Proto Labs houses nearly 700 CNC mills and injection molding presses that enable on-demand manufacturing of molded parts within days. [Image courtesy of Proto Labs]
The idea is to address both prototyping and on-demand manufacturing needs.
“Since every manufacturing project is different, our two injection molding options let customers begin to focus on what is really needed from their tooling,” Becky Cater, global product manager for injection molding at Proto Labs (Maple Plain, Minn.), said in a news release.
“Whether it’s a product development need for molded prototypes or a strategic partnership for on-demand production parts, we now have a total solution for the entire life cycle of a product,” Cater said.
Customers through the new on-demand manufacturing also get more competitive part pricing and guaranteed lifetime mold maintenance and ownership.
Also yesterday, Proto Labs said it is opening its first metrology lab to provide enhanced inspection reporting on end-use production parts. The metrology lab houses a range of standard inspection equipment. The lab also includes 3D scanners that provide an automated 360-degree look at parts within minutes. On top of to the standard range of First Article inspection reports, Proto Labs has a digital inspection report offering that includes a precision surface scan with a detailed color map for a direct CAD-to-scan comparison to quickly identify dimensional variances on parts.
“Digital inspection reporting is a final checkpoint for the digital thread as it moves from CAD model to final part,” said Jeff Schipper, director of special operation at Proto Labs and lead engineer in the metrology lab. “We’ve always provided our customers with front-end design analysis on their CAD models really fast – digital inspections bookend this process by significantly reducing the cost and time associated with conventional inspection reporting.”
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