Let's say you designed and have started selling some 3D-printed widget, in small batches, Etsy-scale. But suddenly demand for your object goes off the charts, and you need to move into mass production, quickly; Walmart puts in an order and sets a deadline, and if you can't meet it, your opportunity evaporates. What do you do?

The new warehouse, which is digitally connected via the company’s IQMS ERP system, is adjacent to PPE’s current 64,000-sq-ft warehouse, manufacturing plant, and administrative offices. It will supplement the company’s two other warehouse facilities located in the Pittsfield area, plus another one located in North Carolina.

PPE has also made investments in small-size injection molding machines to meet the needs of its diverse customer base. The company has purchased multiple Haitian injection machines with clamp tonnages ranging from 90 to 1200 tons. The 1200-ton unit is employed for outdoor recreational applications, including watercraft products, while the other machines produce a range of captive and custom products for the wire and cable, industrial, and water filtration markets. PPE also purchased 3-axis robots to enhance its overall automation systems.

Injection molder and mold maker Pittsfield Plastics Engineering LLC (PPE) has announced a multi-million-dollar expansion at its Pittsfield, MA, headquarters in response to growing demand for its custom and captive molded products. The expansion includes multiple investments in material handling, expanded warehousing, machinery, and its state-of-the-art toolroom.

What initially puzzled me was that they're calling this an "agile 3D printing collaboration," yet they also used the term "full-scale mass production," which to me means injection molding or similar. I had to hunt through the release a bit to confirm they didn't mean going from small-batch 3D printing to large-batch 3D printing--where would the time/cost savings be there?--and found this sentence:

Fictiv, the company that Forbes called "The AirBNB of manufacturing," has teamed up with Jabil, itself a large manufacturing services company (100 plants in 28 countries) to provide a solution for the situation described above. Their collaboration is meant to "connect and streamline 3D-print prototyping through to mass-scale production using an innovative digital thread," Fictiv writes in a press release. "Designed to de-risk and streamline the supply chain through quality, speed, transparency, and flexibility, the thread ensures a supported customer experience from quote to completion."

The company has experienced a steady rise in business volume over the past few years, and expects that trend to continue for the foreseeable future, according to CEO and CFO Bruce Dickson. The expansion will play a key role in meeting the application development needs of customers and unlocking new business opportunities, added Nick Roth, PPE’s national sales and project manager.

Several site improvements were also made, notably the employee break area and the addition of new parking spaces to accommodate anticipated growth in the company’s workforce.

Significant investments were also made in PPE’s tool room, which is staffed by seven full-time employees. The full-service mold-making and repair operation has received several new equipment upgrades including the purchase of EDM machines and Haas CNC machines.

So. Many. Buzzwords. Seamless handoff from prototype to mass production? Please excuse me while I'll laugh in your face.

"Beyond the 3D printing of parts, Jabil can now leverage Fictiv's precision service model to offer industry-best volume manufacturing, data, packaging and on-time fulfillment to end-customers with less risk." So assuming they mean they can get you from 3D printing to injection molding, I think they should change the name of the collaboration, as it's confusing.

Plastics processor adds new warehouse, injection molding equipment, and material handling system to accommodate growing business volume.

PPE has also installed a state-of-the-art material-handling system that connects to three silos in the rear of the plant, each one storing up to 80,000 lb of material, including polypropylene (PP), high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS). The Conair automatic loading and conveying system transports material directly from the silos (or gaylords for specialty material) to the molding machines on the plant floor. Automatic color feeders have also been installed to eliminate manual handling and mixing, thereby reducing operational costs and minimizing inaccurate mixtures. Overall, the automated material handling system streamlines PPE’s manufacturing operation and delivers increased accuracy, greater cost efficiencies, and reduced waste of colorants and additives, according to Roth.

An integral part of the expansion is a new 9,000-sq-ft warehouse, which will enable PPE to relocate inventory — raw materials and finished goods — currently stored in the plant. Freeing up this space in the plant creates new manufacturing capacity, said Dixon.