Today, companies routinely produce multiple versions of a new design, digitally, before it is fabricated. As CAD and computer simulation tools improve, and as product development teams are forced to further reduce time to market, the number of prototypes will shrink. However, the diminishing use will apply only to the current scope of prototyping. As technology advances and new applications arise, the overall use of these additive processes will increase. Like the fast and inexpensive document printers that derailed the idea of the paperless office, 3-D printers will find their way into companies of all shapes and sizes.
Unthinkable applications emerge.
The vast array of potential applications is exciting. Organizations will rely on methods of RP for sculpture, architecture, mold flow analysis, molecular modeling, and a wide array of other interesting and unusual uses. Breakthrough applications have already emerged. Although there is movement in this direction, some of the most exciting applications have yet to be conceived. RP translates to Rapid Production.