Makers Fair, Austin, Texas:

Digital Reality was on the exhibitors list touting to tbe the first Made-To-Order Rapid Prototyping-based manufacturer of consumer goods. 2 years prior to www.shapeways.com and bets of all, Digital Reality holds a patent pending for Made-To-Order Digital Manufacturing Enterprise. When awarded (sometime in 2010 we hope), Digital Reality will be the ONLY company capable of producing consumer goods with Direct Digital Manufacturing the way its meant to be used!

Direct digital manufacturing is a manufacturing process which manifests physical parts directly from 3D CAD files or data using additive fabrication techniques, also called 3D printing or Rapid Prototyping. The 3D printed part or parts are intended to be used as the final product itself with minimal post-processing.

Rapid manufacturing is an additive fabrication technique for manufacturing solid objects by the sequential delivery of energy and/or material to specified points in space to produce that part. Current practice is to control the manufacturing process by computer using a mathematical model created with the aid of a computer. Rapid manufacturing done in parallel batch production can provide a large advantage in speed and cost compared to alternative manufacturing techniques such as plastic injection molding or die casting. Rapid manufacturing may involve custom parts, replacement parts, short run production, or series production. (When the part is used in the development process only, the appropriate term is rapid prototyping.)

Rapid manufacturing for large products with layer-based manufacturing from metals, plastics, or composite materials is well known for several industrial applications in the military (MPH-Optomec) and aerospace (Boeing) sectors. Small products and microsystem applications are known in medical (Siemens) as well as consumer electronics, diagnostics and sensor technologies (microTEC). Batch production of very small parts by rapid manufacturing techniques like RMPD offer cost and time advantages. Increasingly, rapid manufacturing is being applied to automotive, motor sports, jewelry, dentistry, orthodontics, medicine and collectibles.

Solid freeform fabrication (SFF) is a collection of techniques for manufacturing solid objects by the sequential delivery of energy and/or material to specified points in space to produce that solid. SFF is sometimes referred to as rapid prototyping, rapid manufacturing, layered manufacturing, additive fabrication and additive manufacturing.