3D printing (3DP) is at the heart of digital manufacturing—but it takes powerful technology tools to drive today’s product-development workflows.

Experienced design engineers may not-so-fondly recall the “old days” of manufacturing, when they would draw product ideas in 2D, choose the design iteration that seemed most viable, and work with the factory to create the molds and toolsets needed to produce the physical prototype. Then came weeks or months of waiting for production to begin. In the meantime, the company fervently hoped that a competitor didn’t beat them to market—and that they didn’t end up manufacturing millions of units with unforeseen design flaws.

Let’s take a quick tour of 3D printing workflows, use cases, and benefits for product developers and their companies.