Replies to post #3453 on Arcam AB fka AMAVF

[Tamhas]

The 10,000 vs a few rule is based on the parts being equivalent and conventional manufacturing having a substantial setup cost vs no setup for AM. To be sure, there is an obvious role for AM in small runs, but I think much of what we are seeing with Arcam is more that one is producing a fundamentally different part. When that is the case, no size run is really relevant because one can't make that part subtractively. With ortho, the issue is often run of 1 since the piece is customized for the individual. That is the extreme of the rule such that one really couldn't afford to produce a custom part with conventional techniques.