Responding to rapidly changing product demand through a coordinated additive manufacturing production system: a COVID-19 case study

Abstract COVID-19’s lockdown policies saw Modern Manufacturing Practice (MMP) – batch/mass/just-in-time supply chains severed and societal demands rapidly change from products such as vehicles clothing to Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), ventilators equipment for remote working. The critical and, in many cases, life preserving, need responsive manufacturing resulted government frontline services turning society’s Additive (AM) capability homes, schools, universities, industry provide essential product replacements. While AM managed respond support some services, the highly distributed diverse nature of nation’s resources potentially avoidable production inefficiencies delays. This paper develops evaluates a series strategies coordinating changing demand further enhance responsiveness productivity AM. presented employ host-client agent-based architecture that enable local governance thereby enabling resource come together tackle needs without centralised coordination. To governance, it is necessary understand how combination logics impact overall performance system. Correspondingly, contribution this lies characterisation quantification impacts logic through metrics Time System, Lateness Jobs Queue consequences systems.