3D printing allows designers to rapidly and affordably produce a product to test or trial modifications on before employing traditional manufacturing techniques on a final product version. The ability for each printed product to be customisable sees it used in a number of sectors from film making; where Weta Workshops use it for prop making 7 and in health care, for example in Siemens and Phonak's hearing aids or Align Technology's custom orthodontic braces. 8 Due to the increased public awareness in the last decade, new 3D printing businesses such as printing bureaus Shapeways and the New Zealand company Ponoko, have emerged to cater to the growing demand.
in favour of political centralisation