Protolabs announces 50,000 sq. ft. extension to UK facility
Digital manufacturing company Protolabs has announced plans for a £5 million expansion at its European headquarters in the UK.
The Telford-based company is said to be building a 50,000 sq. ft. extension which will house an additional 50 CNC machines and 20 injection moulding presses to meet growing demand in automotive, aerospace, medical, electronics and heavy industry sectors. Set for completion early next year, the plans are believed to create 60 new high-skilled jobs over the next two years.
Bjoern Klaas, Vice President and Managing Director of Protolabs Europe, commented: “The focus now, more than ever, is on speed and making sure new products and components are either first to market or ready when the end customer needs them.
“We are ideally set-up to meet this requirement, with a combination of our design and analysis team, bespoke production software and, once the expansion is complete, around 300 CNC milling, CNC turning and plastic injection moulding sampling and production machines at our disposal.”
With manufacturing facilities across three continents, Protolabs offers a range of 3D printing, CNC machining and injection moulding processes with turnarounds typically between 1 to 7 days for 1 to 50+ 3D printed parts, 1 to 3 days for 1 to 200+ CNC machined parts, and 1 to 15 days for 25 to 10,000+ injection moulded parts.
The company has also recently expanded its capabilities with the launch of a new polypropylene 3D printing service for customers in Europe and a range of new materials and post-build processes to enable the additive manufacture of metal end-use parts.
Commenting on the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, Klaas said the company is confident that this expansion and increased technical capabilities will allow the company to continue its growth.
Lee Ball, General Manager at Protolabs in Telford, concluded: “The expansion will give us the platform we need to deliver our ‘on-demand’ manufacturing offer to more customers, as well as providing improved welfare rooms for our employees as part of creating an even better working environment."
