Innovation to scale - NH Business Review (2024)

Running like a root underground, manufacturing connects New Hampshire together in a seamless transfer of products and services. Suppliers and producers dot the landscape to form its own supply chain that fuels the industry. One such hub is nestled in the community of Contoocook, with a local workforce churning its success: Prototek.

Founded in 1987, Prototek is a digital manufacturing service bureau that offers low-volume production and prototyping. Its services include 3D printing, machining, sheet metal welding and assembly, using various technologies including water jet and laser cutting, powder coating, silk-screening and more.

Back in March, NH Business Review staff took a trip to Prototek’s factory floors to get a glimpse behind the manufacturing curtain in New Hampshire.

Originally, the company focused more on prototyping for engineers, product developers and entrepreneurs. Since then, Prototek has evolved to not only include prototyping for clients but to also scale production to meet their needs. With that comes a trusted workforce and a network of suppliers to bring it all together from one part of the process to its conclusion.

Keeping it all in line is one of the firm’s founders Mike Tilton, director of NH operations for Prototek, who works with over 65 employees at the Contoocook manufacturing facility. In the machining shop, a white board tracks the day’s production schedule — like the ones you see in a hospital surgical center, keeping everything moving as it should. The machinists and operators know the drill, using their training and programming skills to cut, drill and punch metal sheets into their desired forms.

Because of the custom nature of digital manufacturing, it’s oftentimes unknown where these products will end up. But they’re crafted with the precision clients have come to expect from Prototek.

When speaking with NH Business Review on an episode of its Down to Business podcast, Prototek CEO Bill Bonadio shared, “Much of the workforce is from around this local area. We have incredible, skilled craftspeople here creating parts for our customers. You’d be amazed at things that we do for parts, for appliances to bicycles and consumer goods. And we’re also doing work with semiconductors.”

Creating a niche

Prototek has created a niche for themselves in the industry, and has grown its offerings to include facilities in California, Wisconsin, Colorado and Pennsylvania with the recent acquisitions of Sac EDM & Waterjet, Inc., Midwest Prototyping, ProtoCAM, and Prototype Solutions Group.

According to a press release announcing the mergers, Prototek will now offer further services such as wire and sinker EDM, CNC machining, additive manufacturing and much more. “The culmination of these services under one organization,” read the release, “means more experience, higher quality, and faster results available for clients, all with an emphasis on innovation.”

Coming to this point in the company’s evolution rests on the shoulders of their staff. Despite a low unemployment rate in New Hampshire, finding those individuals with the skills needed in manufacturing is cumbersome.

“It’s not a lot of housing around here,” Tilton said, “There’s not a lot of people.”

According to NH Employment Security, there are 70,500 manufacturing employees in the state as of February. The sector alone brings in $10.1 billion to the state’s economy, based on data supplied by the National Association of Manufacturers, comprising 9.6% of New Hampshire’s gross domestic product. In 2022, fabricated metal products were responsible for $1.4 billion in manufacturing output. And the sector only continues to grow as technologies advance.

To meet industry demand, Prototek puts their employees’ education and training as a top priority, oftentimes partnering with community colleges and trade schools across the state to find and nourish up-and-coming talent.

Remarked Tilton, “We need people that have creative and innovative minds … And you need people that can solve problems quickly and get them running on the machine so they can get the next job.

“So, we have to be creative and we have to almost have to make our own,” he continued. “Just great talented people that want to work and want to learn.”

Organizations such as the NH Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NHMEP) help companies like Prototek find that skilled pool of individuals they need, by offering site tours for prospective employees and manufacturing students through its NH Sector Partnerships Initiative. Additionally, NHMEP brings together manufacturers to middle, high school and college-level career fairs to bridge that gap in skilled talent.

Prototek’s Tilton told NH Business Review that they had an individual take a tour at their Contoocook site and saw his application for employment the next day.

“They’re working part time at night while they go to school (at Nashua Community College) during the day to gain the hours they need for applicable hours in a machine shop. Once he graduates, he’s going to come on full time.”

That type of synergy has provided Prototek with the who and what they need to continue growing.

The spirit of improvement

To recruit and retain the certified workers that they need, Prototek is undergoing a company-wide rebranding to ensure the culture matches its values.

After Bonadio became CEO in 2023, he brought the various teams together to craft the cohesive vision he imagined for the company.

“We took people from different sites and in different roles in the company; it wasn’t just leadership thinking around big thoughts. I asked them, what should the company’s values be? … It’s trying to get people involved with setting the vision and the mission for the company.

“We’re all working towards the same goals. Let’s do it together as a team. Change is not easy. One of the challenges with change is the local culture versus the new national culture. It’s kind of like human nature. If you don’t change, you’re not progressing.”

When walking through Prototek’s Contoocook facilities, it’s hard not to notice the many culture touchpoints around the space — visual elements reminding its employees of the company’s mission and values: “To be the leader for industries around the world, providing innovative solutions that revolutionize the way products are conceptualized, prototyped and manufactured.”

That sense of culture can be felt throughout its spaces, as employees jump from machine to machine to get the job done. Visitors to the site will admire the hardware corner of the manufacturing floor space, where several of Prototek’s employees decorate for the appropriate season or holiday.

On my visit there, a cheery skeleton donned a “Ready to Paddy” T-shirt, a green hat, and a multitude of gold coins and beads. One only need step foot on the factory floor to feel the comradery among the different areas of the site. From the corporate office to the machine floor to the shipping room, Prototek holds true to the assembly line that keeps manufacturing churning billions of dollars of product that keeps New Hampshire moving.

“We have to stay competitive; we need that spirit of continuous improvement and wanting to serve our customers, because the basics of business aren’t changing,” said Bonadio. “Maybe the technologies are changing and the way you compete is changing, but I think those values of being willing to be innovative, being agile in how we do things, you certainly want to be delivering results with quality. And I think there’s a certain amount of perseverance that people need to see the job through.”