Starting from 2000, metal 3D printing initiated and evolved. In recent times, thanks to the success of its applications in some advanced industries, it has strongly consolidated itself as a production technology specifically in aerospace, automotive, medical and dental fields.

The 3D printing of metals differs from the production technologies currently used that allow production in large quantities and with costs that have reduced over time thanks to the maturity they have reached, especially for overcoming limitations.

Traditional techniques, such as various types of melting and hot forging of metals, involve a series of limitations both from in form and functionality. On the contrary, 3D additive manufacturing, as opposed to the traditional methods that work by subtraction, offers the possibility of not having to deal with such limits.

This opens up a whole new, unexplored territory for both product design and high-tech components for the consumer market.

Namely, there is now the possibility of reducing the amount of assembled components by printing them into a single body, avoiding all the remaining steps of production; welding, gluing, assembly, reducing weight and waste, and leading to high-tech products and components and an elevated technical performance.

With 3D printing, new expressive horizons are envisaged for the consumer market, spanning towards the customization of products to on-demand production, avoiding among other things, stock of semi-finished and finished products, typical of mass production.

The evolution of printing machines and the development of new post-processing technologies, relating to the various fields currently using 3D printing, are leading to a significant acceleration towards the industrial use of metal 3D printing.