Protolabs (NYSE: PRLB) says revenue from its robotics customers more than doubled in the first half of 2026 compared with the first half of 2025. The digital manufacturing service provider attributes the increase to demand for rapid prototyping and low-volume production from robot developers, many of which are moving toward commercial deployment while their applications remain at an early stage of development.
The growth comes as funding and competition increase across the sector. Market research cited by the company, from Mordor Intelligence, places the global robotics market at $88 billion in 2026 and projects it will reach $219 billion by 2031, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 percent. Protolabs also said the addition of robotic devices to the Covered List maintained by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) underlines the need for domestic manufacturing to support that expansion.
Parts for Robotic Subsystems
Protolabs serves robotics teams through its U.S. factories and Protolabs Network, a group of vetted manufacturing partners. The company notes that a single robotic subsystem often contains hundreds of parts, which puts pressure on suppliers to keep up with frequent design iterations. Some parts are available in as little as one day, allowing engineers to move from a design revision to testing within a short window.
Components produced for the sector range from grippers, sensor systems and enclosures to structural components, gears and motor mounts. Robot developers use Protolabs’ 3D printing services to produce parts quickly, and a range of flexible materials, including TPU, TPV and silicone, supports testing, revision and reordering as performance requirements change. CNC machining is used for structural parts in lightweight metals and engineering plastics, along with secondary operations.
Protolabs engineers also work with customers to adjust designs and introduce softer, more flexible materials where needed, so parts can withstand impacts during testing. The company says this helps reduce the risk of damage or injury as robots operate more often in real-world environments.
Physical AI, Data Security and RoboBusiness Showcase
According to Protolabs, advances in physical artificial intelligence (AI) have moved robotics beyond scripted automation toward adaptive, generalizable behavior.
“As manufacturing advances with artificial intelligence and automation, we are rapidly implementing technologies powered by physical AI that enable us to move at the speed of emerging industries,” said Suresh Krishna, President and CEO of Protolabs.
To address intellectual property concerns, the company says customer data is protected whether a project is manufactured in a Protolabs factory or through a Network partner. Its cybersecurity measures include encryption, access controls, auditing and logging, and system hardening.
Protolabs will exhibit at RoboBusiness 2026, held October 20 to 21 in Santa Clara, California, at booth #411, where it will present its prototyping and end-use production services for robotics developers.
Robotics Demand and Lead Times at On-Demand Manufacturers
Protolabs is framing robotics as a sector where frequent design changes favor its high-mix, low-volume approach. By pairing its owned U.S. factories with Protolabs Network, the company offers short lead times on small batches, which fits teams that test and revise components repeatedly before launch.
Robotics has come up before as a demand driver for on-demand manufacturing. In early 2022, Xometry CEO Randy Altschuler cited robotics customers, alongside consumer, medical and electronics clients, as a source of growth when the marketplace reported Q4 2021 revenue of $67.1 million, up 76.6 percent year over year. He added that most Xometry orders were fulfilled in-country, which he presented as a way to avoid overseas shipping delays. Protolabs makes a related case for domestic production, though it ties that argument to the addition of robotic devices to the FCC’s Covered List. The difference is scale of disclosure: Xometry listed robotics as one of several verticals without a separate figure, while Protolabs has quantified the growth of its robotics revenue.
Xometry has also been working on lead times. In its first quarter of 2026, the company added an enterprise machining lead-time model to its Instant Quoting Engine, designed in part to expand rapid delivery options that include one-day lead times, which parallels Protolabs’ one-day part availability. Xometry did not tie that update to robotics, however, and attributed the acceleration in its marketplace growth to rising wallet share and adoption of its supply chain solutions.
Robotics has often been grouped with other verticals in on-demand manufacturers’ results, and Protolabs’ H1 2026 update breaks it out as a standalone figure.
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Featured image shows Protolabs Reports Robotics Revenue More Than Doubled in First Half of 2026. Image via Protolabs.
