Thermoforming
vs Injection Molding
Lormac
Plastics has been providing award winning, high quality thermoformed
products for over 40 years.
Thermoforming VS Injection Molding
The
thermoforming market is continually increasing from year to year
and does hold several advantages over injection molding. Tooling
can be up to 80% less for upfront tooling expenses on pressure
forming versus injection molding.
The
significant savings comes from thermoforming molds only needing
to be machined aluminum or cast aluminum, rather than machined
steel. Also, most thermo forming molds only require one mold half
(and a pressure box for pressure forming) instead of two matched
molds that are required in injection molding.
Costs
are usually much less due to tool amortization, especially when
comparing limited production quantities. These advantages become
even more significant as the size of the parts become progressively
larger. Lead times and deliveries are much faster, with lower
prototyping costs, therefore allowing for more time on final design
modifications.
With
quicker prototyping capabilities, thermoforming can ensure maximum
flexibility and even visibility of the product definition before
finalized. Thermoforming can also eliminate negative conditions
that are common to the injection molding process; such as ejection
marks, gate marks and porosity.
Advantages
of Thermoforming compared to Injection Molding:
- Short
lead time
- Speedy
tooling build cycle
- Ideal
for small batch production
- Extensive
choice of patterns, finishes and textures
- Ability
to produce thin-walled parts
- Excellent
part volume/quality ratio
- Ability
to form large parts (48" x 96")
