Protolabs Expands Capacity with New Building and More Machines

Protolabs has purchased a new manufacturing facility in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, which is the latest step that the digital manufacturing company has taken to expand its prototyping and low-volume production capacity. The company has also recently invested in additional manufacturing equipment for both its American and European facilities to support business growth.

The new 152,000 square-foot Brooklyn Park facility will be expanded by another 50,000 square feet and used primarily for CNC machining. About 225 jobs at the company’s Plymouth, Minnesota, plant will relocate to the Brooklyn Park building, enabling the company to expand the injection molding capacity in the Plymouth facility to support increased customer demands. The new Brooklyn Park plant is scheduled to become fully operational by the end of 2018.

Additionally, Protolabs continues to expand its manufacturing capacity with the addition of new equipment. Over the past 12 months, the company purchased more than 75 CNC mills and 25 injection molding presses in the United States. And, its European operations purchased 25 CNC machines and six injection molding presses that are now in use at the company’s facility in Telford, United Kingdom. These investments expand the company’s worldwide manufacturing capacity to more than 1,000 presses, mills, lathes, press brakes, laser cutters and 3D printers. Protolabs says it is excited about the growth in machining. The company’s machining service grew more than 27 percent in 2017 to more than $100 million.