Case Study: GRIT Freedom Chair achieves rugged, affordable off‑road mobility and scaled production with Protolabs

GRIT Freedom Chair featuring Protolabs sheet metal parts helps persons with disabilities break through barriers

GRIT Freedom Chair, maker of an off‑road, lever‑propelled wheelchair, needed a manufacturing partner to produce portable, lightweight, and affordable parts that could be replicated in multiple sizes and finishes. GRIT chose Protolabs and its rapid sheet metal fabrication service to handle complex, low‑volume end‑use components and meet tight cost and quality requirements.

Protolabs manufactured three critical parts (seatpan, caster fork and footplate) in three sizes using cold‑rolled steel and aluminum, with zinc plating and powder coating, and delivered them just‑in‑time for GRIT’s assembly. The Protolabs solution helped make the Freedom Chair rugged and versatile across five models, supported GRIT’s direct‑to‑customer growth, improved cash flow with lean manufacturing, and led to multiplied sales volumes.

GRIT Freedom Chair

Ben Judge

Chief Technical Officer