Thirty years as a Stratasys partner

This year, Protech and Stratasys will celebrate 30 years of partnership. It was also 30 years ago that Protech sold Northern Europe’s first FDM 3D printer, a machine from Stratasys.

For three decades, Protech has been a reseller of Stratasys products. In 1993, when Protech was founded, the world market was around 350 machines per year. Today, it is likely that the same amount of printers will be sold in the time it takes you to read this article.

“In 1994, Protech was trusted by Stratasys to build a strong partner in the Nordics”, says Anders. “It has been an incredible journey that has resulted in the Nordics’ largest supplier of industrial 3D printers with its own Protech companies in all the Nordic countries”.

Stratasys EMEA President is proud of Protech

Andreas Langfeld , President EMEA at Stratasys, is proud to have Protech as a faithful and stable representative of Stratasys in the Nordics.

“At Stratasys, we are delighted to celebrate 30 years of partnership together with Protech. In a fast-evolving and competitive industry like 3D Printing, we see this long-term partnership as a testimonial that we put emotion and human connection behind everything we do. The level of trust and expertise we have built together with Protech over so many years is giving our customers stability and security for their past and future investments. Together, we are here to stay! Protech has been our partner yesterday, tomorrow and will be a trusted supplier to our customers in the future. We are looking forward to many more years of leading and transitioning an industry where we will see our customers adapting more and more manufacturing use cases, which will lead to a more personalized and sustainable world.”

Delivered Northern Europe’s first FDM 3D printer

In 1994, Protech delivered Northern Europe’s first 3D printer. The buyer was VTC (Verktygstekniskt Centrum i Ystad), which then became GT Prototyper AB and then Prototal GTP AB. It was Protech’s chairman and co-owner Evald Ottosson who sold the equipment. Evald also bought back the 3D printer in the 2000s when it was to be scrapped by the customer. It is now a unique industrial historical treasure that can be seen in Protech’s exhibition in J?rf?lla, Sweden.

“We came into contact with Stratasys in October 1994, and already in December of the same year, we received an order from VTC”, says Evald. “According to an agreement, we first got to use the 3D printer for an exhibition at the beginning of 1995. The equipment attracted enormous attention because it was the first 3D printer to be shown at a trade fair in the Nordics”.

Reliable products and solid knowledge

Within the company, there is a solid knowledge of additive manufacturing, and existing customers keep coming back. The vast majority cannot imagine using other technology than the reliable solutions that Stratasys delivers.

“We have created an unbeatable competence within the company, and our service organization has a very good reputation,” says Anders. “Many of our customers return because of our fantastic support department and responsive staff, but also because Stratasys products are incredibly reliable.”