ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <title>Design Tips for Rapid Injection Moulding</title> <!--Message originally sent to: <%IF NOT ISEMPTY [email] THEN [email]%><%ELSE%><%END IF%>--> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2604" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE type=text/css> <!-- a:link { color: #9933cc; text-decoration: underline; } a:visited { color: #9933cc; text-decoration: underline; } a:hover { color: #9933cc; text-decoration: underline; } a:active { color: #9933cc; text-decoration: underline; } --> </STYLE> </head> <body style="margin:0; background-image:url('/Design_Tips/UnitedKingdom/2006/2006-07_mx_announce/images/striped_backer.gif');"> <div id="fake_body" style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:11px; color:#000000;"> <div id="main" style="width:637px; background-color:#e0e3db; margin:7px auto 0 auto; border-top:4px solid #d2d2d0; padding:10px;"> <div id="header" style="width:637px; height:61px; font-size:10px; color:#666666; padding-left: 2px;"> <a href="/Default.aspx?s=PMDT0606" name="top"> <img src="/Design_Tips/UnitedKingdom/2006/2006-07_mx_announce/images/proto_logo_rg.gif" width="202" height="56" border="0" id="logo" style="float:left;"></a> <img src="/Design_Tips/UnitedKingdom/2006/2006-07_mx_announce/images/dg_title.gif" width="419" height="56"><br> </div> <div id="nav_inside" style="width:637px; margin-top:5px; height:9px; background:url('/Design_Tips/UnitedKingdom/2006/2006-07_mx_announce/images/nav_backer_inside.gif') bottom repeat-x;"> </div> <div id="container" style="width:637px; padding:25px 0 5px 0; background-color:#ffffff;"> <div id="backer" style="background-image:url(/Design_Tips/UnitedKingdom/2006/2006-07_mx_announce/images/backer.gif);"> <div id="left_body" style="float:left; width:368px; margin:0 5px 15px 18px; padding-right:20px; border-right:1px solid #bababa; display: inline;"> <img src="/Design_Tips/UnitedKingdom/2006/2006-07_mx_announce/images/dg_month.gif" width="178" height="30" style="margin-bottom:25px;"> <CENTER><p style="font:bold 18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#669933; margin-top:0;">Protomold Wins  Toughest Industry Award. </p></CENTER> <p>The Protomold Company Ltd has won The National B2B Centre Award for Integrated e-Business at this year s Manufacturing Excellence (MX) 2006 ceremony held on Thursday June 29th at London s prestigious Royal Lancaster Hotel. </p> <p>Organised annually by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and presided over this year by Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague, the MX Awards (www.mx2006.org.uk) are backed by numerous influential organisations including the DTI's Manufacturing Advisory Service and Barclays and are designed to promote best practice among UK manufacturers.</p> <p>According to the organisers, the awards are generally considered to be  the toughest industry awards in which to succeed with a rigorous judging process involving self-assessment audits, company visits from a team of MX assessors and presentations to a panel of industry experts, chaired by Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya KB CBE of the Warwick Manufacturing Group. </p> <strong>Figure 1. Protomold UK General Manager John Tumelty (second from left) and Commercial Manager Damian Hennessey (second from right) shown receiving the MX 2006 award for e-business from shadow foreign secretary William Hague (right) and Martin King-Turner director of the national B2B Centre (left).</strong> <div style="margin: 5px 0;"><p style="border: 1px solid #000000;padding:4px;width:350px; margin-bottom: 4px;"><img src="/Design_Tips/UnitedKingdom/2006/2006-07_mx_announce/images/fig1.gif" width="350" height="240"></p> <p style="padding: 0; margin: 4px 0; color: #693; font-weight: bold;">Figure 1</p></div> <p>Protomold only began its European operations in late 2005, but has quickly established a reputation for quality and innovation. Its groundbreaking rapid injection moulding service offers customers the ability to make fully functioning prototypes with high-quality materials in a fraction of the usual time. Designers can create inexpensive first-run parts suitable for testing and product evaluation, and the process gives manufacturers the flexibility to create parts that can be used for marketing studies or for low-volume production needs.</p> <p>Protomold customers can upload a 3D CAD model of a part to the company s website and, within an hour, receive a comprehensive ProtoQuote®, which includes, amongst other things, a detailed manufacturing appraisal of the part, suggested modifications and a cost to produce the finished component. </p> <p> Winning this award is an amazing and gratifying achievement, says Protomold s General Manager, John Tumelty,  not least because as a relative newcomer to British manufacturing, we were nevertheless up against some of the most well-established and best manufacturers in the country. </p> <p> When applied creatively, technology provides opportunities, he continues.  Protomold has invested millions of Pounds to develop a sophisticated business to make rapid manufacturing available to a huge number of companies and individuals. The result is a ground-breaking and innovative service that is helping to change the face of manufacturing. </p> <p>Indeed, many companies are already using rapid injection moulding in place of other processes, producing accurate and durable prototypes at a fraction of previous costs. Those that are doing so are enjoying first-mover advantages in a wide range of industries. </p> <strong>Figure 2. Protomold were also Finalists at this years Plastics Industry Awards in the category of Best Technology Application</strong> <div style="margin: 5px 0;"> <p style="border: 1px solid #000000;padding:4px;width:350px; margin-bottom: 4px;"><img src="/Design_Tips/UnitedKingdom/2006/2006-07_mx_announce/images/fig2.gif" width="350" height="240"></p> <p style="padding: 0; margin: 4px 0; color: #693; font-weight: bold;">Figure 2 </p> </div> <p>Rapid injection moulding can deliver from 25 to 100,000 precision moulded prototypes in as little as 3 days. The CNC machined aluminium mould produces the same geometry as subsequent steel production tooling, so designers can easily replicate the intended shape and functionality of the finished product. </p> <p>Margaret Hodge MBE MP, Minister of State for Industry and the Regions was on hand to present some of the awards.</p> <p>"These companies show that business success is driven by people with vision, she said.  People with a 'can do' attitude. I hope they inspire others to follow their example. We have winners up there amongst the best in the world, companies that are rising to the global challenges, and creating world beating products."</p> <p></p> </div> <div id="right_body" style="float:right; width: 220px; margin:0 5px 0 0; padding:6px 0 0 0; font-size:10px; line-height:15px; background-color: #f9f9f8;"> <img src="/Design_Tips/UnitedKingdom/2006/2006-07_mx_announce/images/resources_head.gif" width="214" height="36" style="margin:0 0 13px 3px;"> <p style="margin:0 17px; font-size:11px; font-weight:bold; display: block; height: 16px; padding:3px 0 0 23px; background:url('/Design_Tips/UnitedKingdom/2006/2006-07_mx_announce/images/checkmark.gif') 1px 0px no-repeat;">ProtoQuote®</p> <a href="/PartUpload.aspx?s=PMDT0606"> <img src="/Design_Tips/UnitedKingdom/2006/2006-07_mx_announce/images/protoquote.jpg" alt="Image of the protoquote" style="padding:1px; border: 1px solid #000000; margin: 7px 17px;"><br/></a> <p style="margin:0 17px 0 17px;"> <strong>The Protoquote is new and improved! Try it out today:</strong></p> <p style="margin:5px 17px 0 17px;"> <a href="/PartUpload.aspx?s=PMDT0606"> Upload your 3D CAD model and we will email to you an informative ProtoQuote.</a></p> <p style="margin:15px 17px 0 17px; font-size:11px; font-weight:bold; display: block; height: 16px; padding:16px 0 0 23px; background:url('/Design_Tips/UnitedKingdom/2006/2006-07_mx_announce/images/checkmark.gif') 1px 13px no-repeat; border-top:1px solid #ebebeb;">Design Guidelines</p> <p style="margin:0 17px 1px 17px;">As always, you can visit the <a href="/DesignGuidelines.aspx?s=PMDT0606">Protomold Design Guide</a> for helpful Rapid Injection Moulding design information.</p> </div> <div class="clearer" style="height:1px; overflow:hidden; clear:both; margin-top:-1px;"></div> <br></div> </div> <div id="protoquote_bug_shadow" style="width:637px; margin-top:10px; height:9px; background:url('/Design_Tips/UnitedKingdom/2006/2006-07_mx_announce/images/nav_backer_inside.gif') bottom repeat-x;"> </div> <div id="protoquote_bug" style="width:624px; padding:20px 0 17px 13px; background-color:#ffffff;"> <a href="/Default.aspx?s=PMDT0606"><img src="/Design_Tips/UnitedKingdom/2006/2006-07_mx_announce/images/protoquote_bug.gif" width="602" height="138" border="0"></a> </div> <div id="footer1" style="width:545px; padding:10px 5px 12px 0; margin: 10px 0 0 20px; font-size:9px; color:#999999; border-bottom:1px solid #cbcec5;"> To unsubscribe, please reply to this message with "remove" in the subject line.</div> <div id="footer2" style="width:545px; padding:12px 5px 0 0; margin:0 0 0 20px; color:#999999;"> <a href="/Default.aspx?s=PMDT0606">www.protomold.co.uk</a> | Unit A Hortonpark, Hortonwood 7, Telford TF1 7GX | 0870 723 0000</div> <div id="footer3" style="width:545px; padding:6px 5px 10px 0; margin: 0 0 60px 20px; font-size:9px; color:#999999;"> Copyright © Protomold 1999-2006</div> </div> </div> </body> </html>