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Author: Brian Ray

With the ability to combine multiple custom components into a single, seamless product, along with incredible cost-effective processing and the ability to replace fiberglass and steel, large part thermoforming opens up new vistas for manufacturing in volumes ranging from hundreds to thousands. No matter what the industry—transportation and mass transit, farming and agriculture, green energy, waste and water management, medical devices, or more—large part thermoforming can redefine what is possible for your business.

#1 – Large Part Thermoforming is Significantly More Cost-effective than Steel or Fiberglass Fabrication

The technology behind large part thermoforming has grown so efficient in recent years that many materials that once necessitated either fiberglass, steel, or a combination of multiple parts can now be streamlined into one cost-effective thermoformed plastic part. Let us pass on this savings to you. Large part thermoforming allows for tremendous efficiency as it transforms many high-dollar parts into one large, single, rigid and lightweight thermoformed plastic part.

#2 – You Have the Same Freedom of Material Choice with Large Part Thermoforming

Just as you might do with other smaller-scale thermoformed parts, large part thermoforming likewise allows you to choose the material type (any thermoplastic) color, thickness, and finish of your plastic material. Your project is only limited by your imagination, and a 10’ x 18’ forming area! The possibilities are essentially endless as you explore the same freedom of choice in large part thermoforming, particularly as the needs of your custom plastic project grow and become more complex. As your business grows, part-to-part repeatability will become more and more important, as well.

#3 – Large Part Thermoforming Yields Superior Molded Detail and Offers Seamless Part Repeatability

Large part thermoforming is synonymous with repeatability and superior molded detail, which is what your industry demands. You care about aesthetics, reliability and repeatability, which is why large part thermoforming could be ideal for your next project. When upgrading to large part thermoforming from fiberglass or steel, better aesthetics are often the natural result, largely because the material colors and finishes deliver a large seamless part.

 

We haven’t even mentioned the significance of light-weight options that large part thermoforming offers your business. Whether you need to thermoform 10-feet by 18-feet or smaller, large part thermoforming can transform the possibilities for custom parts manufacturing.

Author: Brian Ray

Every year, Plastics News conducts a survey of North American thermoformers and ranks them by annual sales.  This year, for the first time, Ray Products made the top 100.

In fact, we received special recognition in the introduction to the report for moving “up 32 spaces”.  That took us from 122nd last year to a respectable 90th this year.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “What’s the big deal?” Is celebrating 90th place really worth celebrating at all?

Yes, and here’s why:

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Author: Brian Ray

In this Plastics Industry Pulse, we will examine how thermoforming popularity compares by industry and why that matters. New to thermoforming? Thermoforming involves heating a plastic sheet to a pliable temperature and shaping it to a mold using air or vacuum pressure (or a combination of both). It is then cooled, removed from the mold, and trimmed. Secondary operations can then be performed. Learn more about thermoforming here.

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Author: Brian Ray

In this Plastics Industry Pulse, we’ll ask some questions about the 2019-2020 Annual Report data on changes in process popularity, with a special eye on injection molding.

Did you know: This is the sixth year that we’ve collected data on Process Popularity in the Plastics Industry.

Looking back on previous years as a comparison, this year’s data demonstrates a marked change in the popularity of injection molding. Over the last four years, respondents have indicated a growing interest in injection molding (59% in 2015, growing to 73% last year), while this year it took a 38% year-over-year dip to plunge to only 45%. Time will tell if this is just a statistical anomaly or if this represents an ongoing trend.
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Author: Brian Ray

In this Plastics Industry Pulse, we’ll examine the issue of recyclability as it relates to the plastics industry, while also considering overall trends in the industry in terms of production.

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Author: Brian Ray

In this Plastics Industry Pulse, we’ll dive deeper into the data in the 2019-2020 Annual Survey and look at overseas plastics manufacturing and quality. As we covered in our Plastics Industry Pulse: Offshore Manufacturing, overseas plastics manufacturing tends to be underutilized by most industries. As a review, the survey data showed that overseas plastics is utilized less than half the time and tends to be a bit unpopular. Further, of those industries who have utilized overseas plastics, a majority of respondents said they either have already reversed course and re-shored operations domestically or they planned to do so in the future.

Plastics Industry Pulse: Offshore Plastics Trends examines the data that might explain just why offshoring plastics manufacturing is trending so negatively. It picks up where Offshore Manufacturing left off in describing the vast array of industry data sources surveyed.

In short, as more specialized industries grow in their need for high-quality plastics with exceptional aesthetic value, the offshore plastics trend will likely continue to trend toward negative values.

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Author: Brian Ray

As we mentioned in our previous post we have been researching, processing, and interpreting data from over 200 manufacturing professionals on the use of heavy-gauge plastics manufacturing.

Did you know: This is the sixth year that Ray Products has been conducting this important industry research.

In this Plastics Industry Pulse, we’ll uncover the data in the 2019–2020 annual survey that deals with overseas plastic manufacturing. As offshore manufacturing grows in a number of other industries, you may be wondering about its impact on plastics manufacturing.

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Author: Brian Ray

It’s that time of year, again. MD&M – the nation’s largest medical device industry tradeshow – is hosting its West Coast conference in Anaheim, CA, and Ray Products is thrilled to be returning to the floor as an exhibitor. The showcase provides an excellent opportunity for our company to connect with hundreds of engineers, innovators, designers, and large-scale medical device corporations and share the full range of manufacturing solutions our pressure forming and vacuum forming capabilities can provide. We’ve met many of our long-term clients at previous MD&M showcases, and it’s always exciting and inspiring to not only learn of the cutting-edge innovations emerging within the medtech industry but to also be a part of their creation.

Medical devices have always comprised a significant portion of Ray Products’ manufacturing projects. In fact, the plastic product that put our company on the map over 70 years ago was a medical device: one of the earliest clear plastic baby bassinets on the market. Since then, we’ve thermoformed plastic parts and enclosures for countless instruments used in the field of healthcare, including this cancer diagnostic machine, this DNA sequencer, this hospital cart, and many others.

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Author: Brian Ray

The truth is, we get excited about every plastics manufacturing project that comes into our California-based facility. Still, there are plastic pressure forming projects that stand out for our whole team.

Let us tell you about one of those.

Recently, a leading biotechnology company came to us for help creating the housing of an advanced digital pathology slide scanner.

The project demanded impressive aesthetics, incredible levels of precision, and high-performance materials. In short, it was precisely the type of pressure forming project we love.

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