Vacuum Forming Offers Design Flexibility, Lower Tooling Costs & More

One of the most economical thermoforming technologies is vacuum forming. The vacuum forming process offers great flexibility in the creation of custom molded plastics because production costs are relatively low.

How vacuum forming works

To vacuum form a plastic product:

1. A sheet of plastic material is heated in an oven.
2. The heated sheet is set on a mold.
3. A vacuum pulls air out of the mold, pulling the sheet against the mold to shape it.
4. After the formed plastic cools and hardens, it’s removed from the mold and trimmed.

Advantages of vacuum forming

As a plastic product manufacturing company, Joslyn Manufacturing uses industrial vacuum forming as a suitable replacement for other custom forming processes that use sheet metal, fiberglass or wood. Vacuum forming can:

• Produce very large items that may be lighter in weight
• Be more cost-efficient for small production runs, or products requiring less detail and complexity
• Cuts down on production launches

When to use vacuum forming

Vacuum forming is a good choice for:

• Tight budgets
• Time constraints
• Lower volume, shorter runs
• Items with large dimensions

Why use vacuum forming?

Vacuum forming offers many advantages compared to other plastic forming processes. This particular type of thermoforming technology offers lower tooling costs, cost-efficiency for smaller production runs and the ability to produce large, lightweight parts with thin walls. For the greatest flexibility in design and production of custom molded plastics, choose vacuum forming.

Our team will work with you to make sure the vacuum forming process is labor- and material-efficient, maintains consistency from piece to piece, produces parts with the correct dimensions, rigidity, features, texture and finish, as well as satisfies you with affordable, durable plastic parts.

Whatever the application, you can rely on our forming technologies. To learn more about vacuum forming, vacuum forming products or the plastic molding process contact us today.