The prospect of 'wear and spare' parts printed nearer to print sites in Australia or India becomes feasible with developments manroland says it is making in 3D printing and fused filament fabrication.

After analysis and testing of benefits for plastic and more recently, metal parts, it says the possibility of easier procurement could bring massive benefits to customers.

Among the greatest benefits of the next generation FFF professional production process - still in the very early stages of development - is shorter lead times.

Global supply chain and merchant network vice president Lutz Leonhardt says it is "almost immaterial" whether it is a work piece with complex geometries or a relatively simple object. "The development and production of tools and moulds is completely eliminated, and corrections to prototypes or short notice design modifications are also possible, without problems."

The processes complement the e-commerce business model of manroland web's Store and Market-x B2B-trading platforms, with various manufacturing processes able to be implemented according to how pressing the deadline is.

Another benefit of 3D printing is significantly reduced waste. "In the future, for example, decentralised production would be conceivable in order to shorten transport," he says.

"Additive manufacturing also brings immense optimisation of inventories with it, because you can produce 'on demand'," he says. "At the same time, we still have a definitive security of supply."

Customers benefit both monetarily and through time savings and faster processes, and the company can guarantee long-term reproducibility of mechanical parts without the use of specific tools or casting moulds.

"While many of these processes are not yet an option for mass production, they are very suited to the production of conventional batch sizes in machinery and plant engineering."

E-commerce remote service customer support vice president Alexander Wachter says the company wants to integrate additive manufacturing products into its e-commerce sector permanently to improve availability of parts and provide alternative procurement opportunities. "We will continue to support our customers to produce competitively and efficiently in the future, using the most modern methods," he says.