The Company 
Point Designs was founded by researchers in the field of upper limb prosthetic design from the Biomechatronics Development Laboratory at the University of Colorado. Professors Richard Weir and Jacob Segil have decades of research experience spanning neural interfaces, myoelectric control algorithms, and upper limb prosthetic design. Along with co-founders Dr. Levin Sliker and Stephen Huddle, the Point Designs team continues to advance the field of partial hand prosthetic design with expertise in additive manufacturing, mechanical design, and clinical care. Point Designs is a team of dedicated and passionate
individuals working together to improve the lives of the people they serve.

Point Designs specializes in high-quality, customized prostheses for individuals who have experienced finger loss. With over 45,000 finger amputations
occurring annually in the U.S., the demand for functional and durable prosthetic solutions is critical. The company’s goal was to improve production efficiency while maintaining precision, durability, and lightweight design in its prosthetic fingers.

The Challenge 

Point Designs was founded on metal additive manufacturing. As the company grew, the team faced the need to bring production of their durable, lightweight, and highly precise titanium fingers fully in-house. Their objectives were clear:
• Reduce production costs and lead times
• Gain design flexibility to iterate quickly
• Strengthen control over innovation, intellectual property, and quality

Previously, Point Designs relied on external partners to manufacture these fingers. While this enabled quick market entry, it also created significant challenges in production:

High Production Costs
Outsourcing complex titanium parts was expensive, especially in small batches or when frequent design changes were required.

Long Lead Times
Dependence on third-party suppliers often delayed development cycles leading to increased inventory costs.

Limited Design Freedom
External manufacturing made it difficult to rapidly test or refine new concepts without incurring delays and additional costs.

Reduced Control Over IP & Quality
Producing sensitive designs externally limited the company’s ability to safeguard intellectual property.

As Point Designs scaled and pursued more ambitious product development, these limitations became increasingly restrictive. The ability to manufacture
fingers internally with speed, reliability, and autonomy became a necessity. To move forward, they required a solution that would enable series production
of highly engineered components—directly on their own premises.