What is thermoforming, and why is it one of the most versatile and cost-effective methods for manufacturing plastic products?
In this article, we break down the fundamentals of thermoforming, explore some common thermoformed products, and explain a prototypical thermoforming manufacturing process.
Thermoforming plastic refers to a specific manufacturing process that employs heat to increase pliability, allowing a plastic sheet to be molded into a desired shape. The sheet is forced onto a mold (typically aluminum) using force applied directly (using a mechanical “plug”) or using a vacuum or pressure. The plastic will harden and retain its molded shape after it cools, allowing this molded plastic part to be trimmed into a finished product.
As the variety of materials, products, and manufacturing approaches explained below illustrate, thermoforming is a highly versatile process that has proven to be a cost-effective solution across an incredibly broad (and still growing) range of applications.
A variety of common thermoplastics are compatible with thermoforming, allowing this process to be flexibly employed for a number of different products by using different materials to achieve the desired characteristics.
Leading examples include:
Thermoforming is commonly used to manufacture products for industries ranging from aerospace, to medical equipment, to consumer goods. It can be used to make both durable parts for long-term use (like automotive, aircraft, and equipment components) and disposable and/or recyclable products (like pharmaceutical and food packaging).
Common thermoformed plastic products include:
The thermoforming process begins with a sheet of extruded plastic, which can be produced from resin pellets in-house using an extrusion facility or purchased from a supplier.
Please see our article here for a deeper exploration of the thermoformed plastic packaging manufacturing process, including a behind-the-scenes look at new packaging ideation, prototyping, tooling, and production.
While this high-level process remains the same, thermoforming machines rely on a number of different mechanisms to form the heated plastic. For example:
Thermoformed plastic components are lighter weight than metal alternatives while providing a much lower cost than injection molded parts of the same size and geometry. The ability to use different grades of plastic makes it easy to match components to the optimal mix of cost, strength, durability, and other desired characteristics.
The thermoforming process is highly scalable and can be a cost-effective option for both small production runs and high-volume production. Thermoforming equipment is available at an industrial scale, in small desktop models for prototyping and other small projects, and even in affordable formats for home DIY projects.
The most important limitation of thermoforming is its restriction to a relatively thin wall thickness, due to the need for a thin enough sheet of plastic to be stretched.
Thermoforming is a leading manufacturing process for food packaging because it can deliver on some of the most important priorities for food products.
Mixing post-consumer regrind (PCR) plastic with virgin plastics offers a flexible solution for mitigating the environmental impact of thermoformed plastic products and helping organizations drive ESG progress. Because PCR plastics can be mixed in at a wide range of blend percentages, manufacturers have the freedom to hit their sustainability targets without sacrificing the appearance and performance of their product or packaging
We take a deeper look at recyclable plastics in the context of food containers in our article here.
With their durability, light weight, and recyclability, thermoformed plastics are a strong choice for food packaging.
The key to selecting the right packaging for your food products? Ensuring that packaging design is carefully aligned with your sustainability, functional, and branding requirements.
Lacerta is here to help.
Ready to begin designing your custom plastic packaging solution? Get started here.