The machine allows customers to create products digitally on the computer and then download them into a digital manufacturing machine where they are actually produced and made.
"I strongly believe in the future of digital manufacturing and local production," said Laarman.
"We are a digital manufacturing company," said Ronald D. Koff, the president of Astoria.
With the digital manufacturing of architectural components and computer-controlled steel-bending machines, wacky shapes are suddenly possible, he said.
Experimenting with the rapidly evolving technology of digital manufacturing forms part of that tradition, which is why it has proved so contentious within design circles.
As technology develops, craftspeople will become better at predicting and nuancing their instructions to machines and digital manufacturing will become more refined.
They showcase the amazing variety and depth of small businesses in the UK and represent every kind of business – B2B, retail, digital, manufacturing.
Industry 4.0 – or the fourth industrial revolution - is upon us, giving rise to digital manufacturing and the dawn of the Smart Factory.
The dinner coincided with a new report by the SMMT and KPMG which said progress in digital manufacturing could add £6.9bn to the UK car industry's annual turnover.
The manufacturing hubs Mr. Obama announced on Thursday will focus on three areas, officials said: "digital manufacturing and design innovation," "lightweight and modern metals manufacturing," and the "next-generation power electronics manufacturing".
Finally the move to fully digital manufacturing is taking off.
