Disruptive innovation devalues what made you successful.

To most people, cupcakes are a pleasant treat or a momentary diversion. But to Freed’s Bakery, one of the largest cupcake makers in the United States, cupcakes are big business.

New technology is often a paradox—offering increased capability but at great expense with a long ROI.

Arenas and other large venues rely on high-tech displays to produce the best show possible for an audience. The show must go on, as the saying goes, so reliability is paramount.

HUNTSVILLE, AL—NASA has successfully tested complex rocket engine parts produced with the additive manufacturing process laser metal sintering.

Every summer since 1998, teams of college students from around the world have come to the United Kingdom to participate in the international Formula Student (FS) racing competition.

CHICAGO—Sciaky Inc. has received a purchase order from a major aerospace parts maker to provide an electron beam additive manufacturing system. The system will help the manufacturer save time and cost when producing large, high-value metal parts.

There’s lots of talk about a manufacturing renaissance. Some call it a resurgence, others a revolution, but the name doesn’t matter. There’s also been a lot of argument over the magnitude of the decline in manufacturing and how to measure it. Some say there wasn’t a decline at all. None of that matters, either.

Depending on who you listen to, 3D printing (or, as it’s more formally known, additive manufacturing) is either the biggest thing to hit the manufacturing world since the screw or the biggest tech fad since the fax machine. It’s actually a little of each.

DEARBORN, MI—Engineers at Ford Motor Co. have created virtual representations of employees— called “avatars”—to assess whether articulating arms and other ergonomic aids could help with assembly.