Contributions in the research which have great potential for rapid manufacturing of sheetmetal parts have been reviewed
Reduction in cycle time and labour is possible for the reviewed technology
The possibility of having a capital cost for the technology comparable to conventional tooling has been demonstrated for prototypes.
Several research issues that will address the mechanics, the equipment, software, accuracy and economics of rapid sheetmetal forming were identified and discussed
Acknowledgement
The University of Manchester is a partner of the EU-funded FP6 Innovative Production Machines and Systems (I*PROMS) Network of Excellence