GE Additive welcomes Protolabs to Manufacturing Partner Network

Accelerating the additive revolution through a global network of trusted partners 

• Protolabs signs agreement to join MPN as launch partner  
• Significant investment in GE Additive technology, services and materials 
• Protolabs joins network of production partners for additive products 
   

Munich, Germany/ Farnborough, UK  – GE Additive has announced that Protolabs has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to become one of the first companies to join its newly-launched Manufacturing Partner Network (MPN). Financial terms of the agreement were not released. 

As part of the agreement, Protolabs has committed to invest in GE Additive equipment, materials, software and technology and use them as a development platform, to scale production and industrialization of all work referred through the MPN. 

Becoming a Manufacturing Partner (MP) builds on Protolabs’ strategy to continue to grow its technology-agnostic service model approach, offering the broadest set of digital manufacturing technologies.at unprecedented speed and scale. Protolabs continues to expand its manufacturing capacity with the addition of new additive equipment. Its current global manufacturing footprint spans across 750,000 square feet of manufacturing space, operating a fleet of over 600 CNC mills, 225+ injection molding presses and 150+ industrial additive manufacturing machines, serving tens of thousands of customers in over 160 countries.   
 

“We already enjoy a strong relationship with Protolabs, so I’m thrilled that they will part of the MPN from day one. We share a similar set of beliefs around providing access to technology and experts, the transformative impact of additive and the power of collaboration and ecosystems,” said Jason Oliver, President and CEO, GE Additive.   

“We take pride in having been in the additive manufacturing industry for nearly 20 years, and we are excited to partner with GE Additive to further advance and democratize access to industrial-grade additive manufacturing technologies and materials,” said Vicki Holt, President and CEO, Protolabs.  

The MPN takes an ecosystem approach to addressing several commercial challenges to ensure the additive industry reaches its next inflection point. As companies look for cost-efficient, scalable routes to volume production, limited access to equipment, funding to invest and expertise often prevents them from taking the next critical steps.  Additive manufacturing suppliers are seeking demand to build long-term business cases in order to invest, while OEMs need a guaranteed source of capacity, so they can continue to invest with confidence.   

The MPN will add additional MPs in all regions, but by design will remain a select group of additive manufacturing specialists, who, like Protolabs, all understand the capabilities and future of this technology.  MPs will also benefit commercially in several areas: 

• Direct demand generation through a network of OEMs and revenue opportunities generated by GE Additive’s sales teams. 
• Knowledge sharing across the network. This includes access to over 150 AddWorksTM consultants and technical support. GE Additive beta machines will be made available to MPs for testing and feedback shared will be incorporated into future product development. 
• Co-marketing support and campaigns, including permission to use the GE monogram on all sales, marketing and promotional materials, communications channels and buildings. 
• Potential participation in future offload arrangements with GE companies.