New Processes
The whole area of additive fabrication is evolving and spawning new concepts and applications as it goes. With increasing interest in Rapid Manufacture and the ability to mass customise components; this development is likely to continue.
As the concepts become better accepted and the market grows, so there will be the development of application specific processes in lieu of the generic 'prototyping' systems that are currently available. This niche development will allow levels of optimisation previously deemed impractical and help to further grow the market.
As of today there are a host of processes that can be utilised to facilitate both prototyping and low volume manufacture, from developing technologies to the combining of old and recognised techniques with new additive technologies.
Whilst economics will frequently govern adoption, it remains paramount to design for manufacture to achieve the best results and to look at implementation at the assembly level and not the component level. Plunkett Associates will research, advise, design and manufacture, as appropriate to provide some unique and unusual options to existing manufacturing problems.