Supplier's Category: All Additive Manufacturing (Industrial): SLS, DMLS (Metal), and SLA production
Industrial additive manufacturing builds parts layer by layer from digital files using processes like SLS, metal DMLS, and SLA — at a precision and material range beyond desktop 3D printing. It suits complex geometries and low-to-mid volumes where tooling cost can’t be justified.
Additive manufacturing wins economically at low-to-mid volumes and high geometric complexity — the crossover point where tooled processes become cheaper depends on part size and complexity, but is typically in the hundreds to low thousands of units.
- Prototyping and bridge production: functional parts before tooling exists
- Low-volume end-use parts: brackets, housings, jigs where a mold isn’t justified
- Complex geometry impossible or costly to tool: internal lattices, consolidated assemblies
Related terms: SLS (selective laser sintering), DMLS (direct metal laser sintering), SLA (stereolithography), FDM, powder bed fusion, post-processing and heat treatment, build orientation optimization, support structure removal, lattice design, part consolidation
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What to check on a metal or engineering-polymer build
Not every additive shop can hold the tolerances or material properties a functional part needs.
Questions to ask
- Which machines and materials do they run in-house versus subcontract
- Do they provide material certification and mechanical test data for the powder/resin lot used
- What post-processing (HIP, heat treatment, machining of critical features) is included