To achieve their goal, companies turn to fabricators to provide them with the components they need to complete or even produce a product. Among the more common methods, plastic molding service can rely on for creating molds are plastic injection and thermoforming. Each of these processes provides the customer with certain advantages.
Thermoforming
Thermoforming involves the creation of a mold using a heated plastic sheet. Two popular types of this single-sided plastic fabrication process are vacuum forming and pressure forming. The advantages of this type of popular plastic molding services include:
- Low tooling costs
- Low engineering expenses
- Fast turnaround time
- Vivid color and texture options
- Extremely adaptable
Overall, thermoforming is perfect for the development of a prototype as well as for the production of small volumes of components. They are suitable for food packaging, retail and display electronics and consumer products.
Injection Molding
Injection molding is the process of injecting molds (tooling) with molten liquid polymers. This occurs under extreme pressure at very high temperatures. The operators then cool the molds before releasing the now complete plastic components. This process has several advantages including:
- Ability to scale production for large runs
- Extremely low price per unit AFTER the payment for the initial cost
- Lower cost during mass runs
- Efficient use of material
- Low scrap rates
- High level of repeatability
- Precise and efficient processing for small components in large volumes
This makes plastic injection suitable for large-volume orders and mass production.
Plastic Molding Services
Plastic molding services take many different shapes. Companies are capable of utilizing any of several methods to provide the necessary products. Among the two, most common methods are thermoforming and plastic injection. Together they provide the necessary tools to produce a variety of components for global markets. Each of them offers certain advantages. It will depend upon the fabricator to make a decision on which will prove to be the most beneficial.