Protolabs Backs MIT Research Into Why US Manufacturing Falls Short at Scale

Digital manufacturing firm Protolabs is funding research fellows at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Industrial Performance Center to investigate a stubborn gap in US industry: breakthrough technologies built in America frequently leave the country when it is time to scale production.

The grant will support the Initiative for New Manufacturing research program, which studies high-growth manufacturing companies. Fellows will examine factories operating at the frontier of aerospace, defense, and medical device production to identify operating models that help American companies scale domestically rather than offshoring.

Building a Manufacturing Innovation Index

Part of the funding will go toward constructing a first-of-its-kind manufacturing innovation index. The index will track emerging manufacturing companies, the products they bring to market, and the specific technologies and production methods behind them. It is meant to give policymakers and industry leaders a real-time view of where US manufacturing actually stands.

Ben Armstrong, executive director of MIT's Industrial Performance Center, pointed out that inventors who build companies in the US often move production abroad as they grow. He said demand for a domestic path to scale is rising, but a clear route to get there still does not exist.

With this support from Protolabs, we're focusing on today's manufacturing pioneers that are finding ways to scale in the US. The research aims to identify operating models, financial strategies, and public policies that can strengthen America's industrial base long-term.

Why Structural Conditions Matter

Suresh Krishna, president and CEO of Protolabs, tied the grant to his company's work in aerospace and medical device manufacturing. He said Protolabs needs to focus now more than ever on deploying physical AI to scale up the American manufacturing and supply chain ecosystem.

The research does not fund product development directly. Instead, it targets the structural conditions, financing frameworks, and policy choices that determine whether a technology developed in the US actually gets manufactured there. The findings are intended to inform economic and national security strategy.

The collaboration signals a shift in how manufacturing research gets funded. Rather than backing individual products, Protolabs is investing in the conditions that determine whether an entire industry can grow within US borders.