MLI vs PRLB

Mueller Industries Inc.

Mueller Industries, Inc. manufactures and sells copper, brass, aluminum, and plastic products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, the Middle East, China, and Mexico. The company's Piping Systems segment offers copper tubes, fittings, line sets, and pipe nipples; PEX plumbing and radiant systems; and plumbing-related fittings and plastic injection tooling. It also resells steel pipes, brass and plastic plumbing valves, malleable iron fittings and faucets, and plumbing specialties; and supplies water tubes. This segment sells its products to wholesalers in the plumbing and refrigeration markets, distributors to the manufactured housing and recreational vehicle industries, building material retailers, and air-conditioning original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company's Industrial Metals segment manufactures brass, bronze, and copper alloy rods; copper bar and alloy shapes; plumbing brass, valves, and fittings; cold-form aluminum and copper products; machining of aluminum, steel, brass, and cast iron impacts and castings; brass and aluminum forgings; brass, aluminum, and stainless-steel valves; fluid control solutions; and gas train assembles to OEMs in the industrial, construction, HVAC, plumbing, and refrigeration markets. Its Climate segment offers valves, protection devices, brass fittings, and tubular assemblies and fabrications for various OEMs in the commercial HVAC and refrigeration markets; high-pressure components and accessories for the air-conditioning and refrigeration markets; coaxial heat exchangers and twisted tubes for the HVAC, geothermal, refrigeration, swimming pool heat pump, marine, ice machine, commercial boiler, and heat reclamation markets; insulated HVAC flexible duct systems; and brazed manifolds, headers, and distributor assemblies. The company was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Collierville, Tennessee.

Proto Labs Inc.

Proto Labs, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an e-commerce driven digital manufacturer of custom prototypes and on-demand production parts in the worldwide. The company offers injection molding; computer numerical control machining; three-dimensional (3D) printing, which include stereolithography, selective laser sintering, direct metal laser sintering, multi jet fusion, polyjet, and carbon DLS processes; and sheet metal fabrication products, including quick-turn and e-commerce-enabled custom sheet metal parts. It serves developers and engineers, who use 3D computer-aided design software to design products across a range of end markets. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Maple Plain, Minnesota.