Manufacturing is about making parts, and assembly is about putting them together. Over the years, the two have pushed and pulled to seek a healthy balance. The result goes something like this: Divide the product into smaller and smaller parts until the total cost of the of the parts reaches a minimum; add too many fasteners to hold the parts together; then apply lean methods to eliminate work that does not add value. The three-part recipe has worked well, right up until additive manufacturing (AM) arrived to flip everything on its head.