Starting out in 1999, our company was founded by Larry Lukis, a successful entrepreneur and computer geek who wanted to radically lower the time it took to get injection-moulded plastic prototype parts. His solution was to automate the traditional manufacturing process by creating complex software that communicated with a network of mills and presses. As a result, plastic and metal parts could be made in a fraction of the time it had ever taken before.
Over the next 10 years, we would continue to expand our injection moulding envelope, add quick-turn CNC machining and open global facilities in Europe and Japan. In 2014, we launched industrial-grade 3D printing services to enable product developers, designers and engineers an easier path to move from early prototyping to low-volume production.
Now, Proto Labs is the fastest manufacturer of custom prototypes in the world and on-demand production parts with manufacturing facilities in 8 countries.