Isabel Ernst

Isabel is a master’s candidate in Business Management at the University of Wuerzburg in Germany. In her studies, she especially focuses on digital transformation and new business models. In her master’s thesis, she deals with the concept of sharing manufacturing capacities on a digital marketplace.

In modern manufacturing, economic reasons require the efficient and optimized usage of manufacturing capacities like machines and production sites. Nevertheless, uncertainty regarding future demands oftentimes results in either overcapacities or shortages. Since this poses a common problem in manufacturing, interorganizational sharing of manufacturing capacities on a digital marketplace provides a solution. However, as an efficient matching requires a sufficient number of platform users, the adoption by and participation of potential platform users is crucial.

Therefore, Isabel aims to develop a suitable marketplace business model, which she illustrates for the case of additive manufacturing. Designed as an artifact using design science approach, she evaluates the business model design from a customers' perspective using choice-based conjoint analysis.

The study’s results contribute to research on both platform business models as well as trading production capacities. Further, it can advise practitioners on suitable business model designs for an implementation of the concept of a marketplace for production capacities in practice.