The best thermoforming projects are the best because they started with high-quality thermoforming tooling services. Understanding the importance of tooling is critical to the outcome of any thermoforming project, but the factors that go into tooling are just as important to know.

Costs and timelines are the components that customers often ask about when it comes to thermoforming tooling. In this blog, Allied Plastics lays out realistic expectations when it comes to costs, timelines, and what impacts both of these factors.

Thermoforming Tooling Costs

When discussing costs for thermoforming tooling, it’s critical to use a standard tooling procedure as the driving point for costs. While there are no uniform costs when it comes to tooling operations, there are some general rules of thumb that are informative regarding costs.

Most tooling procedures use a wood model as the prototype material, which keeps costs down. Other options, such as using aluminum, water-cooled molds, and clean rooms, can drastically raise costs by thousands of dollars.

What Drives Costs

The largest component that drives thermoforming tooling costs is the overall size of the part. Larger parts are going to require more material, more labor, and longer processing times, all of which increase prices. Beyond that, tooling complexity also has an impact on costs. The more complex a design is, such as including deep draws, tight radii, and detailed features, the more engineering and machining time it takes to create the tool, which impacts the price.

What Drives Timelines

The timeline of any thermoforming tooling project can vary due to multiple factors, but much like discussing costs, operating on a “standard” tooling procedure while understanding that no project is the same can provide some insight.

Typical timelines for thermoforming tooling projects can take anywhere from one to eight weeks for completion, and shorter than eight weeks if your thermoforming manufacturing company has an in-house tooling center.

Similar to costs, the size of the project impacts timelines, as bigger projects are going to require more machining and assembly time, as well as part validation to ensure accuracy. Material selection also impacts timelines. Some manufacturers will use 3D printing for tooling services, which takes projects from weeks to days, while others will use more complex materials, such as aluminum, requiring more time.

Best Practices

Costs and timelines for thermoforming tooling are ultimately driven by the volume required and the size of the part. When a low to medium volume is all that’s needed for a small part, thermoforming operations become an attractive option for customers, as the tooling is simpler and faster to produce. If parts require consistent changes, are highly complex and detailed, or require high annual volumes, the tooling costs can rise rapidly.

Partner With Allied Plastics for Thermoforming Tooling Services Today

Allied Plastics is an industry-leading custom thermoforming manufacturing company with full-service solutions backed by high quality and an experienced team. Since 1995, we’ve created countless solutions that work for OEMs and varying industries, and we’ve proven that no project is too big for our team to handle.

Our skilled teams remove the stress of performing thermoforming tooling operations. Our direct, up-front approach keeps customers informed on what to expect. Allied Plastics Tooling Center will cut a prototype pattern from your 3D model CAD file using CNC equipment. Sample parts will be run on the pattern for your approval. Once approved, a cast of the pattern will be made, and the precision tool will be detailed with water lines and vacuum holes to achieve maximum thermoforming performance. This tool becomes the “master key” of the process to provide peak efficiency and consistency for your vacuum-formed plastic parts time after time.