed to examine the way of achieving agility using these technologies in
Salzers working premise.
4.1 About the product
Salzers main product namely cam operated switch was considered during the research
being reported here. As the name implies, the cam operated rotary switch is
incorporated with a cam mechanism to allow different and desired sequence of
operations. Four types of cam operated rotary switches are manufactured in Salzer.
They are known in Salzers environment as S, TP, RT and PS types. During this
research, S type switch (hereafter referred to as simply switch) was chosen. The
important operations carried out by this switch are making and breaking the power
circuits and diverting the power line to auxiliary circuits. The design of the switch is so
flexible that according to the customers varied requirements of operating sequence,
the cam can be positioned and the required operations pertaining to each switch can be
made. The aesthetics of the switch is appealing to the international customers.
4.2 CAD modelling
A section of the researchers have either implicitly or explicitly reported that advanced
manufacturing technologies like CAD and RP are yet to find their authentic position in
companies located in various parts of the world (Mansour et al., 2007; Sambasivarao
and Deshmukh, 1995). In this background, it was not surprising to observe the absence
of intensive usage of CAD packages in Salzer in spite of its aggressive voyage towards
reaching world class manufacturing ports. Hence, this work was started by CAD
modelling of the switch using Pro/E software. For this purpose, the 2D drawings of the
switch furnished by the design engineer were given as inputs in Pro/E software. The
exploded view of the CAD model of the switch thus developed is shown in Figure 1.
It was desired to analyse the CAD model of switch with respect to all its features.
However, the Salzer management did not allow conducting analysis pertaining to the

Agility through
RP technology

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Figure 1.
Exploded view of CAD
model of S type switch

electrical circuits of the switch. The Salzer management granted permission to analyse
only the three components namely knob, front assembly and mounting plate using
their CAD models. This research subsequently proceeded to develop new CAD models
of these components of the switch were developed using Pro/E. In this paper, the
procedure followed to adopt the new CAD models of the knob is presented. Quiet
interestingly, Ruffo et al. (2007) have also used the knob of a switch for studying the
make or buy comparison for rapid manufacturing.
Creative thinking process was applied by visualising the CAD model of the switch
to evolve new models of the knob. The features of the newly evolved CAD models were
exposed to the executives of Salzer. Their views were also taken into consideration
while evolving the new CAD models of the knob. Thus, the ideas generated through
these interactive discussions were pooled which were exploited to develop CAD models
using Pro/E software. Finally, six such CAD models were developed. Those models are
shown in Figures 2 and 3.
Subsequently, a questionnaire was given to the executives for expressing their
views on the new CAD models being proposed. The overall view of the executives
indicated that they are appreciative of the new CAD models of the knob. The detailed
discussion on this feedback is presented in a later section of this paper.
4.3 Rapid prototyping
After ensuring the favourable receptivity of the executives towards the new CAD
models of the knob, five of them were subjected to investigation for exploring the
application of 3D printing technology and thus achieving agility through RP
technology. For this purpose, generous knowledge and technological support of a
company situated in Coimbatore city of India which is selling SD300 were availed.
The name of this company is VectraFORM Engineering & Solutions Private Limited
(hereafter referred to as VectraFORM). This research was also financially supported to

Agility through
RP technology

1029

Figure 2.
Window showing new
CAD models coded as M1,
M2 and M3

Figure 3.
Window showing CAD
models coded as M4, M5
and M6

a partial extent by VectraFORM. The customers of VectraFORM are major Indian

companies like Ashok Leyland, Premier Instruments and Controls Limited, Royal
Enfield and Hero Honda Motors.
Two days were spent by the first author for discussing with the director of
VectraFORM regarding the feasibility of building prototypes using SD300. During this
discussion, attempts were made to study the feasibility of building the prototypes for

JMTM
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all the six models of the knob. In order to avoid excessive expenditure, it was decided to
run SD300 for one set-up only. It was found that in one set-up, only a maximum of five
models could be accommodated. Hence, it was decided to drop a model with low
receptivity from building the prototypes. Accordingly, a model named as M2 was
dropped from the study of building the prototype using SD300. The cost of building
these prototypes was indicated by SD view. Since this work was being pursued for
research purpose, the Director of VectraFORM was gracious enough to waive the
running cost of the SD300. Only the material cost which amounted to INR 1500 (US$
37.5) was charged by the Director of VectraFORM.
Once the preliminary discussions and proposals were completed, the five CAD
models of knob were loaded into the computer interfaced with SD300. Then the SD300
was run. There were 107 layers which took the SD300 to build the prototypes in four
hours. Once the building of prototypes was completed, the SD300 prompted it by making
a beep noise. At that point of time, the magnetic tray containing build stack of knob
models was removed. This was followed by post processing during which time the
excessive support material was peeled off. The post processing involving the removal
of excessive support material was carried out within an hour. Finally, the photograph
shown in Figure 4 was taken which displays the prototypes of the new knob models.
Thus, the new CAD models developed by referring to the existing model of knobs were
finally converted into prototypes within a short period of time by making use of SD300.
4.4 Analysis
A drawback of RP technologies including 3D printing technology is that the prototypes
are not built using the actual materials (Dimitrov et al., 2006). Hence, the mechanical
properties of the prototypes cannot be subjected to physical tests. Hence, during this
research, the ANSYS software was used to test the two mechanical engineering
properties namely stress and strain. The CAD models of both the existing and new

Figure 4.
Prototypes built
using SD300

models were subjected to analysis. The results displayed by the ANSYS indicated that
both the existing and proposed models of knob are mechanically safe to operate. One of
such results displaying screens pertaining to a model whose code name is M4,
displayed by ANSYS is shown in Figure 5.
As shown, the values displayed are within the safer limits. Hence, it is interpreted
that the knob is mechanically safe.

Agility through
RP technology

1031
5. Results and discussions
The process of developing prototypes of knobs in a rapid manner to investigate the
practical implications of the 3D printing technology as a RP technology for promoting
agility was carried out in Salzer which is a typical traditional company. Though this
research proceeded smoothly, its practical receptivity had to be investigated in two
different directions. In the first direction, the mindset of the practitioners towards
adopting RP technology like 3D printing technology for achieving agility had to be
investigated. For this purpose, the receptivity of both CAD and the prototypes built
using the SD300 was investigated by giving a questionnaire to the executives of Salzer.
Each questionnaire contained three questions against each CAD model and the
corresponding prototype. The respondents had to respond by ticking the value in the
Likerts scale of range 0-10. The questions asked and the summary of the responses of
the respondents are shown in Tables I and II.
Besides, an open ended question against all CAD models and the prototypes built using
SD300 was asked. The reactions of the executives against this question are shown in
Tables III and IV.
As shown, the executives reactions were positive towards the development of CAD
models and the prototypes built using SD300. Despite the feedback indicating the
favourable receptivity of CAD modelling and 3D printing technology for achieving agility,
the cost factor involved had to be closely studied for investigating the practical implications.
As mentioned earlier, the material cost for building the prototype incurred during this
research was INR 1,500 (equivalent to 37.5 US dollars). This amount is so negligible

Figure 5.
Window depicting the first
principal stress observed
in the knob using ANSYS

JMTM
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that no traditional manufacturing company would find it unaffordable. The knowledge

input into the development of CAD models and the running cost of the 3D printer were
not exactly accounted. However, according to an approximate estimate, the cost of the
knowledge input into the process of developing CAD models and the running cost of
SD300 would be INR 10,000 (equivalent to 250 US dollars). Even if this cost is
considered, the total amount is still affordable to a traditional manufacturing company.
Hence, the cost factor would not be a sensitive factor and what is required at this

Mean response in Likerts

scale of range 0-10
M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6

Question number Question

I
Table I.
Responses gathered after
developing new CAD
models of the knob

II
III

Question number
I
II
Table II.
Responses gathered after
building prototypes using
SD300

III

To what extent do you think that the development of

this model is technically feasible at Salzer?
8.4 6.4 7.0 7.4 7.8 7.2
To what extent do you believe that this model is
aesthetically appealing?
8.4 6.0 7.0 6.6 7.6 7.2
To what extent do you believe that this model can be
manufactured?
8.4 6.4 7.6 6.4 7.8 7.2

Question
To what extent do you think that the building of this
prototype using SD300 is technically feasible at
Salzer?
To what extent do you think that the building of this
prototype using SD300 is economically feasible at
Salzer?
To what extent do you believe that the prototype
built using SD300 is aesthetically appealing?

9.0

8.2

8.6

8.0

8.6

8.8

8.2

8.2

7.8

8.4

8.8

7.8

7.6

7.0

8.4

Question IV
Designation of personnel

What is your overall opinion about the new CAD models of the knob?
Opinion

Manager Standards &

Systems

The evolution of new models before prototype manufacturing helps to

satisfy the customer with the supply of different kinds of knob to meet
the varying user requirements and continuously changing points of
application
The evolution of new models before prototype manufacturing will be
very much useful in deciding the design based on the aesthetics,
technical and manufacturing feasibility
The evolution of new models before prototype manufacturing will be
very useful for product development
All the models are technically as well as aesthetically feasible

Deputy Manager (works)

Table III.
Overall opinions gathered
after developing CAD
models

Mean response in Likerts

scale of range 0-10
M1 M3 M4 M5 M6

Senior Engineer Machine

Shop
Senior Engineer Quality
Control
Application Engineer

Models are aesthetically good and manufacturable

moment is to sensitise the industry captains of traditional manufacturing companies to

nourish the benefits offered by the 3D printing technology for achieving agility in
manufacturing organisations.
5.1 Statistical validation
In order to further statistically analyse the feedback of the executives, the quantified
values were entered into Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The SPSS was
used to conduct t-test and examine the acceptance of contribution of RP technology
using 3D printer for enabling agility. In the first case, the test value was given as nine
which would mean that 90 per cent of the opinions are in favour of successful
contribution of RP technology using 3D printer for enabling agility in practice at
95 per cent confidence interval. As the sig. (two-tailed) values for some cases are less
than 0.05, this null hypothesis is rejected.
In the second case, the null hypothesis was set as 80 per cent of the opinions are in
favour of successful contribution of RP technology using 3D printer for enabling agility
in practice at 95 per cent confidence interval. In this case, the significance (two-tailed)
values are greater than 0.05. Hence, this null hypothesis is accepted. The screen
displayed by SPSS package pertaining to this null hypothesis is shown in Table V.
On the whole, this validation study indicated the feasibility of RP technologys
contribution using 3D printer towards enabling agility in practice with the success rate
of 80 per cent.

Agility through
RP technology

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5.2 Testing the reliability of the questionnaire

In order to check the reliability of the questionnaire, SPSS was used to determine the
value of a. The purpose of this study was to check whether the questions truly
reflected the intention for which they were designed. The data displayed by SPSS in
this regard are shown in Table VI.
If the correlation value is more than 0.5 for all questions as well as a is more than 0.7
for the entire questionnaire, then it should be construed that the questionnaire truly
reflects the intention for which it is designed and thereby it indicates its reliability in
drawing inference (Flynn et al., 1997). As shown in Table VI, the correlation value is
more than 0.5 against all questions and a value is also more than 0.7. Hence, it reveals
that the questionnaire is reliable enough to gather the feedback data and draw
inferences with regard to applying RP technology using 3D printer for propelling a
company towards achieving agility in manufacturing.

Question IV
Designation of personnel

What is your overall opinion about the prototypes of knobs?

Opinion

Manager Standards &

Systems

The prototypes are made accurately and neatly. They depict the
contour of the knobs perfectly and the evaluator could easily feel
the actuating mechanism to the satisfactory extent
Senior Engineer Machine Shop Fine and economic models; design aspects are accurate
Senior Engineer Quality
Modifications could be done by aesthetic viewing; improvements
Control
can also be made
Engineer Design
Customers will get satisfied and aesthetically good
Application Engineer
Aesthetically good and feasible

Table IV.
Overall opinions gathered
after building prototypes
using SD300

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Table V.
Output of the SPSS
package pertaining
to the test value 8

One-sample test (test value 8)

A1
A2
A3
B1
B2
B3
C1
C2
C3
D1
D2
D3
E1
E2
E3

df

Sig. (two-tailed)

Mean difference

2 0.884
0.552
0.017
0.000
0.000
2 0.791
1.581
0.000
2 1.000
0.542
2 0.791
2 1.581
1.581
1.581
0.791

5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

0.454
0.661
1.021
1.000
1.000
0.465
0.175
1.000
0.363
0.611
0.465
0.175
0.175
0.175
0.465

1.17
1.00
1.00
0.00
0.00
20.33
0.67
0.00
20.33
0.17
20.33
21.00
0.67
0.33
0.33

Scale mean if item

deleted
Al
114.1667
A2
114.3333
A3
114.3333
B1
115.3333
B2
115.3333
B3
115.6667
C1
114.6667
C2
115.3333
C3
115.6667
D1
115.1667
D2
115.6667
D3
116.3333
E1
114.6667
E2
115.0000
Table VI.
E3
115.0000
Output of the SPSS
Reliability coefficients
package pertaining to the
No. of cases 6.0
alpha value
a 0.7937

2.20
1.94
1.66
1.15
1.33
0.75
1.75
0.94
0.52
0.96
0.75
0.63
1.75
0.88
1.42

21.13
21.06
21.34
21.15
21.33
21.42
20.42
20.94
21.19
20.62
21.42
22.63
20.42
20.21
20.75

Reliability analysis scale (a)

Item total statistics
Scale variance if item
Corrected item-total
deleted
correlation
51.3667
55.8687
55.8667
48.6667
42.2667
51.8667
53.4667
48.6667
54.6667
56.5667
49.8667
56.2667
46.6667
50.8000
44.8000

95 Percent
confidence interval
of the difference
Lower
Upper

Alpha if item
deleted

0.3926
0.0897
0.1692
0.5234
0.8512
0.3316
0.2207
0.6731
0.2438
0.0648
0.4753
2 0.0344
0.7181
0.9238
0.8650

0.7827
0.8032
0.7955
0.7715
0.7355
0.7876
0.7963
0.7627
0.7925
0.8021
0.7760
0.8358
0.7554
0.7646
0.7420

No. of items 15

6. Managerial implications and roadmap

The experiences of conducting this research indicated that managerial implications of
applying RP technology were found to play a key role in achieving agility. Particularly,
the managerial personnel shall be appreciative of adopting RP technology for

achieving agility. This is due to the reason that RP technology is not widespread in
many developing countries. Hence, the mindset of managerial personnel in this
direction should be tuned to favour RP technology applications for achieving agility.
In order to achieve the appreciation of the managerial personnel, a company has to
proceed through a roadmap consisting of activities that would trigger the managerial
personnel to adopt RP technology for achieving agility. In this context, the experiences
of pursuing this research were used to propose a roadmap for applying 3D printer as a
RP technology device to acquire agile characteristics by traditional manufacturing
companies. This roadmap is shown in Figure 6.

Agility through
RP technology

1035

Develop the culture for absorbing advanced technologies

Spread the literacy on digitalisation of design, prototyping and

manufacturing functions

Educate the managerial employees on CAD, CAM and RP technology

Train the non-managerial employees on CAD, CAM and RP technology

Develop the habit of discussing the details using CAD models in

programmes like quality circles and kaizen

Take steps to interface CAD with CAM

Develop new models using CAD

Hire the hardware and software facilities for developing prototypes using
3D printer

Investigate the role of CAD/CAM and 3D printer in achieving agility

Refine the steps if necessaryto achieve agility in reality

Figure 6.
Proposed roadmap
enabling the traditional
manufacturing companies
to acquire agility using
3D printer

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The rationale behind these steps is described in this section. Majority of the smaller
companies, particularly those are located in rural areas, are yet to fully apply
automation in their manufacturing environments (Tennyson et al., 2006). Hence,
educational programmes are to be conducted in organisations to expose the features of
advanced manufacturing technologies to the management, executives and employees.
This kind of exercise has been successful in the field of TQM wherein the large volume
of education on ISO 9001 series standards has led to the widespread dissemination of
knowledge on quality systems in organisations of all types and sizes (Tari and Sabater,
2004). Similar to this exercise, the educational and training programmes on adopting
the design, prototyping and manufacturing solutions need to be conducted in the
organisation. Once this nature of literacy level improves, education and training
programmes on CAD, CAM and RP technology are required to be conducted among
both managerial and non-managerial level employees. For this purpose, the services
of various professional associations may be sought.
As part of programmes like TQM and TPM, the employee participative programmes
like quality circles and kaizen are being conducted in the organisations which are aspiring
to achieve world class status (Jin-Hai et al., 2003). These programmes may be utilized as a
vehicle to disseminate CAD. During these programmes, discussions may be held with
reference to the products and components using their CAD models. Subsequently, these
CAD models may be input into a CAM package to develop codes required for
manufacturing (Chang et al., 1997). Currently, most of the digitally compatible machine
tools like machining centre and CNC machines are fed by the codes which are developed
separately. This practice may be slowly stopped by interfacing CAD and CAM (Chen and
Wu, 1994). These steps indicated in the roadmap will help the organisation to develop the
roots of CAD and CAM. Subsequently, the creative ideas of the employees and
management may be utilized to develop CAD models. Since at this stage, literacy on CAD
would be prevailing in the organisation, both the employees and managerial level
personnel would be in a position to develop CAD models and assimilate its features.
If the organisation feels that purchasing a 3D printer would be uneconomical, then
the software and hardware associated with it may be hired. At this stage, the company
may adopt one or few models by visualising the prototypes developed using 3D printer
and launch the same into the market based upon the customers reactions. Finally, the
role of bringing out the prototypes within a short period of time using the 3D printer
and making it to happen in production environment for achieving agility need to be
investigated. For this purpose, appropriate agile measurement indices or formulas may
be used (Kumar and Motwani, 1995; Lin et al., 2006). If the agility is not very effective,
the steps followed to bring out prototypes in a rapid manner and facilitate rapid
production with the purpose of achieving agility need to be investigated and refined.
Thus, given the existing illiteracy level on advanced technologies like CAD, CAM and
RP technology, a traditional manufacturing organisation can achieve agility by
adopting 3D printing technology, albeit only after carrying out the foundational
activities specified in this roadmap.
7. Conclusions
The ever increasing competition has been spontaneously making the companies to
become agile (Yusuf and Adeleye, 2002; Jin-Hai et al., 2003). On realising this trend, the
researchers are working under the umbrella name AM to contribute the characteristics

that are required to be imbibed by the traditional organisations to acquire agility. At

the same time, AM is imbibed in certain fields like software development, electronics
and automobile which is largely reflected in the form of shrinking time of product
development (Helo, 2006; Hooper et al., 2001; Mondragon et al., 2004). A unique feature
of AM is the adoption of both technology and management for quickly responding to
the customers dynamic demands (Brown and Bessant, 2003). Yet the researchers are
highly biased towards adopting managerial principles for achieving agility
(Gunasekaran, 1999, Brown and Bessant, 2003). A literature search would indicate
that very few researchers have been working on the adoption of advanced technologies
for achieving agility in organisations (Gunasekaran, 1999; Maskell, 2001). This is a
surprising deficiency in AM research arena where there has been significant thrust on
adopting technologies like CAD, CAM and RP (Yusuf and Adeleye, 2002). On realising
this deficiency, this paper has reported a research in which efforts were made to
investigate the infusing of CAD and RP technology in a traditional manufacturing
organisation for achieving agility. During this research, six new CAD models of knobs
of electronics switches could be designed using Pro/E software within twelve hours.
Subsequently, the prototypes of five of those new models could be developed using
SD300 in just four hours. Thus, the product development with variety, innovation, and
quality occurred through these technologies to portray their capabilities in achieving
agility. These capabilities enabled through the application of 3D printing technology
will result in business benefits like acquisition of broader customer domain, higher
profitability and enhanced competitiveness. In other words, the tactical adoption of 3D
printing technology will aid the contemporary organisations to achieve business
prosperity and thereby, corporate success.
The experiences of this research indicated that the journey of adopting CAD and RP
technologies for achieving agility would be smooth in traditional manufacturing
companies. Yet the culture and mindset of the captains and employees of those
companies will have to be tuned to voyage through this journey. Similar view is
expressed by Tennyson et al. (2006) with reference to applying RP and RM in smaller
companies. Even though Salzer is aggressively journeying towards reaching the world
class manufacturing ports, its management is content with the existing products being
produced. Hence, the management of Salzer is not willing to adopt CAD and 3D printing
technology, though the executives are appreciative of them. However, the management
has agreed to adopt in future the new models of knob proposed during this research.
Still, the management is yet to agree on developing a knowledge force exclusively to
develop CAD models and build prototypes using 3D printing technology. This situation
indicates that, sensitisation of the management and employees are vital requirement to
infuse agility through the adoption of technologies like CAD and RP. In order to provide
a solution in this direction, a roadmap has been proposed in this paper. Future
researches may be pursued by following the steps suggested in this roadmap in several
traditional organisations which would yield valuable and interesting findings. The
limitation of the research reported in this paper is the conduct of implementation study
in only one company. However, this limitation would not affect the generalisation of the
findings of this research as the culture prevailing in Salzer mimics the characteristics of
world class companies reported in literature (Jin-Hai et al., 2003). Hence, these findings
would make the captains of traditional industries to realise the importance of adopting
CAD and 3D printer for achieving agility and thereby acquiring global competitiveness.

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RP technology

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About the authors
S. Vinodh is a Lecturer in Production Engineering, Department of National Institute of
Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India. He has been awarded PhD in the Faculty of
Mechanical Engineering at Anna University, Chennai, India during February 2009. He pursued his
Masters degree in Production Engineering at PSG College of Technology and obtained this degree
recently from Anna University, Chennai, India. He studied at Government College of Technology,
Coimbatore and obtained his Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bharathiar
University, India in 2004. He was a gold medalist in his undergraduate study. He has been awarded
Best Outgoing Student by PSG College of Technology. He has published 13 papers in international
journals. He has published 32 papers in the proceedings of the leading national and international
conferences. His research interests include total quality management, agile manufacturing,
innovation management and computer aided design. S. Vinodh is the corresponding author and
can be contacted at: vinodh_sekar82@yahoo.com
G. Sundararaj is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Department of PSG
College of Technology, Coimbatore, India. He holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical
Engineering and a Masters degree in Industrial Engineering. He received his PhD degree for his
work on Risk Management in the year 1999. He has worked in a public sector steel plant for

about 12 years. He has been teaching and involved in research and development for about 12
years. His areas of research interest include safety management, agile manufacturing and total
quality management.
S.R. Devadasan is a Professor in Production Engineering, Department of PSG College of
Technology, Coimbatore, India. He holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering and a
Masters degree in Industrial Engineering. He received his PhD degree for his work on Strategic
Quality Management in the year 1996. He obtained all his degrees from Bharathiar University,
Coimbatore, India. He has 15 years of teaching and research experience. He has published over
180 papers in the proceedings of the leading national and international conferences. He has
published 22 papers international journals like Production Planning & Control, International
Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, International Journal of Operations & Production
Management. He is an editorial board member of the European Journal of Innovation
Management, UK. His areas of research interest include, strategic quality management, agile
manufacturing and total quality management.
D. Kuttalingam is currently a fourth year Bachelor of Engineering Student of Production
Engineering sandwich course of PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, India. His areas of
research interests include agile manufacturing, computer aided design and total quality
management.
D. Rajanayagam is currently working as Manager Standards & Systems at Salzer
Electronics, Coimbatore, India. He studied at Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore
and obtained his Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering branch from Bharathiar
University, India in the year 1988. He has 18 years of industrial experience. His areas of interest
include total quality management, quality and reliability engineering and alternate energy
resources.

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Agility through
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