Layer Manufacturing, Volume 1

Manufacturing today means that more complex products must be brought to the market at a dramatically reduced time. In order to achieve this, efficient tools must be used such as CAD/CAM in combination with the new fast field of rapid prototyping. Prototyping can be a potential bottle neck in a product development activity. A delay in bringing the product to market can cause a disaster for the whole product. This work examines layer manufacturing and these related issues.