The term Rapid Prototyping has used since the 1980s to describe technologies that create a product using nonclassical procedures – usually with the so-called layered (additive) process. This production process does not involve removing material is not removed from the semi-finished product to get final shape of the product (as in in machining), nor is the material added all at once (as in casting). The final product shape is achieved through placing layers into which the product is sliced.
In general, prototype manufacturing can be divided into several aspects – product (prototype) nature, nature of the tool for product manufacture and production volume. A prototype is a product that assumes some attributes of a serial product; however it is made by substitute technology and often from substitutite material. Substitutite technologies are usually much more expensive than the production of serial parts.
However, their shared benefit is the speed with which the prototype can be made by means of them.