Digital fabrication

Introduction Digital fabrication

General introduction of approach

Digital fabrication is a manufacturing process in which a machine is operated by a computer to make something. Sometimes digital fabrication is classed by the processes used - subtractive, additive formative or joining - or sometimes by the difference materials used. Generally it involves technologies such as CNC milling (computer numerical control milling where shapes are cut from sheets), laser cutting (where materials are burnt or melted by a laser beam) or 3D printing (where objects are built up from layers). Sometimes referred to as ‘rapid prototyping’, it allows for one-off designs to be produced at a relatively low costs, for experimentation, and for those not usually involved in design and manufacture the possibility to create. Larger companies have also begun to use digital fabrication processes.