RapidPro revenues increase after adding manufacturing to design, prototype services

LONGMONT — Need a prototype? Possibly more parts? RapidPro Manufacturing Corp. in Longmont can develop a project from start to finish, but the company’s ?one-stop shop? capacity wasn’t always the case.

?We’ve evolved over the last 9 to 10 months to a full-blown manufacturing company,? said Ron Angstead, president and chief executive. ?We do casting, soft tooling, aluminum tooling, injection molding, machining, stamping and all other manufacturing services.?

But, he notes, ?It all starts with engineering.?

Founded as Rapid Prototyping Corp. in 1994 by Rod Ward, the company was sold in August 2001 to J.P. Barger for an undisclosed amount. RapidPro changed its name in March 2002 to reflect the additions to its product offerings.

Since then, the 20-employee company has seen many changes.

?We had so many good companies on the Front Range that do manufacturing,? Angstead said, ?and customers were taking prototypes to other companies to manufacture. If we have control of each step of the project, it’ll be better in the long run.?

Project planning is one advantage of using a company like RapidPro.

?(We) have the ability to help customers make decisions on the feasibility and cost management,? Angstead said.

?RapidPro is very nimble and can move quickly. They are receptive to my needs,? said Ashim Banerjee, director of advanced technologies for Infonox, a RapidPro client based in Santa Clara, Calif. Infonox manufactures transaction-processing devices.

RapidPro’s prototyping process aids in project planning. It begins with part design through computer-aided drafting. The image is then converted into a usable format for RapidPro’s stereo lithography machines.

?(Stereo lithography) uses the design and liquid resin to build the parts,? Angstead said. ?It’s a high-tech laser process. Liquid resin is cured in 5,000ths-of-an-inch layers with the laser.?

RapidPro owns two stereo lithography machines, which were manufactured by 3-D Systems in Valencia, Calif. The machines cost approximately $250,000 to $400,000 each.

Instead of technicians machining a part over several days or weeks, a stereo lithography machine can complete a part overnight, depending upon its complexity. The stereo lithography prototype process proves the design to be correct before the part is manufactured.

?Stereo lithography can do the exact specifications,? Angstead said.

Once the prototype is complete, the customer examines the part.

?If it fits OK, they would make a mold and make plastic parts out of the mold,? said Bill Marvin, a RapidPro customer. Marvin is manager of engineering development for Maxtor Corp., a disk drive builder in Longmont.

The advantages of the prototyping process are obvious for customers like Maxtor.

?We were working with (RapidPro) to reduce the cost of tooling by using injection molded plastic instead,? Marvin said. ?We were able to pretty significantly reduce the cost of the parts. We were paying $100 a piece. Now, we’re paying $5.?

Previously, the parts were machined from aluminum and then nickel-plated, a much more time-consuming and costly process.

?It saved us close to $1 million last year,? Marvin said.

Not only is prototyping less expensive, but RapidPro can also help customers save on the manufacturing process.

?I bring to the table the ability to manufacture overseas,? Angstead said. ?For companies that need high-number production, I can turn to alliances that I have developed.

?Many projects we quote are into the millions of parts. We can’t compete using local resources because of lower labor costs overseas.?

Labor costs per part add up quickly for high-volume projects.

?We’ve created a competitive environment for our customers,? Angstead said. ?When a customer comes to us, we will help them decide what’s more cost-effective.?

About 10 percent to 20 percent of RapidPro’s manufacturing takes place in Hong Kong. The rest is local.

The formula seems to be working. RapidPro’s 2001 revenue was approximately $1.5 million, with $2 million projected for 2002 and $2.5 for 2003, according to Angstead.

For an expanding and changing company, ?finding a balance between growth and stability? is the biggest challenge, Angstead said.

?We’re on an aggressive campaign to build the business and successfully perform the everyday duties. We need balance between quality and quantity.?

Although business has been good during the economic slowdown, ?we’ve had to be competitive with pricing and spend additional money in marketing that we hadn’t needed to spend before,? Angstead said.

Diversification has helped keep the company growing.

?We aren’t relying on one process center, but branching out into multiple areas,? Angstead said.

?There’s a big market in manufacturing,? he added. ?Prototyping is a very tight market. We are specialists at prototyping and engineering. That business won’t diminish, so we’re building around that and expanding the company.?

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