Laser additive manufacturing (LAM), known also as 3D printing, is a powder bed fusion (PBF) type of additive manufacturing (AM) technology used to fabricate metal parts out of metal powder. The development of the technology from building prototype parts to functional parts has increased remarkably in 2000s. LAM of metals is promising technology that offers new opportunities to manufacturing and to resource efficiency. However, there is only few published articles about its sustainability.

Aim in this study was to create supply chain model of LAM and CNC machining and create a methodology to carry out a life cycle inventory (LCI) data collection for these techniques. The methodology of the study was literature review and scenario modeling. The acquisition of raw material, production phase and transportations were used as basis of comparison. The modelled scenarios were fictitious and created for industries, like aviation and healthcare that often require swift delivery as well as customized parts.

The results of this study showed that the use of LAM offers a possibility to reduce downtime in supply chains of spare parts and reduce part inventory more effectively than CNC machining. Also the gap between customers and business is possible to be shortened with LAM thus offering a possibility to reduce emissions due to less transportation. The results also indicated weight reduction possibility with LAM due to optimized part geometry which allow lesser amount of metallic powder to be used in making parts.