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5 Questions to ask your manufacturer to understand if they can repeatably produce high quality parts.

The heavy gauge plastic thermoforming is an agile process capable of producing highly detailed, durable, and tight tolerance parts with almost limitless design possibilities. It provides a cost effective and fast to market solution for a number of applications such as Medical Devices and Rail and Aircraft Interiors. To take advantage of thermoforming, you need to leverage a team with the technical expertise and focus on execution and quality to ensure that you receive a high-quality product every time.

Not every plastic thermoforming processor is equally capable. Issues could arise from poorly designed tooling or poor tooling mediums, lack of processing controls, lack of quality controls, or no repeatable work instructions. Have you ever eaten at a restaurant where the food quality depends on the chef working? You want to ensure you receive the same high-quality product every time.

1. Does the manufacturer have an accredited quality control program?

ISO9001-2015-Certification-Productive Plastics

Ensuring that your manufacturer has adopted an accredited quality control program, such as ISO 9001, will indicate that the company has an active quality control process in place that has been evaluated and certified by an industry recognized third party. The accreditation documentation, often available on the manufacturer’s website, will give you detailed information on what aspects of the company have been certified and supporting quality documentation can often be requested from the processor.

2. Is the manufacturer’s facility organized and clean?

This may seem like a trivial point, but it can be a key indicator to a company’s commitment to quality. A company with a well-organized manufacturing floor is much more likely to take quality, efficiency, process improvement, and safety seriously. If you are not offered a tour of the facility, ask for and witness firsthand the quality control measures in action. Cleanliness and organization are vital since thermoforming is an “open mold process” meaning airborne dirt could end up as an inclusion in the finished part and become a cosmetic flaw.

3. Does the contract manufacturer utilize efficient manufacturing methodologies and conduct process improvement events, such as Lean Manufacturing and Kaizen events?

Lean Manufacturing focuses on the removal of inefficient practices in manufacturing, management, and administration operations, with regular evaluations of current processes with emphasis on continual improvement. Companies that are committed to following Lean Manufacturing techniques tend to have very efficient manufacturing operations, greater investments in equipment, and produce quality parts with a low rejection rate. This will lead to lower part costs from labor as well as a higher on-time delivery percentage.

4. Does the thermoforming partner have dedicated engineering experts to provide tooling design and construction project management?

Properly designed and constructed tooling is the foundation of plastic thermoforming and is essential to producing a high-quality consistent product. Poorly engineered tooling can result in part dimension variations, surface abnormalities, and other defects. See 6 Common Thermoforming Quality Issues Actually Caused by Improper Tooling. Tooling is also a byproduct of part design and leveraging experts can help avoid downstream issues.

5. Does the processor conduct a “Define and Discover” Innovation Engineering approach to seek avenues for collaborative project development and management?

Collaborating early on helps to ensure that the appropriate decision is being made and executed. We for example: start with the question, is this a good application for thermoforming? Sometimes we find ourselves recommending other processes, as your partner should be someone you can trust and leverage.

Ultimately, each project is unique. A commodity type part will likely not require the same level of quality in detail and precision as a multi-part medical device assembly. Finding a partner that can tailor a solution to your specific needs will help you to reduce costs while meeting quality requirements consistently.

At Productive Plastics, we go to great lengths to ensure quality

  • ISO 9001:2008 certified thermoformed plastics manufacturer and designer
  • Lean Manufacturing committed enterprise – Implemented 1998
  • Comprehensive Quality Management System (QMS)
    • Over 6 decades of thermoforming process and quality refinement (oven calibration and thermal environment management, ultrasonic measurement of material sag, and more)
    • Industry leading quality management procedures in every stage of the manufacturing process from design to delivery – High level of documentation, standardization, and tracability.
  • Tooling and Design
    • Dedicated part and tooling engineering team managing supplier performance and tooling construction. Design reviews to ensure expectations are met.
  • Investment in Technology
    • Continual investment in technology, such as the newest sensors, to ensure repeatability.

Have more questions about the role of quality manufacturing for your parts and components? Interested in exploring plastic thermoforming solutions for your OEM product?

Please contact us.

Please contact Productive Plastics for more information on the thermoforming process

Lean Principles in Plastic Thermoforming Design

Most people familiar with the manufacturing industry associate the words “Lean” and “Process Improvement” with operations directly on the manufacturing floor. However, a manufacturer that strives to be a Lean Enterprise incorporates the practice of perpetual improvement and reducing waste (resources or time spent on non-value added functions) to every facet of their business.

One of the processes that is both critical to a project’s success and an ideal candidate for lean practices is the design engineering process. This is where customer designs are matched and adapted to the appropriate thermoforming technique, material selections are made, and proper tooling is assessed or engineered, setting the stage for a successful part run. This is a process with many variables that can have a large impact on quality, lead time, and cost.

What are the benefits of working with a manufacturer that utilizes Lean practices in the design process?

  • Working with a manufacturer that has standard operating procedures and practices documented and employed to take your project from design to production as quick as possible while avoiding common pitfalls and any non-value added endeavors
  • Design assistance for a seamless transition from the client’s required design specifications to a thermoforming process ready design
  • Savings in cost and time
  • Increased part quality and lower part defect rate

How does Productive Plastics apply lean principles to the design process?

As an example of how lean principles and process improvements can be applied to design practices in the thermoforming process, reference the chart below for functions we have identified as actual or potential waste, the actions we have implemented to eliminate or mitigate waste, and the results.

Identified Waste Process Improvement Result
Waiting

 

• Late tooling and assembly component quotes and delivery from suppliers

• Incomplete/inaccurate data

• Concurrent Engineering

 

• Gantt Chart Development

• Standard Operating Procedures & Guidelines

• Reduced lead time

 

• Reduction in resource utilization

Unnecessary/Incorrect Processing

 

• Incorrect material or process selection

• Incorrect manufacturing technique

• Early involvement and collaboration with client in part design

 

• Value Engineering Review

• Reduced lead time

 

• Maximize part consolidation and weight reduction

• Reduced defect rate

• Potential cost savings

Unnecessary Movement

 

• Development and design process requires revision due to inaccurate information

• Standardized Contract and Scope Review

 

• Standardized Design Review and collaboration with client engineering

• Define & discover collaboration

• Reduced lead time

 

• Reduction in resource utilization

Defects • Standardized Design Review and collaboration with client engineering

 

• ISO Certification

• Reduced lead time

 

• Reduced defect rate

• Potential cost savings

Unused Team Resources

 

• Losing time, ideas, skills, and improvements by not engaging employees

• Investment in people and company culture

 

• Company core values

• Collaborative planning, goals, and accountability

• Maximize employee engagement

 

• Reduced lead time

• Expertise and professional development within employee group

Productive Plastics is top contract manufacturer for heavy gauge thermoforming, including vacuum forming and pressure forming. Contact us or request our complimentary thermoforming design guide for more information.

Please contact Productive Plastics for more information on the thermoforming process
Please download our complimentary thermoforming design guide for more information on the thermoforming process

Lean Culture, Process Control, & Improvement

You may have heard the saying “If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Well, at Productive Plastics, we take this saying literally, and since we are always striving for innovation, efficiency, and a superior quality thermoforming, we are constantly evolving our business practices and processes to achieve these goals. Since 1998, Productive Plastics has adopted a lean culture approach to our business both on and off the manufacturing floor and, in recent years, we have integrated TPS (Toyota Production System) as the means to implement lean tools and practices.

What is lean?

“The core idea is to maximize customer value while minimizing waste. Simply, lean means creating more value for customers with fewer resources.

A lean organization understands customer value and focuses its key processes to continuously increase it. The ultimate goal is to provide perfect value to the customer through a perfect value creation process that has zero waste.” Lean Enterprise Institute

So what does this mean for your project?

From experience, we have learned that the benefits of this approach are, in fact, tangible for both the customer and the manufacturer. Substantial reduction of lead time, associated costs, and attaining a consistently high part quality are just a few of the advantages resulting from a truly lean approach to manufacturing and business.

Look for further content in the near future exploring in greater detail some of the features and benefits of working with a manufacturer that utilizes lean techniques in the design and manufacturing process. You can also visit our lean plastics manufacturing page for more information.

Looking for more technical information?

Download the Thermoforming Design Guide, Process Comparisons, Conversion Guides, and other useful thermoforming information from our technical resource library.

Contact Us

Ready to explore how Productive Plastics can add to the success of your project?