Toolless Layer-Wise Production Methods: Adaptable and Fast Way to Customer

In this paper we present basic concepts and a simple analytical treatment how Additive Manufacturing (AM) methods and other toolless layer-wise techniques can be used to reach customers fast and without large capital expenditures. As a fundamental approach, the product specific tooling (hard or soft) will be developed when the volumes justify them. As an example, we consider practical and commercially successful cases where Incremental Sheet Forming (ISF) has been applied to manufacture high quality sheet metal components. We will present a mathematical treatment starting from simple concepts that will describe the process starting with the toolless production methods and then converting to more conventional production. We will then expand the treatment to take into account current business forecasts dynamically.