Protex Balti – Precision Manufacturing of Smart Clothes

Mar 4, 2025

Protex Balti AS is a leading supplier of wearable smart textile products, designing and realising creative solutions for bespoke client applications from sportswear to personal protective equipment and medical support devices.

Company overview

Norwegian-owned Protex AS has a 60-year heritage of manufacturing textile products, and more than 10 years’ experience of mass-producing smart textile products via its subsidiary, Protex Balti AS, which continues to drive innovation in implementation of advanced e-textile technologies.

Protex’s modern ISO-certified production facility n Estonias.

From the 3 production sites in Estonia, with over 200 employees, Protex Balti offers complete solutions for realization of technical and smart textiles products from concept design through product development and prototyping to purchasing, production and delivery of final products. Largest customers are from Scandinavia and Germany, but the company has also recently expanded to the US.

Expertise and Innovations

A key strength of Protex Balti is its ability to blend textile craftsmanship with modern technology. Collaboration with research institutions, industry partners, and the Smart Textile Alliance helps Protex remain informed about market trends and develop solutions that address practical needs. Moreover, sustainability plays an important role in Protex Balti’s operations. The company is exploring eco-friendly smart textile solutions, such as recyclable materials, circular models or energy-efficient production methods. Read the sustainability report 2024 for Protex Balti here.

In 2025 Protex Balti AS received support from the European Union’s NextGenerationEU recovery instrument for the “Protex Balti AS Digital Transition” project.

For customers, Protex Balti’s strength lies in the company’s high-precision production capabilities, which together with rigorous quality control measures, ensure compliance with the strict standards necessary for manufacture of healthcare technologies and personal protective equipment (PPE). They have more than 10 years of experience producing complex garments with integrated conductors, dry electrodes, sensors, and emergency lighting for various applications.

Together with Finnish partners they offer a full range of development and manufacturing services from printed electronics to sensor integration.

Partnering opportunities

Protex Balti AS is not only a manufacturer but is also actively involved in smart textile research and development. The company participates in international projects collaborating across industries to support innovation. Protex takes part in Horizon Europe initiatives partnering with academic institutions to advance textile technologies that can be applied to a variety of sectors, including healthcare, such as health-monitoring products, and a variety of defence and PPE applications.

Ragnarok was developed in collaboration with SINTEF and received the ‘Merket for god design’ (Award for Good Design) in 2016.

Protex Balti is also a company with a history of close collaboration with the Tallinn University of Technology and the independent Norwegian research institute SINTEF for a range of innovative client product developments. This not only gives clients access to state-of-the-art knowledge of materials and electronics, it enables Protex to build life-changing products and ensures strong alignment with partners on innovation and sustainability both now and in the future.

The company’s strong partner network and flexibility in production volumes, from small pilot runs to full-scale manufacturing ensures they can meet the needs of businesses at every stage of development.

Gallery

Using cutting-edge equipment for industrial-scale fabrication, Protex Balti employs advanced techniques such as embroidery for precise component placement, sewing and ultrasonic welding for integrating conductive threads and sensors, laser and semi-automatic cutting for accurate textile fabrication, and lamination for adding protective or functional layers.