The July 2021 session of the International Manufacturing Forum Series, which theme was Digital Manufacturing on a Large Scale, took place on the 1st of July, via Zoom platform.
Direct Digital Manufacturing is a family of technologies which is able to product products directly from a digital definition without the use of moulds or other complex tooling. These technologies directly enable the possibility of personalisation of the form of a product at the point of manufacturing.
For Direct Digital Manufacturing to take its place as a major manufacturing technology, greater focus is required on the fabrication of large products, for example products with a length greater than one meter. Direct Digital Manufacturing inherently is scalable but increasing the size of the fabricated product brings other challenges such as distortions during the build process and ensuring quality control of the material composition across the whole product.