Understanding the decision rules for 3D printing adoption

While 3D printing is a radically different manufacturing method based on advanced technologies, it has not been adopted to-date with as much alacrity as was originally expected. A variety of hidden rules may influence the broad adoption of this novel technology. The purpose of this study is to explore the decision rules for 3D printing adoption from an organisational perspective. Hybrid approaches are proposed to integrate the technology-organisation-environment (TOE) framework and the rough set theory (RST) in order to generate the decision rule and the determinants for 3D printing adoption. An empirical study on manufacturing enterprises in Taiwan is subsequently carried out, with the results revealing a considerable amount of meaningful information that may therefore be useful in the context of management.