Injection Molding vs. Thermoforming

Thermoforming is commonly selected over injection molding for its flexibility in tooling and engineering, and its fast set-up and production of custom plastic enclosures.

Advantages of Thermoforming compared to Injection Molding:

• Injection-molded quality
• 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")

Thermoforming is a method of manufacturing custom plastic enclosures by preheating a flat sheet of plastic and bringing it into contact with a mold whose shape it takes. This can be done by vacuum, pressure and or direct mechanical force. The process offers close tolerances, tight specifications, and sharp detail for your custom plastic parts. Injection molding is another method for manufacturing plastic parts. Injection molding involves taking plastic of your choice in the form of pellets or granules and heating this material until a melt is obtained. Then the melt is forced into a split-die chamber/mold where it is allowed to "cool" into the desired shape. The mold is then opened and the part is ejected, at which time the cycle is repeated again.

Thermofab Technologies blended process creates parts which are comparable to injection-molded pieces in quality. For fast set-up and production of plastic parts, especially large parts in quantities from dozens to thousands, ThermoFab's thermoforming and blended processes are commonly selected over injection molding. Time to market is greatly reduced - from files to finished products in 4-6 weeks!