Customized production based on trusted 3D printing services in the cloud context

Purpose This study aims to develop a system framework to organise, manage and evaluate 3D printing (3DP) services in the cloud and help users select the best service according to application requirements. Design/methodology/approach Users can personalise their 3DP services based on their application requirements. The user is supplied with the performance capabilities and trust of all possible services. If the user is unable to select a service directly from the list of possible 3DP services, he/she can assign preference values for the application requirements to make a trade-off between the performance capabilities of services provided in terms of response time, manufacturing capabilities, lead time, cost and data integrity. After obtaining the finished product, the performance trust of the selected service are modified based on consumer feedback regarding their satisfaction. The accumulated input of a service's users is used to dynamically update its performance trust and is offered to new customers as a guide. Findings An industry case study is applied to verify the proposed methodology. The systematic order of the system framework demonstrated its efficiency in customising production based on trusted 3DP service providers. Originality/value The system upgraded the conventional 3DP service evaluation and selection approach. It considers the evaluation criteria of 3DP resources and the trust of service performance in the cloud context. The system favours 3DP cloud service providers. A registry tool is proposed to allow 3DP service providers to comprehensively define their services. By implementing a trust evaluation approach, 3DP service providers' trust are regularly updated based on their historical performances. In addition, a punishment mechanism is designed to motivate service providers to publish their true performance capabilities, therefore promoting a competitive environment and resulting in more reliable services.