Additive, Subtractive… But Don’t Forget Multiplicative Manufacturing
Additive manufacturing builds up. Subtractive manufacturing carves down. But don’t forget multiplicative manufacturing—the mass production stage where design for manufacture and manufacturing an invention turn ideas into thousands of products.
Additive Manufacturing: Building Up
Let’s start with a very popular buzzword: additive manufacturing. That’s the formal way of saying “3D printing.” Layer by layer, material is stacked (or added) until a part emerges. It’s great for quickly prototyping an invention, testing shapes, and making short-run models.
Additive manufacturing is invaluable when you’re trying to develop an invention on a budget. But most of the products you see on retail shelves didn’t come off a 3D printer—they simply don’t scale that way.
Subtractive Manufacturing: Carving Down
On the other end of the spectrum is subtractive manufacturing—milling, CNC machining, laser cutting. You start with a block of material and remove (or subtract) everything that doesn’t belong. Think of it as Michelangelo with a block of marble, only with carbide cutters and safety goggles.
This process is often where inventors refine prototypes and build parts with greater durability or tighter tolerances. It’s also a key step when you’re preparing a design for manufacture an invention at higher volumes.
Multiplicative Manufacturing: Scaling Up
Here’s where I’m going to bend terminology a bit. Some engineers use multiplicative manufacturing to mean advanced parallel production methods. For our purposes, however, I’m co-opting the phrase to describe the stage where your idea truly multiplies: mass production, assembly, packaging, and shipping.
This is where injection molding, die casting, stamping, and other high-volume processes come in. It’s not about making one prototype, or a small pilot run. It’s about making ten thousand high quality, identical units—assembled, boxed, and stacked on pallets headed to customers.
Why Multiplicative Manufacturing Matters
- Cost Efficiency: Once tooling is in place, injection molding or die casting will cut the per-unit cost dramatically.
- Consistency: Customers expect identical products, and that’s only possible with proper design for manufacture and mass production processes.
- Scalability: Distributors and retailers don’t want one-offs—they need thousands of units delivered reliably. Yes, 3D printing and machining can (and are) used to produce sellable products, but those tend to be small volume or niche businesses.
In short, multiplicative manufacturing is where you truly manufacture an invention for the real world.
The Inventor’s Journey: All Three Matter
- Additive manufacturing helps you prototype an invention quickly.
- Subtractive manufacturing sharpens your design with precision.
- Multiplicative manufacturing ensures your invention is designed and produced at scale.
Inventors often get stuck at the prototype stage. But the leap to multiplicative manufacturing—the stage where you design for manufacture, line up suppliers, and prepare for production—is what separates a hobbyist from a true entrepreneur.
How Product QuickStart Helps
At Product QuickStart, we work with inventors through every stage of the process:
- Helping you develop an invention into a viable design
- Creating prototypes with additive or subtractive methods
- Applying design for manufacture principles to get your product ready for production
- Managing sourcing, tooling, and supply chains so you can manufacture an invention at scale
- Guiding you through packaging, logistics, and launch
Our team doesn’t just help with prototypes—we help you get to multiplicative manufacturing, where your idea multiplies into thousands of real products.
Final Thought
Additive builds up. Subtractive carves down. But don’t forget multiplicative manufacturing—it’s the stage where your invention scales into a business.
Ready to move from prototype to product?
Contact Product QuickStart today and let’s multiply your idea into something customers can hold in their hands.
