CAPABILITIES

HEAVY-GAUGE THERMOFORMING:

A Cost-Effective Option (and a Whole Lot More)

Profile Plastics offers heavy-gauge thermoforming services for highly cosmetic, close-tolerance plastic parts. Thermoforming provides a number of advantages:
Heavy-Gauge Thermoforming Mold
Heavy-Gauge Thermoforming female mold
Compared to other plastic processes like injection molding, the tooling can be constructed at a lower cost and in a shorter time, leading to faster speed to market.
Thermoformed parts can equal or exceed the strength of metal or fiberglass and yet are lighter, allowing for more cost-effective weight solutions.
Thermoforming provides a wide range of design options with a vast selection of materials, molded-in colors, and finishes or textures.
Most thermoplastic materials can be easily recycled, resulting in very little landfill waste in the production process.

How Thermoforming Can Be an Ideal Process for Heavy-Gauge Plastic Parts

Profile Plastics provides design assistance for improved manufacturability and final assembly. This expertise can help to further reduce cost and production time and lead to a superior end product—maximizing the inherent benefits of the thermoforming process.

You’ll also have an edge thanks to factors like these:

Options for materials

Plastic parts can be manufactured for a wider range of end use applications. Our decades of experience with an array of thermoplastic materials means we know how to specify physical and cosmetic properties for your parts, such as:

  • Molded-in color (eliminates part painting and thus reduces cost)
  • Finishes, embossed features, and textures
  • Rigidity
  • UV & chemical resistance
  • UL94 Flame resistance
  • Low temperature impact
  • Heat distortion temperature

We can also optimize these properties in a cost-effective way to add value to the part. For more info, please see our Material Expertise page.

Tight Tolerances

Critical dimensions can be formed in or trimmed in with our 5-axis CNC robotic trimming equipment.

 

Large Parts

Large parts—up to 8′ x 12′—in particular can be produced at much lower tooling costs than injection molding. Our large machines allow us to take on parts that many others can’t. And with our thermoforming techniques, the larger the part, the more cost-effective the process is for you.

Supply Chain Capabilities

Need further support after we manufacture your plastics parts? Smart supply chain support can actually help lower the total cost of your project. We have the systems, facilities, and capacity to take on complex assembly, handle outbound shipping, and assist with other supply chain needs.

Check out our Value-Added Services page for more information.

A variety of thermoforming techniques to meet your requirements

To best meet the needs of our customers, Profile Plastics manufactures parts in three ways. Check out the respective page for more details:

Detailed Heavy-Gauge Thermoformed part - pressure molded

Pressure Forming

Highly detailed parts can be produced by pressure forming—matching the capabilities of injection molding yet with lower tooling costs and shorter lead times.

Learn more >

Vacuum Forming

The most common of the three techniques, vacuum forming is especially useful for parts that demand a fast turnaround.

Learn more >

Heavy-Gauge Plastic part formed with Twin-Sheet Pressure Forming

Twin-sheet Forming

This technique produces plastic parts that are hollow for insulation, airflow, or rigidity purposes. These resemble rotationally molded or blow-molded parts while maintaining the advantages of thermoforming, such as cosmetic features and broader material selection.

Learn more >

Heavy-Gauge Plastic part formed with Twin-Sheet Pressure Forming

Understanding the Thermoforming Process

Heavy-gauge thermoforming involves the heating of extruded thermoplastic sheet and the subsequent application of a force (vacuum and/or pressure) to form the sheet into or over a 3-dimensional shape.

The world of thermoforming is divided into thin-gauge thermoforming; roll-fed sheet thermoforming (primarily packaging applications); and heavy-gauge (0.030″ to 0.050″) cut sheet thermoforming (all other non-packaging markets).

Thermoplastic sheet is available in a wide variety of materials with different end use properties, most of which may be custom-colored to suit your application. After forming, parts are then trimmed as a secondary process using 5-axis CNC equipment.

Profile Plastics specializes in sheet-fed, heavy-gauge thermoforming utilizing starting plastic sheet thicknesses of 0.030″ to 0.50″. We provide all three categories of thermoforming: vacuum forming, pressure forming, and twin-sheet forming.

Profile Plastics, Inc Logo

The Thermoforming Innovator for More Than 60 years

Founded in 1960, Profile Plastics has established itself as an industry leader by continually improving both our thermoforming processes and the parts themselves.

We’ve also built an exceptional team of experienced engineers who help optimize part designs for improved performance and cost-efficiency.

We depend on maintaining strong, long-term relationships with our customers.

Interested in working with us on a project?