Measuring Innovation System Functions: A Survey of Additive Manufacturing in South Africa

As additive manufacturing (AM) technology is growing globally, a need exists to better understand the landscape of needs, challenges, and opportunities that enterprises experience to assist policymakers in developing practical and sufficient support policies. In this article, we draw from the literature on the technology innovation system's innovation indicators to understand the dynamics of South African AM enterprises. From the indicators, we derive a survey instrument that contributes a novel method to analyze innovation systems and a priority tool to identify areas that require priority policy support. In applying the survey instrument, we surveyed 40 South African AM enterprises (approximately 80% of the industry) and collected 35 complete responses. The findings show that most AM enterprises are younger than ten years and that value-added enterprises dominate the sector. The enterprises struggle to access support mechanisms for AM technology, and startup enterprises struggle to build appropriate knowledge networks. Based on the priority tool, this article argues for 14 policy support opportunities on how AM industries may address their enterprises’ commercialization, knowledge sharing, and supplier challenges.