Rapid prototyping, small series production, rapid and innovative tooling are some of the main advantages that this technology can offer. Consequently, it enables higher responsiveness, development and prototyping time reduction, improvement of manufacturing processes in terms of time and quality.

From a long-term perspective, we could observe disruptive innovation at a supply chain level as well. For instance, it is assumed that some production units could be distributed directly on the interested market , close to the final customers, rather than being centralized, as the economy of scale would suggest. In the literature there are similar cases for spare parts production and distribution.

Nowadays, the additive manufacturing technology within the industrial scenario is principally a supplementary tool which offers innovative solutions, that traditional technologies are usually not able to achieve, and that has the great potential to pave the way for new markets and opportunities.