Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
News
May 29, 2014 02:00 AM

Prototyping specialist adds liquid silicone rubber to product line

Mike Scott
RUBBER && PLASTICS NEWS
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Proto Labs Inc.
    A liquid silicone rubber gasket made by Proto Labs Inc.

    MAPLE PLAIN, MINN. — Proto Labs Inc., a quick-turn maker of prototype and short-run goods, now allows customers to order liquid silicone rubber and metal injection molded parts as a standard option.

    This gives Proto Labs customers the opportunity to make short-run LSR and MIM stainless steel parts faster than ever, said Proto Labs Product Manager Jeff Schipper.

    “The idea is that parts should not take as long as they do now to make, and that was the concept when we were first established (in 1999),” he said. “Back (15 years ago), getting a mold in four weeks was like pulling teeth. We have come a long way. One of our goals is to have complete design iteration completed within two weeks.”

    Proto Labs surpassed $150 million in revenue in 2013 and counts an estimated 36,000 product developers as customers since its inception. According to the firm, the key to streamlining — not to mention speeding — the process is proprietary software technology, which is designed to eliminate busy work and downtime as part of its standard operating procedure.

    The practice has helped Proto Labs earn recognition as a top 100 small company by Forbes Magazine and a Fastest Growing Company by Inc. 500 multiple times.

    The proprietary technology used by Proto Labs includes a computer-aided design system and other programs made internally, Schipper said. The company has used the strategy of spending more research and development money on software and technology, including personnel.

    As such, Proto Labs has a strong patent portfolio, with more than 14 patents, and it has established a number of technologies with protected trade secrets.

    Proto Labs believes in communication with customers that essentially serves as a two-way street, said Communications Manager Stacy Sullivan. When an order is placed, the company provides a detailed description of when the parts will be delivered, and many of the company's new products or product modifications have come directly from customer feedback through surveys or online evaluations, Sullivan said.

    “Over the past year, our research and development program has quickly advanced,” Vicki Holt, president and CEO of Proto Labs, said in a statement. “Incorporating LSR and MIM into our existing list of materials allows current and future customers more diversity in prototyping and small-volume manufacturing — something every product developer focused on taking products from idea to market faster can appreciate.”

    Serving several industries

    Customers in the LSR market come from a variety of industries, including health care, automotive, consumer products and industrial applications, along with more specific markets in cookware and skin care.

    “We use big data to evaluate what our current customers are looking for and also what the target markets we are [addressing] are looking for,” Sullivan said. “That's important because our market reach is broad — we work not only with those industries but hobbyists or inventors — people creating new [mobile] phone covers or the latest ear buds or kids' toys.”

    With approximately 850 global employees, Proto Labs frequently works with product designers and design engineers, Schipper said. In addition, with the role of procurement professionals increasing in importance for many organizations, Proto Labs has seen an increase in orders coming from procurement departments that have more direct buying authority.

    The company believes it is important to provide designers and engineers the opportunity for the manufacturing process to turn around quickly — even if the order is for a few thousand parts rather than tens of thousands of parts.

    “We're helping customers that have assemblies with process and materials, and this ability to turn over lower run orders brings in new customers who weren't candidates for LSR before,” Schipper said. “We give them an opportunity for a quick-turn part at a fair price, while helping them get their product to market as soon as possible while reducing the bottlenecks.”

    The average time for a customer to receive an interactive quote through the Proto Labs' website is about four hours during the business week, Sullivan said. This includes detailed information, and customer questions are addressed as part of the quote.

    On average, it takes two weeks or less for most plastic and machining orders and three weeks or less for LSR orders to be completed.

    Proto Labs is headquartered in Maple Plain, where one of the three onsite buildings houses the company's LSR and metal injection molding machines. All plastic injection molded parts are made in nearby Rosemont, Minn. Additional manufacturing locations are in Plymouth, Minn., and Raleigh. N.C., and global sales offices are located in Japan and England.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Pipe extruder fined for child labor law violation
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    PepsiCo on a ‘multiyear journey' toward bioplastics
    2
    Solar cell film producer investing $147M in Georgia
    3
    Michigan injection molder doubling space to support growth
    4
    Biden sets US goal to replace 90% of plastics with biomaterials
    5
    Plastics recycling must do better by consumers to succeed, professor says
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified