Agile tooling

[1] A fully functional agile tooling laboratory consists of CNC milling, turning and routing equipment.

It can also include additive manufacturing platforms (such as fused filament fabrication, selective laser sintering, Stereolithography, and direct metal laser sintering), hydroforming, vacuum forming, die casting, stamping, injection molding and welding equipment.

Hundreds of universities and research centers[example needed] around the globe are investing in additive manufacturing equipment in order to be positioned to make prototypes and tactile representations of real parts.

[3] The real integration of the newer additive technologies into commercial production, however, is more a matter of complementing traditional subtractive methods rather than displacing them entirely.

Agile tooling can be applied in the early design stage of the development cycle to minimize the high cost of redesign.