Jumping up a bit bigger than one or two machines, Morris Technologies (Cincinnati, Ohio), for example, owns and operates 20 direct metal laser sintering machines, in addition to other rapid prototyping technologies, to manufacture and prototype products for a range of industries including aerospace and medical.

FORBES: Sintering Your Way To Dental Implants And Hip Replacements

He said Nokia already used 3D printing internally to do rapid prototyping, but decided to back it more publicly to help the nascent technology realise its "incredible potential".

BBC: Nokia backs 3D printing for mobile phone cases

Meanwhile, researchers at Advanced Ceramics Research in Tucson, Arizona, are developing rapid prototyping to create replacement bones, with funding from America's Office of Naval Research.

ECONOMIST: MONITOR

With more than 260 channel partners around the world, Stratasys can leverage the extensive geographic reach of its marketing and sales organization to serve customers and grow awareness of 3D printing for rapid prototyping and production.

ENGADGET: Stratasys and Objet combine 3D printing / rapid prototyping powers, working on printing money

The success of such products has contributed to the hardware explosion in their own right, offering up the capability of rapid prototyping in a home environment.

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