Side-by-side of Protocase Building 1 being constructed in 2008 and Protocase Building 1 in 2015. 

I've only been at Protocase for close to four years now (officially became a ProtoPeep in December of 2014, to be exact!), but even since then, we've undergone enormous change. When I joined Protocase, we had just two buildings: Building 1 (constructed in 2008) housed office space and cubicles in one half, with the other half devoted to some of our production stations. Building 2 (constructed in 2012) housed all of our other equipment and machinery for production. We had about 90 employees at that time.

We continued to grow, beefing up our CNC Machining to include new machinery such as CNC Routers, 5-Axis CNC and CNC Lathe, and our software development was expanding so much we had no cubicle space to accommodate them! So, in 2015, we expanded again to a whole new building, called Protocase Building 3. Formerly the Co-op grocery store, this building was renovated from the studs to include bright and spacious office space, along with another 12,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Building 3 now includes our CNC Machining Division, office space for Research & Development team, as well as our sister company, 45 Drives.

Exterior of Protocase Building 3 (with 45 Drives)

We've changed up Building 1 to become entirely office space. Our sales and marketing teams have grown to 25 people, but in particular, our Engineering & Design Services team has seen major growth. Back in 2015, our EDS team had about 10 employees, and now has 27 (with more joining the team later this summer)!

All of the manufacturing stations that were in Building 1 originally have been moved to Building 2 in order to accommodate our EDS team. You can probably see where I'm going with this, right? Building 2 is now very much at capacity. So, we're growing yet again, with Building 2 in the midst of a significant expansion!

Here We Grow Again

Crews breaking ground outside of Building 2, preparing for building expansion (May 17, 2018)

Thanks to our awesome customers all over the world working in some of the most prestigious and innovative companies all over the world, Protocase has had an exceptional 12 months of growth. These 12,000+ engineers, designers and scientists depend on us to quickly and accurately make their custom metal enclosures, panels and parts in 2-3 days.

With that increased demand, certain areas of Protocase are very much pushing capacity, which makes us at risk to miss our crucial on-time targets. As our co-founder, Doug Milburn, puts it, "This is the absolute best problem to have!"

Best problem or not, it meant we needed to act. The expansion of Building 2 will double the footprint of our manufacturing facility, allowing us to accomplish two things:

1) We'll better organize our machinery and production stations so that customers' jobs move through the floor in a more organized and streamlined fashion.

2) We'll be able to purchase new machinery and technology so that we can keep our customers - engineers and designers all over the world - happy by continuing to make custom sheet metal and CNC machined parts in 2-3 days.

More machinery and technology means more staff! We're already hiring more equipment operators to be a part of our Production Team. (Spread the word to your family and friends!)

Inside and Outside Building 2

Rendering of Building 2 expansion featuring Solera daylighting

The new and impoved Protocase Building 2 will feature state-of-the-art daylighting from another innovative Cape Breton company, Advanced Glazings Ltd. Called Solera, this daylighting is specially-developed glass that allows sunlight to come in, while providing excellent climate control.

Building 2's expansion will feature eight feet (3 rows at 32" each) of Solera Frameless panels, running along both sides of the addition and across the front. This will be Advanced Glazings' first-ever installation of the Solera Frameless System, which is really exciting!

Stay Tuned

Photo of Building 2 construction area with concrete piers (rebar) installed (July 31, 2018)

Right now, the crew is currently in the prep stage for laying the new foundation. Concrete piers (rebar) were just installed yesterday. The new building is slated to be completed mid-fall.

I'm #ProtoProud to be a part of Protocase. We've got 175 employees today. Where will we be one, two, five and 10 years from now? I'm excited to find out.

To keep updated on the build, keep reading GoCapeBreton and feel free to follow us on Facebook and Twitter!