What is Additive Manufacturing?

Additive manufacturing is a form of manufacturing that produces goods by adding material rather than more traditional subtractive manufacturing tools such as lathes, which remove material to produce goods. 

Additive Manufacturing has some very important benefits over subtractive manufacturing.  The biggest benefit to additive manufacturing is the  reduced material usage.  Since the additive process does not involve the removal of material, there is little-to-no waste involved.

 Additive manufacturing has become more and more popular as the cost to begin utilizing this process has dwindled.  Machinery that was once only available at a $5,000+ price range is now available for less than $1,000 and sometimes as low as $150 for lower-end consumer-grade machines.