What You Should Know About Thermoformed Plastic Packaging?

An assembly line of sandwich wraps inside thermoformed plastic clamshells

In highly competitive markets, many businesses look for different ways to stand out from their competitors, including differentiating their packaging. One packaging solution that can be incorporated into your design is thermoformed plastics.

It is the process used to create custom packaging designs by stretching and molding a heated plastic sheet. To create its design, specialists will use air pressure in a designated box.

Once the packaging cools into the shape of its mold, the packaging team will trim and assemble its design.

Several different industries use this solution to create packaging solutions for those in the food, pharmaceutical, electronic, and automotive industries. Some types of forming they use include:

Vacuum Thermoformed Plastics

Vacuum thermoformed plastics is a cost-effective solution used to create designs that do not require depth or thickness. They use a simplified version of the plastic sheet stretched over a mold. 

These designs tend to be less intricate, which means they take less time to produce. However, it does not yield as many products as other packaging design methods, making it more ideal for shorter runs.

Plug Assist Thermoformed Plastics

The plug assist thermoformed plastic uses a plug tool that forces the plastic sheet into a mold, forming a design that is desired. The plug itself is constructed from urethane, aluminum, or syntactic foam. This type of thermoformed plastics ensures a similar thickness in each product that is produced. 

Plug Assist Pressure Thermoformed Plastics

This method is similar to plug assist forming, though this type of design does have one distinct difference. Instead of forcing the plastic sheet into the mold cavity, the air pressure is forcing the sheet onto the plug side. 

The Benefits of Thermoformed Plastics

One of the greatest advantages of this packaging design is how cost-effective it is for tooling and production. Furthermore, the ability to mold plastic into different designs allows for a superior solution to plastic processing. 

Additionally, thermoformed plastics is also a sustainable method of production as it can use excess plastic that is recycled for further use.

Thermoform with Pioneer Packaging

For over 35 years, Pioneer Packaging has been the go-to source for quality packaging solutions. Contact us today to learn how we can help with your packaging design.

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