Going direct in manufacturing

Prototyping transitions from one-off components to flight-ready hardware.

One-off parts with intricate, internal flow chambers sintered from advanced metal powders and polymers have a place in R&D shops around the world. In 2009, though, the talk in aerospace manufacturing is not about rapid prototyping but is instead about volume production and how rapid-manufacturing techniques can cut weeks out of the production process.

Unlike the the automotive industry in which an OEM can build hundreds of thousands of cars per year-making expensive tooling cost-effective in the long run-Boeing and Airbus typically build fewer than 500 airplanes per year. The cost of development and tooling is proportionally higher as a result of limited production volumes.