By: Christos Makridis
In an era where the pace of innovation is relentless, the ability to prototype hardware swiftly and efficiently can significantly differentiate successful companies from the rest. Protocase has emerged as a pivotal player, offering a unique service that turns the traditional metal fabrication process on its head to support rapid prototyping for founders, engineers, product developers, researchers, and established businesses. These services are a game changer, especially for startups that must meet specific timelines to satisfy their funders.
With over 25 years of experience, Protocase, a Cape Breton, Nova Scotia based firm with global customers, was founded to address the critical gap in the prototyping stage of production, particularly for those working with electronic designs that require custom enclosures. "The real challenge is how do I take those electronics and pack them into a custom-made enclosure that’s just right," said Stephen Lilley, the co-founder of Protocase. This question led to the creation of a proprietary, holistic approach to the concept of “mass customization,” which borrows a page from the rapid development seen in the electronics world, enabling metal fabrication to be turned around in just 2-3 days – a stark contrast to the industry standard of weeks or even months.
L to R: Protocase co-founder Steve Lilley, co-founder Doug Milburn, and COO Mike Pearson
Great products only happen after multiple iterations: ultra-fast manufacturing ensures iterations and refinement happen quickly, achieving a higher standard than possible with fewer, slower development cycles. The flexible, mass custom approach unlocks the ability to make multiple versions for market for high-value, low-volume products- something very atypical of the current manufacturing industry landscape. Protocase's methodology involves deconstructing the custom work process into repeatable processes and modules, which are then customized based on specific parameters. This approach not only streamlines production but also ensures that each piece retains its unique, custom requirements. "We've trained our production team in all those elements that are very repeatable, except they also add the custom piece to it," Lilley continued.
RFINE develops innovative processing technologies that enable coffee shops to upcycle their waste coffee to produce value-added ingredients. “We provided Protocase some drawings of an appliance we're developing. After some short back and forth with one of their design engineers, they produced an appliance prototype that met our specifications. The turnaround time from drawings to delivery of a prototype was truly surprising - it was completed on the third day after drawings were finalized. I had a tour of their facility to understand how they process development so quickly and was very impressed with their capabilities,” said Gordon Neal, co-founder of RFINE.
The mass custom approach unlocks additional efficiencies and possibilities, such as increased attitude and aptitude-based hiring where the candidate pool includes more talent with less traditional experience or education, but a trainable baseline that melds well with a smart facility where modular processes can be taught one at a time, and employees can “level up” skill by skill. For example, the now chief operating officer, Mike Pearson, applied for a production supervisor position at Protocase in 2015. Initially, he worried that his lack of formal education, training or specific manufacturing certifications would hold him back. However, that he did not check those boxes, but rather presented himself as a highly trainable employee, that put him on the path to growth within the company.
Floor view of the Protocase sheet-metal manufacturing facility
In Protocase’s early expansion, it organically acquired several major aerospace and defense customers. However, as this customer base and their demands grew, the company became AS9100D certified, and broadened its offerings by becoming ITAR and Canadian Goods Program compliant, and NIST 171 as well. Eventually, it made sense to spin out ProtoSpace Mfg for aerospace and defense, which today brings 19 of the top 20 major aerospace companies a new world of speed, agility, and lower overall project costs. As the aerospace industry evolves, tier 1 customers increasingly demand personalized solutions.
The Protospace offerings include non-critical space and payload parts, parts for robotics and rovers, custom enclosures for avionics, ground and test systems, maintenance, repair and overhaul/aircraft on the ground tooling and components, components for satellites, annunciator panel lenses, and more.
Protomentum launch
Today, Protocase just announced the official arrival of Protomentum, a new division of Protocase that revolutionizes product development for entrepreneurs, innovators and founders. As an all-in-one vendor for design, manufacturing and assembly, Protomentum accelerates product development so that its clients can get to market as quickly as possible, building on the 20+ years Protocase has established providing custom electronic enclosures, parts and assemblies for over 18,000 engineers, researchers and scientists all over the world.
The division has a compelling value proposition for founders, venture capitalists, and innovators constantly racing against the clock to bring groundbreaking ideas to fruition with limited resources. Traditional product development processes often hinder progress due to fragmented workflows. Design, manufacturing, and assembly operate in isolated silos, resulting in inefficiencies, dependencies, and headaches that prolong the development cycle and can be catastrophic to both new and established companies. "The product development cycle needed to be addressed,” said Lilley. “It has to be a very iterative process – it rarely is right the first time. We have created the conditions that facilitate that like never before,” he added.
Current standalone options for product design are not ideal. The choice is either hiring an external design agency, or having mechanical designers/engineers on staff, both of which are cost prohibitive. Hiring an external design agency takes weeks, if not longer, and involves a tedious cycle of back-and-forth during the iteration process. Additionally, future and possibly unknown manufacturing constraints are not addressed during the design process. Having mechanical designers/engineers on staff increases overhead, putting additional strain on internal resources, and can pose a lack of design expertise. Conversely, a key innovation that paved the way for Protomentum is the Protocase Designer tool, which allows electrical engineers to design fixtures in minutes. This tool, historically utilized by roughly 20% of Protocase customers, integrates manufacturing constraints directly, ensuring designs are ready for the production floor without further modifications.
A Protocase production team member powdercoating metal enclosures
For manufacturing, independent/local metal shops or scattered online vendors are the two most common avenues. However, local shops are usually unable to offer short lead times and they are not typically interested in small, one-off jobs, since customization equates to more cost for them, which they are not setup for. If the custom job is accepted, shops will bump prototyping orders for higher volume work. Such shops are not typically able to perform all aspects of full-assembly jobs and may have to outsource tasks such as powder coating, digital printing, exterior decoration, while vendors found online offer limited support and guidance, and provide inconsistent quality due to the nature of their network of suppliers. Limited in-house finishes means finding other suppliers to complete the work, or extending lead time, resulting in downside for the customer in the end.
Creative Conners makes automation equipment for performances of all sizes, including live theater and entertainment. “A project that would take 2 to 3 days for Protomentum could easily take 2 to 3 months going to multiple vendors- way too much time to get anything done. It’s magic,” said Gareth Conners, president and founder.
Current assembly options are similarly not ideal for most startups with a choice between carrying staff to assemble in-house or hiring and external company. In-house comes with myriad staffing and HR struggles and involves taking on the burden of creating all the required assembly documentation. When hiring an external vendor to assemble, they typically want extremely high quantities to make the work “worth it”, or they do not want the business. Limited options are available for contract assembly, unless it is tied to the manufacturing aspect as well, which has long lead times.
“The biggest drawback for all of these alternatives is that they operate independently from each other in silos, with no integration, creating a nightmare of dependencies,” said Lilley. “These latencies get the founder/VC farther and farther from the end goal of getting their product made. We’re excited to turn that around for a new generation of innovators.” The new release of Protomentum is poised to create large gains for companies of all sizes.
