Local services, local production and local agriculture, based on distributed energy generation, additive manufacturing and vertical farming, are enhancing individual, community and regional autonomy through self-service, disintermediation and mass customization.
Additive manufacturing encompasses processes in which parts are built by successively adding material rather than by cutting or grinding it away as in conventional machining.
In fact, machine tool builders are already developing machines that include both subtractive and additive manufacturing in one work envelope, and retrofits of existing machines are underway.