Thermoforming

Thermoforming is a widely used plastic manufacturing process where a plastic sheet is heated until soft and pliable, and then formed over a mold to produce the shape of a part. The warm plastic sheet is often pulled to the mold with vacuum pressure, cooled, then trimmed to create a finished part. Thermoforming can create large parts with unusual geometries at high volumes that are be difficult to produce with other plastic manufacturing methods. The thermoforming process relies on heat and vacuum pressure so parts made via thermoforming can vary between thin and thick walls without a need to change tooling design.