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The Digital Thread

Your blog feed for manufacturing resources, in-depth features, and industry news.

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Manufacturing
industry insights
28/03/2025

What are the Key Principles of Lean Manufacturing?

Industry leaders are embracing lean manufacturing. It cuts down on waste, improves efficiency, and keeps businesses competitive. Learn about the core principles and how it applies to your business.
By Protolabs
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CNC machining
CNC machining
27/03/2025

The Anatomy of a CNC Machine & How This Influences Output Quality

Compare the features of Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machinery and how they influence part quality. Find out how to get the most out of CNC machining and how technological developments affect the performance of your designs.
By Protolabs
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Injection Moulding Facility
injection moulding
25/11/2024

Rapid Injection Moulding: Fast Tooling for Quick-Turn Parts

Tips for getting fast injection-moulded parts and get to market faster
By Michael Johnson
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leveraging ODM for margin improvment

Streamlining and Winning in the Prototyping-to-Production Transition

Often, injection moulding is considered the most cost-effective production option for SKUs with estimated annual usage in the low-thousands for volume. It comes down to economies of scale—you just set up once to run tens or hundreds of thousands of parts. The highest volumes often bring you the lowest per unit price tags. But, the production setting also typically carries something else with it if you’re thoughtful—cost control, and lots of it.
By Protolabs
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medical device prototyping
Materials Matchup
24/10/2024

PEEK, PEI, LSR, and Other Material Options for Medical Prototyping

Consider materials along with manufacturing processes for medical device prototyping.
By Protolabs
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carbon bone drill

The Carbon Platform

Adding to Protolabs’ available technologies for rapid prototyping and on-demand production, Carbon’s suite of software, hardware, and materials provides another production method for end-use parts.
By Steve Wishau
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3D print cad design
3D Printing
03/10/2024

5 Ways 3D Printing Enriches Product Design

3D printing offers a wealth of opportunities to iterate rapid prototypes for testing and more.
By Protolabs
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3D-printed parts
MFG 360
19/09/2024

Metal 3D Printing Service Cost Explained

Explore the variables involved in calculating the cost of 3D-printed parts when using metal additive manufacturing technologies.
By Protolabs
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Shopfloor machines

Batch Production and Batch Manufacturing:

This blog answers your questions about batch production. When is it suitable? What are the advantages? And more,
By Protolabs
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Protolabs x IMarEST Survey 2024
Thought leadership
05/09/2024

Protolabs x IMarEST Survey 2024: Manufacturing in the Maritime industry

A lack of expertise and skilled personnel is holding the maritime industry back, according to a new survey by the IMarEST and Protolabs – but solving it could open up a wealth of opportunity.
By Protolabs, IMarEST
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MJF part
Tech Tips
05/09/2024

Designing a part for Multi Jet Fusion

Designing for Multi Jet Fusion differs from other 3D printing processes. In this blog we explore considerations and pitfalls when designing a part for MJF.
By Protolabs
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Ribs on plastic part design illustration
MFG 360
29/08/2024

How to Avoid ‘Over-Engineering’ Your Next Part Design

When you hear the term “over-engineering,” you probably think about all of those overly complicated products we’ve all encountered that seem too complex relative to their intended use. The confusing shower faucet controls. The washer or dryer with a dizzying array of counter-intuitive buttons and settings. Your new car’s baffling audio setup. Well, you get the idea.
By Protolabs
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