It wasn’t long ago that 3-D printing seemed like the byproduct of a science fiction movie — but since the late 1980s, companies have been using 3-D printers to deliver fast, affordable, and accurate product prototypes.
Marketed as “rapid prototyping,” 3-D printing was conceived to meet the industrial needs of companies in the medical and transportation industries, but it soon spread to the automotive, aerospace, consumer, and HVAC industries.