What’s the future of manufacturing? Iterative, fast-paced, and ever-changing – that's the future, specifically, for Additive Manufacturing.  

And as more and more companies are offering them, there is more competitive pressure to make yourself unique so you can give consumers that best product at the best price. 

Additive manufacturing allows for rapid development of both products and processes. You can now look at a concept, print it, test it the next day, tweak it, and test it again. And you're doing this all with a CAD program and a 3D printer. 

Then you can lock in that optimum design before even going to more traditional manufacturing methods to make thousands of it.  

Benefits of Additive Manufacturing:

• Lower cost due to increasing competition

• Allows you to do a lot more things on the software side than you could three or four years ago. You can optimize how the tool behaves in that process.

• More durable materials

• The parts can be made faster. If they can make more in the same timeframe, they become less expensive. 

• Stamping metal parts using additive manufacturing dyes (with a couple of limitations)

• Mass customization - this has some purchasing power because people are willing to pay for that difference.

Traditional Applications:

• Product mockups for marketing reviews, key customer reviews, internal reviews, packaging, and manufacturing

• Can also be used in non-manufacturing environments.  

Non-traditional Applications:

• Metal tooling - metal additive processes that allows them to make geometries you can't make in a machining operation 

• Finished goods - ex. phone covers, dental aligners, clothing, shoes, 

The Future of Additive Manufacturing

• Continued price erosion or pricing pressure on companies which is good for the consumer

• Added features

• Increased build sizes and speeds and improved building options