Additive manufacturing has become a buzzword in manufacturing today. It has improved tremendously over the past few decades, and it is evolving from a technology for simple prototyping to one that can be used to make actual parts and tooling. The technology is already being used in myriad industries, including automotive, consumer goods, medical devices, aerospace and defense.
A variety of additive manufacturing methods have emerged: fused deposition modeling (FDM), stereolithography (SLA), PolyJet 3D resin printing (3DP), selective laser sintering (SLS), and direct metal laser sintering (DMLS). All these methods make parts by building up materials layer by layer.