Prototek Acquires ProtoCAM

By AIT News Desk On Jun 17, 2022

Prototek continues to build its additive manufacturing capabilities acquiring ProtoCAM of Allentown, Pa. through its Midwest Prototyping division

Prototek Holdings LLC (“Prototek”), a leading North American digital manufacturing provider of CNC machining, sheet metal and industrial 3D printing focused on prototyping and low volume production, announced it completed the acquisition of ProtoCAM, a premier industrial 3D printing company located in Allentown, Pa. ProtoCAM will merge into Midwest Prototyping, Prototek’s additive manufacturing arm acquired in July 2021.

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“They have been a fixture in the Northeast 3D printing space for nearly 30 years and have built a business centered on meeting customer needs and producing great parts. I’m very happy to welcome ProtoCAM to the Prototek team.”

“The addition of ProtoCAM is another step toward achieving our ongoing goal of creating a platform able to meet customer demands in an Industrial 4.0 world,” said John Pless, Partner at TruArc Partners and a Director of Prototek. “Our vision is a one-stop digital manufacturing solution with superior levels of quality and service. ProtoCAM is well suited to further that vision.”

“Ron and his team at ProtoCAM are a great fit for our growing additive division,” added Bill Gress, CEO of Prototek. “They have been a fixture in the Northeast 3D printing space for nearly 30 years and have built a business centered on meeting customer needs and producing great parts. I’m very happy to welcome ProtoCAM to the Prototek team.”

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The addition of ProtoCAM is part of an ongoing expansion of Prototek’s additive manufacturing capabilities and capacity. The acquisition adds innovative QuickCast technology, creating fast investment casting patterns for quick-turn metal part production, to Midwest’s already comprehensive 3D printing capabilities. The merger also provides a much-needed increase in capacity to Midwest’s core 3D printing technologies including HP’s Multi Jet Fusion (MJF), Stereolithography (SLA), Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) and Carbon DLP (Digital Light Processing). The company will continue to operate in all current locations encompassing 10 facilities across the US, with over 300 employees and more than 240,000 square feet of manufacturing workspace.

“Ron and his team at ProtoCAM have been longtime friends to Midwest Prototyping and myself,” said Steve Grundahl, Vice President of Additive Manufacturing, Prototek. “As we set out to create a nationwide network of best-in-class additive manufacturing, ProtoCAM was at the top of our list in the East. We share a remarkably similar culture and customer focus and I can’t imagine a better partner to join us in our effort to build out Prototek’s 3D printing offering.”

Ron Belknap, founder of ProtoCAM, and his management team will continue to oversee day-to-day operations of the Allentown facility. Nate Schumacher, director of strategy and integration at Midwest Prototyping and Ed Graham, Vice President of Additive Manufacturing at ProtoCAM will lead the combination of business operations.

“We’ve been successful in steadily growing our business for years, but I knew that to grow the company the way I wanted and to offer my team more career opportunity, I needed a strategic partner,” added Ron Belknap. “I’ve admired Steve and Midwest Prototyping since first meeting him over 20 years ago. We’re ‘Old Dogs’ in this business and share a passion for additive manufacturing and for our customers, so when Steve reached out to me about joining Prototek with Midwest, I knew it was the right move. I’m excited to see where we go from here.”

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