3D printing is only one of seven ISO/ASTM 52900 process categories — and the one most manufacturers have heard of least accurately. A breakdown of all seven, where sheet lamination and hybrid manufacturing fit, and how to evaluate AM for your floor.
Additive manufacturing isn’t just “3D printing plastic parts” — the
official standard recognizes seven distinct process categories, and one
of the highest-volume search terms in this space, “sheet lamination,” is
a real category most people have never heard of. Here’s what the seven
actually are, and where hybrid manufacturing fits alongside them.
ISO/ASTM 52900 defines seven official categories of additive
manufacturing. Knowing the category matters more than knowing brand names
— it tells you what a process can actually do with what materials, at
what accuracy, before you ever compare specific machines.
| Category | How it works | Typical materials |
|---|---|---|
| Vat photopolymerization | Liquid resin cured layer by layer with light (UV/laser) | Photopolymer resins |
| Material jetting | Droplets of material deposited and cured layer by layer | Photopolymers, waxes |
| Binder jetting | Liquid binder selectively deposited onto a powder bed | Metal, sand, ceramic powders |
| Material extrusion | Material pushed through a nozzle and deposited layer by layer | Thermoplastics (the familiar “FDM” printers) |
| Powder bed fusion | A laser or electron beam selectively fuses powder particles | Metal and polymer powders |
| Sheet lamination | Thin sheets bonded layer by layer, then cut to shape | Paper, plastic, or metal sheet |
| Directed energy deposition | Focused energy melts material as it’s deposited, often via a nozzle | Metal wire or powder |
Sheet lamination bonds thin sheets of material — paper, plastic, or
metal — one layer at a time, cutting each layer to its cross-sectional
shape (typically with a laser or blade) before the next sheet gets bonded
on top. Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM) and ultrasonic additive
manufacturing (which uses ultrasonic welding instead of adhesive to bond
metal sheets) are the two processes most commonly cited under this
category. It’s less common industrially than powder bed fusion or
material extrusion, but it has a real niche: lower material cost and the
ability to build large parts without the more exotic processes’ size and
cost constraints.
It’s one of the highest-volume search terms in this space precisely
because it’s unfamiliar — most people picture 3D printing as extruded
plastic or laser-fused metal powder, not bonded and cut sheets. It’s a
legitimate, standardized category, just a less common one industrially.
If you’ve encountered the term in a manufacturing engineering course or a
standards document and wondered whether it was a typo for “laminate” in
the composites sense, it isn’t — it’s specifically an additive process
category with its own build mechanism, distinct from laying up composite
material by hand or with a mold.
Hybrid manufacturing combines an additive process — usually directed
energy deposition — with traditional CNC subtractive machining, either in
one machine or one integrated workflow. The additive side builds up
near-net-shape material quickly, including in places a purely subtractive
process would waste a lot of stock removing; the subtractive side then
finishes critical surfaces to the tolerance and finish additive alone
can’t reliably hit. It’s a genuine answer to additive manufacturing’s
most common limitation — surface finish and dimensional accuracy — rather
than a replacement for either process alone.
None of the seven categories is universally better than the others —
each trades off speed, material options, part size, surface finish, and
cost differently, and the right choice depends entirely on what the part
actually needs to do. A prototype that just needs to check fit and form
might be perfectly served by material extrusion’s low cost and speed. A
flight-critical metal bracket needs powder bed fusion’s material
properties and the post-processing and inspection regime that comes with
it. Picking a category based on what’s popular or what a vendor is
currently pushing, rather than what the part actually requires, is one of
the most common ways an additive manufacturing pilot underdelivers.
Certification and training programs in this space tend to specialize
by category too — a credential built around polymer material extrusion
doesn’t transfer directly to metal powder bed fusion, since the material
science, safety considerations (metal powder handling has real hazards),
and post-processing steps are substantially different. Knowing which
category you actually need before shopping for training saves a lot of
wasted effort.
Additive manufacturing certification isn’t a standalone course in
SCMEP’s current catalog — the technology adoption questions it raises are
covered inside our Digital Transformation
— Are You Ready? and
Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Adoption training. As a
NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership affiliate
serving South Carolina manufacturers since 1989, our focus is helping
you evaluate whether and where additive fits your actual production
needs, not just the seven-category taxonomy.
If you’re evaluating additive manufacturing adoption for your plant,
you can browse the Industry 4.0 and
Digital training catalog or email the training team.
A useful starting question before any adoption conversation: what
specific part, in what volume, with what tolerance and material
requirement, is the candidate for additive today? Starting from a real
part rather than the technology in the abstract keeps the category choice
grounded in an actual production need instead of general enthusiasm for
the idea of 3D printing.
Per ISO/ASTM 52900: vat photopolymerization, material jetting, binder jetting, material extrusion, powder bed fusion, sheet lamination, and directed energy deposition. Each covers different materials and applications.
Sheet lamination is one of the seven official additive manufacturing process categories, so yes, it is a form of 3D printing — but a less common one. It bonds and cuts thin sheets of material layer by layer, rather than extruding, jetting, or fusing powder like more familiar 3D printing methods.
Hybrid manufacturing combines additive manufacturing (usually directed energy deposition) with traditional CNC subtractive machining in one machine or workflow — building up material quickly with additive, then finishing critical surfaces with subtractive machining for tolerance and finish.
Additive manufacturing builds a part up layer by layer from raw material. Subtractive manufacturing (like CNC milling or turning) starts with a solid block and removes material to reach the final shape. Hybrid manufacturing combines both in one process.
