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The Value Paradigm – Additive Manufacturing as Strategic Response to Unlock Business Value in a Complex and Volatile World

21 Nov 2025

In April 2025, the United States enacted one of the most substantial tariffs increases in recent history, raising average duties on most goods and countries. This development and other events have shaken the rules of the global trade system. For companies operating transnational production networks, this implies rising transaction costs and increased risk exposure at each logistical interface.

Businesses must reevaluate their manufacturing strategies to remain competitive. Conventional mitigation levers, such as supplier diversification, are proving increasingly insufficient. As an alternative, companies are exploring distributed manufacturing approaches, enabled by Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies. This approach decentralizes production, enabling localized, flexible, and scalable operations that reduce exposure to trade barriers, enhance supply chain resilience, and support cost-effective customization.

This presentation offers insights for companies looking to leverage AM for both operational gains and strategic advantages. We provide a forward-looking perspective on how manufacturers can use AM to boost productivity, reduce costs, and build resilient, sustainable production networks in light of geopolitical uncertainty, and most importantly, unlock business value. AM will not be chosen because the technology is great, but because it can solve the challenges of manufactures.

Speaker: Dr. Ing. Wilderich Heising, Partner & Director, Boston Consulting Group (BCG)