Direct Digital Manufacturing

Direct digital manufacturing (DDM) is a term that describes the usage of additive manufacturing technologies for production or manufacturing of end-use components. Although it may seem that DDM is a natural extension of rapid prototyping, in practice this is not usually the case. Many additional considerations and requirements come into play for production manufacturing that are not important for prototyping. In this chapter, we explore these considerations through an examination of several DDM examples, distinctions between prototyping and production, and advantages of additive manufacturing for custom and low-volume production.