3D printing is revolutionizing manufacturing. A small company called 3D Printing is pioneering this new method of making everything, from toys to jet engines, and even toys. Sigma Labs, Inc (NASDAQ SGLB) has the technology to make it possible.

Traditional manufacturing involves starting with metal or another material, and then cutting, shaping, or drilling the material to create the final product.

Researchers at MIT had a new idea in the 1980s. Instead of cutting away material, why not build it by adding layer after layer? Their method was identical to printing ink onto a piece of paper in three dimensions.

3D printing is also known as “additive manufacturing,”It is becoming a major business. GE Aviation uses it to make jet engine fuel nozzles instead of welding together 20 pieces. Technology Review recently referred to additive manufacturing. one of its 10 “Breakthrough Technologies.”

However, 3D printing presents a significant challenge. It is extremely difficult to produce identical parts of high quality every time. Sigma Labs has solved this problem and ensures that every product and part is correctly built.

How does it work? It uses sensors to determine key parameters like the temperature of each layer as it is being deposited. It then uses sophisticated algorithms for processing the data and determining if the part is in compliance with customer quality standards.

“When we monitor every layer, for every part, we can tell if it’s a good part,”John Rice, CEO at Sigma Labs, explains.

Sigma has installed its PrintRite 3D system at 3D manufacturing facilities for more than a dozen key companies, such as Siemens, Honeywell, Woodward, and Pratt & Whitney.

Rice believes that once the technology has been proven in real operations, Sigma’s patent protected approach to 3D printing may drive explosive growth and be an integral part of 3D metal fabrication operations. “Sigma Inside,”Intel chips are used in personal computers.

“This has the potential to be a major transformative technology by enabling the leap to volume AM metal production,”Rice.