page_title: Applications of 3D printing
section_title: Mass customization
hierarchical_section_title: Applications of 3D printing / Manufacturing applications / Mass customization
caption_attribution_description: English: 3D Printing is a type of Rapid Prototyping Process that can produce full colour 3D objects from a CAD input within hours at relatively lower costs as compared to other Rapid Prototyping technologies.
context_page_description: In recent years, 3D printing has developed significantly and can now perform crucial roles in many applications, with the most important being manufacturing, medicine, architecture, custom art and design.
  3D printing processes are finally catching up to their full potential, and are currently being used in manufacturing and medical industries, as well as by sociocultural sectors which facilitate 3D printing for commercial purposes. There has been a lot of hype in the last decade when referring to the possibilities we can achieve by adopting 3D printing as one of the main manufacturing technologies.
  For a long time, the issue with 3D printing was that it has demanded very high entry costs, which does not allow profitable implementation to mass-manufacturers when compared to standard processes. However, recent market trends spotted have found that this is finally changing. As the market for 3D printing has shown some of the quickest growth within the manufacturing industry in recent years.
context_section_description: Companies have created services where consumers can customize objects using simplified web based customization software, and order the resulting items as 3D printed unique objects. This now allows consumers to create custom cases for their mobile phones. Nokia has released the 3D designs for its case so that owners can customize their own case and have it 3D printed.
caption: Miniature face models (from FaceGen) produced using Ceramic Based material on a Full Colour 3D Inkjet Printer
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