Global markets are hugely competitive, requiring product designers and manufacturers to achieve two major objectives in order to remain successful: reduce the time-to-market for products that will work first time on delivery; and design and manufacture products that will operate reliably for as long a period as possible. Across many diverse disciplines, engineers and scientists are starting to recognise the vast potential for icro-electromechanical systems (Mems) given their miniscule size (Fig.1). These range from applications in the biotechnology, communications and optical fields, to automotive sensors such as accelerometers. Stereolithography has proved to be one of the most popular rapid prototyping technologies due to the high accuracy and the variety of materials, which, together, mean that models produced this way can be used as masters for vacuum casting and as form and fit prototypes. Sami Salila examines three examples of how low-profile clamps have been used to get the best out of machining centres.