Protolabs, a global player in technology-enabled manufacturing, has been recognized by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) as a Manufacturing Leadership Awards winner for its achievement in engineering and production technology. The digital manufacturer’s winning project involved a multi-toolpath engine that helped automate programming efforts in order to reduce customer lead times and lower production costs. The team at Protolabs developed toolpath generation software that achieved extremely smooth surface finishes for injection molds without increasing the milling time. The automation led to a significant decrease in production costs while providing customers with better quality surface finishes and shorter lead times. “Given this automation – the company explains – Protolabs is able to offer customers the highest quality on-demand manufacturing services at unprecedented speeds”. “We’re honored to be recognized for this project – commented Vicki Holt, President and CEO of Protolabs -. We are committed to helping product developers from an array of industries succeed in bringing products to market quickly, and to do that, it’s necessary for us to place strong emphasis on continuous improvement, and more specifically, digitization of workflows and processes. The Multi-toolpath Engine project is a good example of how the fruits of those efforts ultimately benefit our customers”.
