The umbrella term additive manufacturing<\/strong><\/a> (AM) gained wide renown in the 2000s. It is now widely recognized as being the 4th<\/sup> industrial revolution<\/a>; one that is happening as we speak. A growing number of actors are integrating and applying 3D printing technologies everyday across all sectors and industries. Indeed, 3D printing has a wide range of applications, wider than we might believe at first glance. This may all seem a bit generic for someone who doesn\u2019t understand or isn\u2019t familiar with the technology. Therefore, we\u2019ll go through what this technology offers and why it is shaping, changing and revolutionizing production with some more concrete examples and terms.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Firstly, additive manufacturing is in contrast to traditional manufacturing techniques<\/a>, known more broadly as subtractive manufacturing<\/strong>. As you might have guessed, most manufacturing until relatively recently was subtractive. On one hand, one process adds material to create an end piece (i.e. additive) whilst the other removes material to create an end piece (i.e. subtractive). This is the key difference.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In concrete terms, additive manufacturing is the process of converting a digital model into a solid three-dimensional object, generally via a 3D printer<\/a>. Over the years, many 3D printing technologies have been developed in the industry; the common feature is always the creation of a physical model layer by layer.<\/p>\r\n\n\t\t