Industries · Sector file S-03

Medical, at honest volumes.

Medical and biotech customers often need a few hundred parts, not a few hundred thousand. Protoplast's hand-molding practice serves exactly that — full tooling cost never has to be the price of entry.

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Sector S-03

Protoplast employee wearing one of the company's own face shields and a hard hat with the P logo
Their face shield, their photo — COVID-19 response

Low volume, high stakes

350 to 500 parts is a real order here.

Typical medical programs at Protoplast run more than 350 but fewer than 500 parts — not enough to justify full production tooling. Using and refining the hand-molding process, with hand-loaded cores and loose inserts, the shop meets low-cost and low-volume demands at once.

Because an operator handles every part, inspection is built into the cycle itself. One such part was headed offshore for production; Protoplast bid, and won it back.

Volumes
Often more than 350 but fewer than 500 parts
Method
Hand-molding, hand-loaded cores, loose inserts
COVID-19
12 GM ventilator components, two face shields

Part files

Real parts, on record.

These programs are described on Protoplast's own pages. No composite case studies, no invented clients.

Protoplast operator running parts at an injection molding press
FILE M-014 weeks to production

COVID-19 ventilator components — GM

Once automakers were called on to build medical equipment, GM launched a complete ventilator line and leaned on its suppliers to hit target dates. Protoplast was selected for 12 components and was in production within 4 weeks — against a typical 14 to 18.

Long hours by the entire team, and the program shipped.

Quality assurance inspection at Protoplast, from their own video
FILE M-02Developed in-house

Two face shield models

In the early days of the pandemic, Protoplast developed two face shields to protect its own employees and front-line workers — and to help local restaurants, gyms and stores stay open.

Heat-stake threaded inserts pressed into a molded housing
FILE M-03Short-run practice

Hand-molded biotech parts

Aluminum prototype tooling, hand-loaded cores, loose inserts: the toolbox that makes short medical runs economical without giving up dimensional control.

The other sectors

Same floor, different parts.