NEW YORK (June 9, 3:10 p.m. EDT) — A former product developer for a toy company has launched a Web site for companies needing rapid prototyping and rapid tooling.
Chicago-based Protomarket.com has about 300 members, both buyers and vendors, and offers online bidding in markets such as automotive, medical devices, business machines, consumer goods and aerospace, said President Jeff Katz. He was director of product development for toy maker Learning Curve International in Chicago from 1995-1999.
"Because we are focused on a specific chain, buyers and sellers know they will get a lot of interest," Katz said. He was interviewed at the Medical Design and Manufacturing East show, held June 6-8 in New York.
Katz said the site could expand to production-run tooling, but needs stronger file-uploading capability. The site is free to use, but Protomarket takes a commission of 0.5-4 percent on orders, he said.
The Web site, www.protomarket.com, rates vendors and lets buyers and sellers talk anonymously online. The site launched the week of May 29.
