Proto Labs Inc., an online provider of “quick-turn” manufactured products ordered via its website, like most companies has faced “a great deal of challenges” throughout the first half of this year, president and CEO  Vicki Holt said yesterday. Her company reported an 8.1% drop in revenue for the second quarter ended June 30.

But the challenges also came with an opportunity to showcase Protolabs’s ability to quickly produce custom products, such as the medical equipment parts it has produced for medical customers involved in treating patients stricken with COVID-19.

Vicki Holt, CEO, Proto Labs Inc.

“A crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for Protolabs to demonstrate the value our digital business model can provide,” Holt said on a conference call with investment analysts, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. “Our purpose is to accelerate innovation from development through commercialization, and we’ve been able to deliver on that purpose during this crisis. The way we interact with customers has not changed, as we are an ecommerce technology-enabled company.”

Throughout the second quarter, Holt added, Protolabs “continued to prioritize orders to equip the medical system to treat patients with COVID-19, and provide customers with additional consultative design assistance, to get parts designed and manufactured rapidly. Our digital manufacturing model allows us to help our customers rapidly produce parts to respond to COVID-19, including testing, preventing the spread, or caring for patients that have contracted the virus.”

Holt also noted that the Maple Plain, Minnesota-based manufacturer’s digital manufacturing model “offers an advantage in practicing social distancing, compared to more manual traditional manufacturing operations. Upon entry into our manufacturing or office facilities, we are conducting rapid temperature screenings via infrared camera technology and have put in place a mandatory mask policy in all of our facilities.”

For the second quarter ended June 30, Protolabs reported:

• Revenue fell by 8.1% year over year to $106.6 million;
• Gross profit decreased by 12.9% to $52.46 million, resulting in a gross profit margin of 49.2%, down from 52.0%;
• Net income decreased by 22.0% to $12.61 million.

For the six months ended June 30, Protolabs reported:

• Revenue fell by 3.4% year over year to $221.68 million;
• Gross profit decreased by 7.2% to $110.56 million;
• Net income decreased by 16.1% to $26.59 million.

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