Additive manufacturing gets marketed as a replacement for everything. It is not. It is a tool with a sweet spot, and knowing where that sweet spot is saves you money.

Additive wins when: the part is complex (internal channels, organic shapes, consolidated assemblies), quantity is low (one to a few hundred), geometry changes frequently, or lead time matters more than unit cost. If your design would be impossible to machine, or the mold cost for injection molding is unjustified at your volume, printing is the obvious call.

Additive loses when: you need thousands of identical parts, extreme material properties (high-temp alloys, creep resistance under load), or the cheapest possible unit cost. At volume, injection molding and machining overtake it hard.

The honest middle: hybrid workflows. Print the complex core, machine the critical faces. Print the bracket, injection mold the housing. Design review up front — material, tolerances, volume, environment — usually reveals the right process in an hour.

That is the real value of engineering consultation: not selling you printing, telling you what actually makes sense. Sometimes the right answer is we print it. Sometimes it is you should machine this one. Either way, you get a part that works, at the right cost.