Page 36 - Plastics News October 2023

FEATURE

Thermoformer Cuts Cost, Lead Time Using 3D-Printed Molds

ichigan-based thermoformer Duo Form collaborated with 3D Sys- ditive manufacturing to create molds
MDuo Form collaborated with 3D tems to integrate additive manufac- enables freedom of design to produce
Systems to integrate additive manu- turing into its production process, shapes that cannot be made with tra-
facturing into its production process. becoming more agile by 3D printing ditional methods.
Michigan-based thermoformer Duo production molds, tools, and repre- The additive manufacturing process
Form is shortening lead times and sentative samples for thermoform- only requires using the amount of
reducing costs by using 3D printing ing and vacuum forming. Combining material — generally a polymer —
(aka additive manufacturing) to make its EXT 1270 Titan pellet 3D printer needed to create the part, which re-
custom molds. By leveraging additive and glass-filled polycarbonate pellets, duces waste and cost. Additive man-
manufacturing techniques, the com- Duo Form said it decreased costs and ufacturing offers significantly faster
pany said it can quickly create various shortened lead times without impact- turnaround times to deliver a mold or
mold designs and produce full-scale ing quality. With its first 3D-printed pattern — hours or days versus the
prototypes that avoid delays in the ap- mold — a shower pan for recreational weeks and months required for tradi-
proval and production processes. vehicles — Duo Form said more than tional manufacturing, according to 3D
1,000 shots were pulled from the
With one project — a 1294 x 410 x mold with no significant wear. Systems Titan Director Clay Guillory.
287 mm train interior panel — the Selecting the best 3D-printing tech-
company said it reduced cost by 88% Subtractive versus additive molds nology for a project
and lead time by 65% compared Conventional subtractive processes When 3D printing production molds
with traditional ceramic mold meth- selectively remove material from a for thermoforming and vacuum-form-
ods. The savings were even greater block to create the desired shape for ing processes, it’s important to select
compared with traditional aluminum a pattern or a mold. By contrast, ad- the most appropriate 3D-printing
molds, added Duo Form Product De- ditive manufacturing processes build technique for the mold being pro-
velopment Manager David Rheinhe- a part layer by layer using a range of duced, Guillory said.
imer. polymers and even metals. Using ad-

36 PLASTICS NEWSASTICS NEWS October 2023
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