Make or buy analysis for rapid manufacturing

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to outline how rapid manufacturing (RM) could influence the decision-making process for managers involved in make or buy decisions. Design/methodology/approach - A literature review on make or buy issues has been carried out and the results of which have been distilled into a number of qualitative considerations. These considerations have been formed into three possible make or buy scenarios: the firm has no experience of rapid prototyping (RP) or RM; the firm already has an RP department; and the firm already has an RM function. In order to analyse the decision further a quantitative approach has been taken, mainly adapted to the last scenario but applicable also to the second scenario. Here, manufacturing cost data has been directly compared with price information from two current RP bureaus. The differences between RM cost and RP price have been studied. Findings - Strategically, the points analysed were in favour of the make option. Economically, the lack of dedicated RM bureaus and the consequent use of RP costing has further pushed the make or buy decision in favour of make. Originality/value - There is a lack of work on the implementation of RM as a mainstream manufacturing process. Existing knowledge has begun to look at the use and costs of RM, however, this paper highlights the lack of dedicated RM providers.