Stratasys FDM 3D printers

FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) originally invented and patented by Stratasys founder Scott Crump in 1989. Fast forward to the present, FDM is now the most commonly used 3D printing process.
FDM technology is the process of making physical objects by building up successive layers of material. A thermoplastic filament is pushed through an extruder and deposited where needed in each layer to complete the desired object.
At its core is an additive manufacturing (AM) method or process opposite of traditional manufacturing which is subtractive, involving cutting away at a block of material to produce an object.