Direct digital manufacturing

Direct digital manufacturing sometimes calls Rapid, Instant, or On-Demand Manufacturing is a manufacturing process which creates physical parts directly from 3D CAD files or data using computer-controlled additive fabrication techniques without human intervention, also called 3D printing or rapid prototyping. When a small low cost device is used it is also called desktop, or personal manufacturing. The primary distinction between the use of other terms to describe 3D printing is that additive freeform fabrication is solely intended to describe a 3D printed part that is to be used as the final product with minimal post-processing. Whereas other terms used to describe rapid prototyping, additive freeform fabrication and the like are simply alternative ways of describing the 3D printing process itself.

Additive manufacturing is also referred to as Additive Freeform Fabrication, Rapid Prototyping, Layered manufacturing or 3D printing. This technique physically constructs or manifests 3D geometries directly from 3D CAD. The history of the process begins in the mid-1980s. It was originally known as Rapid Prototyping because the technology was used to make prototypes of parts without having to invest the time or resources to develop tooling or other traditional methods. As the process and quality controls have evolved, the market for additive manufacturing has grown to include production applications.

Additive Manufacturing or Direct Digital Manufacturing is an extension of Rapid Prototyping to real parts for use as final products (not prototypes). As of 2010, the equipment has become competitive with traditional manufacturing techniques in terms of price, speed, reliability, and cost of use. This has led to the expansion of its use in industry. There has been explosive growth in the sales and distribution of the hardware. A new industry has emerged to create software to enable more effective use of the technology, one use of which is the customization of products for consumers. The number of materials that the industry uses increased greatly in the decade to 2007.[1] Modern machines can utilize a broad array of plastics & metals.

As the speed, reliability, and accuracy of the hardware improves, additive manufacturing may replace or complement traditional manufacturing in creating end-use products. One advantage often cited is that Additive manufacturing eliminates much of the labor associated with traditional manufacturing. Another often cited example is that production can make any number of complex products simultaneously so long as the parts will fit within the build envelope of the machine.

One of the main technologies used for additive manufacturing is Selective laser sintering, a process which uses laser energy to fuse material to create a solid object. Another technology is called Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), which is commonly used for rapid prototyping but is becoming more and more popular in direct digital manufacturing.[2]

The use of the technology is likely to grow. In 2007 a sub-$4,000 machine was presented. 3D printing bureaus have sprung up around the globe. The RepRap machine is a do-it-yourself rapid prototyping machine with limited use except for demonstration purposes, however, the machine is cheap to build and is constructed of commonly available materials.