3D printing production is still in its infancy, but it is already inevitable. And if you look closely, you will find numerous indications that this historic shift is already well underway.

For the last decade, 3D printing has been the playground of the maker community, while commercial applications have been limited to prototyping. But now, industrial 3D printing has reached its tipping point, and is about to go mainstream in a way that will revolutionize the economy.

3D production of functional end-use parts is already one of the fastest growing areas in the manufacturing sector. In 2014, a PWC survey found that 11% of manufacturing companies had already switched to volume production of 3D printed parts or products. As costs continue to drop and quality rises, it will be impossible to put this genie back in the bottle.

Here are seven ways that 3D printing production is already in use today and disrupting business as we know it:

Read at Fortune.

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