Printing Out Barbies and Ford Cylinders - WSJ.com

Excerpt from a 3-D printing market snapshot

"Also known as additive manufacturing, because objects manufactured in this manner are built one successive layer of material at a time, the technology is allowing manufacturers to get products to their customers more quickly.
Unlike traditional techniques, where objects are cut or drilled from molds, resulting in some wasted materials, 3-D printing lets workers model an object on a computer and print it out with plastic, metal or composite materials."

Printing Out Barbies and Ford Cylinders - WSJ.com