DIRECT DIGITAL MANUFACTURING - NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY (Bezposrednie Cyfrowe Wytwarzanie (DDM) - rozwój nowego produktu i technologii produkcyjnej)

Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM) also known as Rapid Prototyping or Rapid Manufacturing is a technology that converts three-dimensional computer models into physical parts typically by building layers upon layer of material. Although this technology has been serving designers for almost 20 years in support of demonstrating, testing, and confirming their designs early and frequently in the product development process, it is the future way for producing parts. Increasing interest of designers in DDM in the last decade has led to development of new technologies and advancements in DDM materials. Building a functional part or assembly directly from its CAD (Computer Aided Design) model gave manufacturers the opportunity of rapid and custom production capability of parts such as molds, inserts, tools, sub-assemblies and even final products. It is unlikely that DDM will replace mass-manufacturing techniques in the near future due to some constraints. However, for small lot productions, highly complex parts and increased customization demands by customers - Direct Digital Manufacturing may be the answer. Today, more than thirty companies around the world manufacture DDM systems with different capacities and features. This paper is aimed to present background on DDM technologies, current application fields of DDM and comparison of DDM with CNC (Computer Numerical Control) technology.