Measuring the Effectiveness of the Usage of 3D Printing Technology by Small-Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) in Jordan: Empirical Study

Rand Al-Dmour; Raja Masadeh; Hani Al-Dmour; Ra’ed Masa'deh; Ahmed H. Al-Dmour

Rand Al-Dmour Department of Management Information Systems, School of Business, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
Raja Masadeh Department of Computer Science, School of Information Technology, The World Islamic Sciences and Education University, Amman, Jordan
Hani Al-Dmour Department of Marketing, School of Business, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
Ra’ed Masa'deh Department of Management Information Systems, School of Business, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
Ahmed H. Al-Dmour Department of Accounting Information Systems, Faculty of Business, Al-Ahliyya Amman University

Keywords: 3DPT applications, small-medium –sized enterprises, effectiveness measures, Jordan

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to measure the effectiveness of the usage of 3DPT applications by small-medium sized enterprises (SME) in Jordan as a case from developing countries. It also aims to test whether the extent of the usage of 3DPT applications differs across different SME in terms of their type, size, and experiences. Primary data were collected from 250 respondents and 23 measures of 3D technology effectiveness were employed. A questionnaire was developed and extracted from previous studies. Six factors for measuring 3D technology effectiveness were extracted, namely: (1) time, (2) cost, (3) quality, (4) innovation, (5) competiveness and (6) management. The findings indicate the extent of the 3DPT being used by small-medium sized enterprises (SME) in Jordan could be considered quiet good at this stage. It also provides positive evidence that the 3DPT technology effectiveness indicators are significantly related to the level of 3DPT applications being used by SMEs, particularly, cost, time, quality and innovation. The findings revealed that the extent of using 3DPT technology applications were differ among the target respondents based upon their size while there were not differ in terms of their types and business experiences.