Initiation and evolution of systemic innovations: Emergence of ceramic additive manufacturing technology innovations

Technological innovations are becoming increasingly systemic in the complex and interconnected world. The initiation and evolution of systemic innovations takes time and includes numerous challenges and, therefore, requires further research. This paper explores the evolution of ceramic additive manufacturing as an example of a systemic manufacturing technology innovation. We implemented an embedded case study with four ceramic-material additive manufacturing technologies within a certain technology family. We traced and mapped the development paths of each of the four technologies over time and show a logical pattern of activities within and across the technology cases. The interrelations of the four case technologies feature connections between the diffusion trajectories and also to other previous technological inventions outside of additive manufacturing. The study contributes by revealing how the systemic innovation emerges as parallel and sequential development trajectories within one technology and through accidental and proactive connections with other technologies being developed simultaneously. Key findings about complexity of evolution of systemic innovations stem from the timing of the development trajectories of the system components (i.e., material, technology, applications) and their parallel and sequential evolution pace. The findings open new pathways for speeding up the evolution of additive manufacturing and forthcoming research on the creation and diffusion of systemic innovations.