If you have a business creating sporting goods equipment, you want your product to be something people can get a lot of use out of and recommend to their friends. Whether you have a great idea you are ready to get on the market or have been in the industry for a while and already operate within a well-known company, Proto Plastics works for you. Proto Plastics is a full-service contract manufacturer for custom injection molding. We’ve been doing this since 1969 and our current managers and supervisors have been with us for an average of 19 years! Our years of experience mean we can create excellent products you are happy to have the shelves of sporting goods stores around the nation and the world.
The sporting goods industry is a very diverse one and athletes are always calling for stronger, faster, and lighter equipment. Sporting goods equipment is used by everyone from 3-year-olds in a local tee-ball league to professional snowboarders. And all of the equipment they use has to be manufactured somewhere. Proto Plastics makes sporting goods equipment your customers can rely on, no matter what this age or skill level is.
A recent article from Assembly Mag explains how the sporting goods field is unique because the market really is divided into those two categories—the professional athlete and those who do sports for leisure. Phil Anthony, president of Design Integrity said this in the article about the market,
” ‘Each sport has a segment that’s driven by low cost, using traditional materials. There’s another portion that’s driven by performance and favors materials that have higher strength-to-weight ratios.’ “
Curt Anderson, president of Compass Product Design Inc. also added,
” ‘Unless a new item performs better than an old product, it has a tough time breaking into the market. But, if it does perform better, it can revolutionize a market overnight.’ “
One major change the market favors is moving to lightweight materials and design. Whether it is a tent used by someone going on a 2-week backpacking trip along the Continental Divide or a tennis racket used by Serena Williams, each gram of the equipment adds too or takes away from the performance. Carbon fiber composites have really taken over some areas of the sporting goods world for this reason. One example from the article is a typical bike used in the Tour de France. Fifteen years ago these bikes weighed about 20 pounds and today they weigh about 15 pounds. If you aren’t a cyclist, you may not realize what a big deal these 5 pounds make. But they have allowed up-and-coming cyclists to shatter the records of the past.
Another remarkable thing about the new technology in the sporting goods industry is that it spills over from other fields. For example, Boeing is working with Russell Brands to use excess carbon fiber from airplanes to create shoulder pads for football. Both industries need a high strength-to-weight ratio so it makes sense they can share resources.
At Proto Plastics, we love to see the developments in the sporting goods industry over the years and we are excited about what that could mean for your products too. If you have a product that helps athletes go harder, faster, and higher and need a place to get that product manufactured, Proto Plastics can help. We operate 19 different injection molding presses which allows us to produce products quickly and adapt to our customers needs as necessary. And we help keep our and you costs low by automating the process when possible, using robotics or conveyor systems to remove items from the mold. To get started with the creation of your sporting goods item, contact us today at Proto Plastics.