Permanent record · RIR–2021

Assessing Social Sustainability Impacts of Metal Additive Manufacturing Adoption in Industrial Supply Chains

Metal additive manufacturing offers potential environmental and economic benefits, yet its social implications remain largely unexplored in industrial contexts. This research investigates how transitioning to additive manufacturing processes influences workforce requirements, labor conditions, and community-level social outcomes.

Open to researchMBA suitableQualified 82/100P4 provenance

Primary research question

How does the adoption of metal additive manufacturing technologies affect social sustainability metrics within industrial manufacturing organizations?

Knowledge gap

What remains worth asking

The source suggests that social impacts are the least studied dimension of additive manufacturing transitions. It remains useful to test how these technologies influence labor dynamics and social equity.

Potential contribution

Why it may matter

Understanding social impacts is essential for a holistic evaluation of the sustainability of additive manufacturing in industrial practice.

Academic placement

OECD fields and topic tags

2.3Mechanical engineering

Industrial EngineeringSustainability ScienceOperations Management

Scope: Manufacturing firms transitioning from conventional to metal additive manufacturing processes. · Method signals: Case study, Qualitative interviews, Social Life Cycle Assessment

Possible study pathways

One question, different levels

Professional master’s / MBA

Strategic management of sustainable manufacturing transitions.

Research master’s

Social sustainability indicators in advanced manufacturing.

originalityModerate

methodologyModerate

Data accessModerate

ethicsModerate

Qualification signal

82/100

Focuses on the least-studied dimension identified in the paper.
Open-access scholarly source and DOI metadata verified

Provenance

Research Idea Registry curation

DOI and bibliographic metadata independently resolved
Open-access status verified
The research direction is transparently marked as AI-inferred

The public contributor code contains no name or account email.

APA 7 source

Villafranca, J., Veiga, F., Martin, M. A., Uralde, V., & Villanueva, P. (2026). Comparing Metal Additive Manufacturing with Conventional Manufacturing Technologies: Is Metal Additive Manufacturing More Sustainable?. Sustainability, 18(1), 512. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18010512

Paper abstract and discussion context; AI-inferred direction

Open source ↗