He runs the consulting firm Wohlers Associates in Fort Collins, Colo., which follows developments in product design, pro to typing, and manufacturing. He also coordinates an annual international conference devoted to the latest developments in rapid protot’yping, which is also called additive fabrication. The most recent conference, held in December in Frankfurt, Germany, looked at these new types of manufacturing organizations. It studied their structures, the types of products they offer, and how the companies manufacture and distribute products.