is no investment in designing and fabricating the nec-
essary tooling and fixtures. Nevertheless the financial
gain, efficiency growths and process improvements
in design, analysis, testing and manufacturing are far
greater. As regards to time, a further AM advantage is
that, once the part design is released, the production
begins immediately. Delays due to tooling, that nor-
mally take several weeks of work, are avoided. Delays
are costly. Eliminating those leads to a considerable
financial benefit.
The results of this study prove that AM is adequate
for small to medium batch productions even of end
usable metal products. Cost analysis highlights how
machine cost per part is the major term of cost; the
others affect the total cost for a very low percentage. ...