Protolabs Opens New DMLS Facility to Meet Increasing Additive Demand

Recently I had the opportunity to visit Protolabs’ new direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) facility in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the company continues to expand its additive offerings. The contract manufacturer has seen the increasing demand for additive over the course of a decade now.

I spoke with the company’s president and CEO, Robert Bodor and 3D printing applications engineer manager, Eric Utley to learn more about this long-term demand growth and the new facility, which was built from the ground up. 

The new site sits directly across from its predecessor, a facility that used to house all of the 3D printing technology at the Raleigh campus but now houses only the non-metal 3D printing capacity. The new DMLS facility is metal-focused, and Protolabs is in the process of moving these machines to their new 120,000-square-foot-home.

A Growing Portfolio

Protolabs began its manufacturing journey in 1999 with injection molding for plastic prototype parts. The company saw an opportunity in its development of automated software solutions to assist with short-run manufacturing by speeding order processing and workflow. It expanded beyond injection molding, opening facilities worldwide to offer additional services such as quick-turn CNC machining,  and industrial-grade 3D printing. Its most notable new investment relates to the changing role of this last capability.

“Protolabs is continually excited by additive manufacturing and the opportunities found in this space. More and more we see AM’s potential for production parts,” Bodor says.

A Tale of Two Facilities

The new facility offers the Protolabs team necessary freedom in terms of facility design, workflow and functionality for increasing volume of metal AM work. Touring both facilities made clear how the newer one was built to respond to challenges seen in its predecessor.

As the original facility housed all available AM technologies, it was filled to the brim after about six years in existence. “This speaks a lot to the evolving nature of additive. New technologies, machines and support equipment are continually being discovered in this space,” Utley says. 

That filling of the original facility space happened even though the capacity expansion was methodical. Every technology selection was evaluated to assure it met a variety of customers’ needs and would be long-lasting in terms of life span and relevance.

The expectation of similar growth, therefore, served as a motivator in the creation of the new facility. “Right now, the DMLS facility is purposefully starting out at about one-third of the way full,” Utley says.

DMLS Facility Opportunities

Out of the 120,000 square feet, 60,000 square feet (part of it unfilled) has been reserved for DMLS printers. Currently, there are 33 DMLS printers and counting with space to fit a further 91. Over 75 employees are dedicated to DMLS operations. The current DMLS machines are all from GE Additive. They include two X Line 2000R large format printers, 17 M2 machines, 12 smaller Mlab machines and two Mlab 200R machines. 

“We are able to generate about 80,000 to 100,000 printed parts monthly for a variety of customers,” Bodor says.

Throughout the new facility, electronic boards depict the progress of active projects. The open floor plan has clear divider curtains separating spaces. In the DMLS area, parts from different customers can be seen being printed at the same time, often on the same build plate (if they share compatible geometries) to save time and cost for each job.

The new facility also offers a variety of equally important support equipment to supplement the additive machines with postprocessing. Capability areas include an on-site CNC machine shop and an expansive materials and quality laboratory space (still being filled), with plans for a dimensional metrology unit. 

Additionally, the facility offers postprocessing options such as bead blasting, painting, dying and human-hand detailing for customers wishing to further finish their parts.