Proto Labs Limited has recently moved to an expansive, purpose-designed manufacturing facility on Halesfield, one of Shropshire’s largest industrial parks (UK). We met with Bernard Faure responsible for Proto labs France and Richard Vaughan head of European marketing at Midest to discuss the evolution of the company (full article on Eurotec will follow).
The company’s new, 12,600 m2 home has ample room for its growing fleet of injection moulding machines and CNC machine tools, and is perfectly situated for access to the country’s transportation network and nearby Birmingham airport. Proto Labs Managing Director Mr. John Tumelty says that the move marks a significant point in the company’s expansion: “Five years ago, when we began our operations in the UK, we set some very aggressive growth targets. I’m happy to say, we have reached or exceeded every one of those targets, not least because we continue to invest in technology and people, focusing resources on developing a world-class service and a team of highly trained engineers. As a result, our business in the UK and Europe has expanded at an impressive rate. This new building will give us the space and the facilities we need to continue that growth for a long time to come.”
Two complementary offers Proto Labs offer two services: Firstcut produces CNC precision-machined prototype components perfect for 1 to 10 parts, and Protomold provides rapid injection-moulded parts in batches from 10 to 10,000 parts. Both operations employ powerful computers and proprietary software to help designers to optimise a part for production, meaning that even customers with absolutely no manufacturing experience can still use its on-line, automated quoting and ordering system. You can read the full article published earlier this year on Eurotec here.
New floor space and new machines Eighty five percent of space at the new factory is dedicated to manufacturing operations, yet the company’s seamless relocation was completed over the course of one week earlier this year. Mr. Lee Ball, Proto Labs’ Operations Director explains how the move was coordinated to cause minimum disruption to production: “Moving to the new facility was timed to coincide with an additional investment in new CNC machine tools and expansion of our powerful ultra-fast computecluster,” he said. “As a result, production over the transition period was continuous and our service to our hundreds of UK and European customers was uninterrupted.”
The "brain" of the company The new, expanded ultra-compute cluster is the ‘brain’ that powers the company’s online operations and services, including ProtoQuote® and FirstQuote®. Housed at the new factory in an environmentally controlled room, the ultra-compute cluster allows the company to analyse and process thousands of 3D CAD models every day.
To support activities across Europe, Proto Labs has sales and technical support offices in France and Germany. For more information Proto labs Bernard Faure Savoie-Technolac 18 Allée du Lac St. André 73382 Le Bourget du Lac Cédex France Phone +33 (0) 479 65 46 50 Fax +33 (0) 479 65 46 51 [email protected]
In the UK: [email protected]
First cut - CNC machining: www.firstcut.eu Protomold - Injection: www.protomold.fr
