We’re halfway through the year, and we wanted to take a moment to reflect on what we’ve accomplished so far, and where we’re headed in the second half of 2020.
Of course, the most prevalent news from the first half of 2020 centers around the changes and innovations that began in March when the COVID-19 crisis reached the United States. As a Plastics & Rubber Manufacturer and a Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturer, our services have been allowed to continue during the crisis, and we continue to assist with any supply chain or production disruptions our customers may be experiencing during this time. As our number one priority is the welfare and safety of our associates, customers, and staff, we have been exercising an abundance of caution at this time, both in our facility among staff and when it comes to part production. In order to assist during the crisis, we also began developing face masks and ear savers while adhering to very particular specifications in order to make these products as safe as possible while upholding our commitment to superior part quality. ProtoCAM continues to monitor the situation at hand and adjust measures taken accordingly; any additional actions/processes may be reviewed in our continuously updated list here.
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, we decided to move up the launch of our instant quoting platform while also maintaining our traditional quoting form (“engineer-assisted quote”) in order to allow our customers and prospective customers to have 24/7 access to our services from any location. This platform allows users to submit an order any time, day or night, and immediately begin the manufacturing process, enabling them to quickly determine price and receive their parts and prototypes faster than ever. Alongside this launch, we also created a new video series called QuickTips which highlights different areas of our instant quoting platform, providing information to better assist our customers and prospective customers in placing an order quickly and easily.
This February, ProtoCAM teamed up with Harrison-Morton Middle School in this year’s Dream It. Do It. PA’s 2020 student video contest, “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Local manufacturers worked together with 30 middle school teams from Lehigh, Northampton, and Carbon counties to create videos demonstrating how manufacturing can be fun and interesting, as well as a viable career choice. Upon completion, the videos were then put to a public vote and judged on a number of categories.
We were honored to recruited by the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation, Inc. to once again 3D print the logos of all 32 National Football League (NFL) teams for the annual Ed Block Courage Awards Gala. The award recognizes one player from each NFL team for their demonstrated courage and inspiration throughout the season. The Ed Block Courage Award Foundation, Inc. is dedicated to supporting the well-being of abused, neglected, and at-risk children throughout their Courage House National Support Network for Kids. Though the gala was canceled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the award winners were still honored and received their custom-created helmets.
We’re more committed than ever to publishing new and educational content for both those in the industry and for new customers. To that end, we’ve published several blogs, case studies, and videos so far this year covering everything from additive manufacturing’s impact on climate change, to our continuous improvement efforts via our Dyemansion Powershot S, to our work assisting in automotive legacy part restoration for a 1967 Sunbeam, to how the industry is addressing and assisting with the COVID-19 crisis. Stay tuned, as we’re always putting out interesting and up-to-date content about what’s happening in the industry.
We welcomed a new member of our team this year! Kyle joined us as an additive manufacturing technician in our workshop. Kyle’s background in chemical engineering and ample experience with at-home 3D printing and finishing has set him off to great start in his position here at ProtoCAM.
A member of the ProtoCAM team joined the PA Dream Team this year; ProtoCAM’s Digital Marketing Director, Dale Bond, is a new member of this vivacious group of young individuals assembled by the Manufacturers Resource Center in Allentown, PA whose goal is to educate local youth about the various careers available within the manufacturing field. Bond has committed to two years (2020 & 2021) of involvement and participation in the various educational efforts of the PA Dream Team, and embraces the problem-solving opportunities that have arisen with reaching local students face-to-face as a result of COVID-19.
We’ve attended a number of trade shows, and still have several to go. Some of the highlights of those we’ve attended so far include the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) SHOT Show in Las Vegas, the Plastics in Motion Conference in New Orleans where Ed Graham, our Vice President of Additive Manufacturing, presented on “Trends in Additive Manufacturing: Reorienting the Industry for Production Manufacturing,” and PACK EXPO East in Philadelphia. Though the ongoing presence of the COVID-19 crisis has canceled many of our trade shows and events this year, we’re still looking forward to our annual Lunch & Learn, Mid-Atlantic Design-2-Part, and Atlantic Design & Manufacturing, among other fall and winter-scheduled events. Should restrictions be further lifted, we hope to meet with many new and current customers at these upcoming events!
There’s always something happening at ProtoCAM, and we love to share what we’re doing with our valued customers! Be sure to check out our learning center to always up to date on the latest happenings around our facility. A couple upcoming events you can already look forward to are our various upcoming trade shows and our Manufacturing Day event in October, the latter of which will feature a tour of our facility, with our additive manufacturing experts on hand to answer any and all questions. We’re looking forward to continuing to participate in new and exciting events as much as we are able to this year (even if they have to be virtual!), and we can’t wait to share it all with our customers!
