First Cut and Protomold are services of Proto Labs, Inc. The full Protomold story is here, but briefly, the idea was to meet the need for plastic prototype and low-volume injection molded parts, and to fill the gap between rapid prototyping and traditional injection molding. Protomold has been quite successful at that, having made over 22,000 molds since its inception back in 1999. The big problem now is where to put them all, but that’s another story altogether.
via CNC Machined Plastic Parts – Company History – First Cut Prototype .
