Protolabs Virtual Plant Tour
Take an inside look into multiple Protolabs facilities to learn about its digital approach to manufacturing across multiple processes, including injection molding, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, and 3D printing. Additionally, you will have an opportunity to see how Protolabs is able to quickly respond to urgent manufacturing needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruption across many industries. This presentation will give you insights into benefits of adopting a digital manufacturing model as well as building a more resilient supply chain strategy.
Walk Away With Actionable Insights
Watch this plant tour recording, including a panel discussion on how you can mitigate risk, reduce production costs, and unlock new digitally enabled business models. Actionable insights to include:
- What does digital manufacturing look like across different technologies, both subtractive and additive.
- How you can use digital manufacturing to unlock new business models.
- How local and on-demand approach to production protects against supply chain disruption.
- How major medical device providers are accelerating development, commercialization and full production of critical COVID-19 components to get products like ventilators and face shields to market at unprecedented speeds.
Protolabs Virtual Plant Tour
Theme: Digital Manufacturing in the Age of Disruption
Members can access the summary from the Member Content Library
July 22, 2020
11:00am to 11:05am EDT – Manufacturing Leadership Council Welcome
11:05am to 11:15am EDT – Protolabs Welcome & Overview Presentation
11:15am to 12:15pm EDT – Protolabs Plant Tour
12:15pm to 1:00pm EDT – Panel Discussion
Panel Discussion
Moderator:
David Brousell, Manufacturing Leadership Council
Protolabs Panelists:
Vicki Holt, President & CEO (Board Member, Manufacturing Leadership Council & National Association of Manufacturers)
Robert Bodor, General Manager and Vice President, Americas
Bernadine Henderson, Global Director of Procurement
Gurvinder Singh, Global Product Director, Injection Molding
View on Demand
SHEET METAL FABRICATION: A brake press operator forms a sheet metal part based on its digital twin in the adjacent computer.
SHEET METAL FABRICATION: Complex components along with post-production processes like hardware insertion, welding, anodizing, and powder coating are possible with sheet metal fabrication at Protolabs.
INJECTION MOLDING: Protolabs’ on-demand production facility in Minnesota houses more than 100 presses that mold low-volume plastic parts into the tens of thousands.
INJECTION MOLDING: A press operator adjusts the mold tooling before production begins. Protolabs stocks hundreds of colors but can also mold custom colors based on Pantone numbers or color-matching.
CNC MACHINING: Hundreds of CNC mills and lathes line Protolabs’ machining facility in Minnesota. The machines form the foundation for its infinite capacity model.
CNC MACHINING: Protolabs’ 5-axis CNC milling allows for complex geometries on metal and plastic components.
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING: Protolabs’ state-of-the-art 3D printing facility in North Carolina touts six different additive manufacturing technologies, including direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) for production-grade 3D-printed metal parts.
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING: A build platform of metal parts is removed from the metal 3D printer before post-production machining occurs. Medical and aerospace industries frequently leverage DMLS for organic and precise metal parts.
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING: A row of stereolithography (SLA) 3D printers lines the production floor at Protolabs’ additive manufacturing facility.
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING: SLA enables rapid prototyping across different industries but is heavily used in medical device and component development.