Protolabs wins Manufacturing Leadership Award for operational excellence

Maple Plain, Minn.-based Protolabs, a provider of rapid prototyping and on-demand production, has been named as a winner of the Frost & Sullivan Manufacturing Leadership Award for its outstanding achievement in operational excellence. Protolabs offers plastic injection molding, machining, 3-D printing, and, through its RAPID division, custom metal fabrication.

Protolabs’ winning project was called Cellular Division—a continuous improvement initiative designed to help the company realize further business growth and achieve more favorable manufacturing costs.

The project comprised a reorganized layout for the company’s U.S. injection molding production facility and modified personnel responsibilities to reduce wasted time, motion, and materials.