Additive Manufacturing, also known as 3-D printing, is a process for making parts by joining materials layer by layer. While formerly reserved mainly for producing sample or prototype parts, the technology has evolved over the years to enable manufacturers to make fully-functional production parts for automotive, aerospace, medical and a wide range of other markets. Additive Manufacturing encompasses a wide range of technologies, among them laser sintering, fused deposition modeling, stereolithography and more. Processors—injection molders in particular—are using this technology more of late both for low-volume production part made out of specialized plastics, and for moldmaking.