Leveraging additive manufacturing for supply chain resilience: challenges, opportunities and future outlook

In the face of escalating global disruptions and increasing industrial complexity, supply chain resilience (SCR) has become a strategic priority. This paper provides a systematic and critical assessment of research at the intersection of additive manufacturing (AM) and SCR, focusing on AM’s role as a resilience enabler. Drawing on a curated dataset of 160 peer-reviewed articles, the study combines bibliometric analysis with in-depth content synthesis to map dominant research themes and application contexts. Unlike prior reviews, the study adopts a mechanism-based and theory-informed perspective to explain how AM-enabled features, such as decentralized production, digital inventory, and rapid responsiveness, translate into resilience capabilities and outcomes across sectors. It further proposes an integrative framework capturing the pathways through which AM contributes to resilience under varying boundary conditions. The analysis identifies five key research gaps and outlines targeted directions and managerial implications to support the strategic deployment of AM in resilient supply chains.