Definition
Rapid manufacturing (RM) is the use of additive fabrication technology to directly produce useable products or parts. As is the case with rapid prototyping, the field is also known by several other names such as direct manufacturing, direct fabrication and digital manufacturing. It may also be referred to by the names of one or more of the several technologies utilized; a number which is continuously growing.

RM is one of the three major blossoming outgrowths of rapid prototyping. The others are three-dimensional printing - a lower-cost flavor of RP, and rapid tooling - actually a special case of rapid manufacturing. Today the distinctions among the trunk and branches of the RP tree are not very clear. Moreover, these differences can be expected to continue to blur as the technologies mature and applications, specifications and capabilities of the branches overlap more and more.

Present Status
What we see today is only a pale outline of the future. A few RP systems specifically aimed at rapid manufacturing applications are just beginning to appear commercially. RM is not yet being practiced at present, at least publicly, in any large way. However, many experiments that adapt existing RP systems to specific RM applications are underway on a proprietary basis. As technology, materials and other barriers are overcome, additive fabrication will find its way into the mainstream across a broad spectrum of applications. RM will be the branch of the technology that has the most direct impact on people's lives.

Some observers have likened it to a second industrial revolution. That may be going a little too far, but it's a good long-term bet that nearly all facets of life will be impacted in some way by RM - and many in ways which may not be apparent at present.