ew el ry , ▁eye we ar , ▁education , ▁ge ographic ▁information ▁systems , ▁food , ▁and ▁many ▁other ▁fields . ▁ ▁Add itive ▁manufact uring ' s ▁earliest ▁applications ▁have ▁been ▁on ▁the ▁tool room ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁manufact uring ▁spectrum . ▁For ▁example , ▁rapid ▁pro tot yp ing ▁was ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁earliest ▁add itive ▁variants , ▁and ▁its ▁mission ▁was ▁to ▁reduce ▁the ▁lead ▁time ▁and ▁cost ▁of ▁developing ▁pro tot ypes ▁of ▁new ▁parts ▁and ▁devices , ▁which ▁was ▁earlier ▁only ▁done ▁with ▁subtract ive ▁tool room ▁methods ▁such ▁as ▁C NC ▁mill ing ▁and ▁turning , ▁and ▁precision ▁gr inding , ▁far ▁more ▁accurate ▁than ▁ 3 d ▁printing ▁with ▁accuracy ▁down ▁to ▁ 0 . 0 0 0 0 5 " ▁and ▁creating ▁better ▁quality ▁parts ▁faster , ▁but ▁sometimes ▁too ▁expensive ▁for ▁low ▁accuracy ▁prototype ▁parts . ▁With ▁techn ological ▁adv ances ▁in ▁add itive ▁manufact uring , ▁however , ▁and ▁the ▁dis sem ination ▁of ▁those ▁adv ances ▁into ▁the ▁business ▁world , ▁add itive ▁methods ▁are ▁moving ▁ever ▁further ▁into ▁the ▁production ▁end ▁of ▁manufact uring ▁in ▁cre ative ▁and ▁sometimes ▁unexpected ▁ways . ▁Part s ▁that ▁were ▁formerly ▁the ▁sole ▁province ▁of ▁subtract ive ▁methods ▁can ▁now ▁in ▁some ▁cases ▁be ▁made ▁more ▁profit ably ▁via ▁add itive ▁ones . ▁In ▁addition , ▁new ▁develop ments ▁in ▁Rep R ap ▁technology ▁allow ▁the ▁same ▁device ▁to ▁perform ▁both ▁add itive ▁and ▁subtract ive ▁manufact uring ▁by ▁sw apping ▁magnetic - mount