Proto Labs invests in six new Arburg machines for UK site as demand grows

Telford-based Proto Labs is to invest in six new injection moulding machines from Arburg as it looks to satisfy growing demand for its services across Europe.

The company, which specialises in rapid prototyping and the production of low-to-mid volume production parts, will purchase six ARBURG Golden Edition and ‘S’ machines between 50 and 250 tonnes, bringing the total number of machines at the site to 45.

In addition, the latest phase of expansion in Telford, which produces its injection moulded parts for its customers across Europe, will see Proto Labs invest in a large order of new machining centres.

The company uses industrial 3D printing, CNC machining and injection moulding technologies to produce parts within a matter of days, as opposed to services that can take many days or weeks.

“We have been doing this since 2005 so we have deep experience – serving every sector, at every size from very large companies and OEMs to the entrepreneurial one-off inventors who have the next big idea,” said Director of Operations, Lee Ball.

“Our success is built on speed and scale, where we respond quickly using proprietary software that automates the design-to-quote process. With this investment in Arburg machines, we can massively scale capacity to support the growth and increased requirements of our customers.”

Proto Labs’ proprietary automated quoting system – ProtoQuote – translates 3D CAD models into instructions for high-speed manufacturing equipment. The result, it says, is large reductions in development time by providing parts that are shipped in between 1 - 15 days.

The company claims it can make a tool from a 3D CAD, assemble the tool and mould the customers part in as little as one day.

“We are delighted that Proto Labs has chosen to invest further in ARBURG and we want to learn with and help the company in the next phase of their digital manufacturing development,” said ARBURG Ltd. managing director Colin Tirel.