Fast Validation

Total lead times for cast ceramic and machined aluminum molds, as well as machined or hand-crafted prototyping tools, can be as long as 16 weeks. Validate forms faster by 3D printing thermoforming molds in hours or days, dependent on the size. Additive manufacturing also gives companies the agility to respond quickly to a customers’ design changes and even to produce representative prototypes of the final part. 

Same mold for final production

With 3D Systems’ additive manufacturing technologies like EXT pellet extrusion, stereolithography (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS), and multi-jet printing (MJP), the same mold that is used during the validation process can be used for production, compounding the time and cost savings. 3D Systems thermoforming customers report pulling thousands of shots from 3D printed molds with little to no signs of wear or degradation of performance.

Cost-effective large thermoforming molds

Large thermoforming molds often come with especially long lead times and high costs when produced with traditional methods. EXT pellet-extrusion 3D printing, on the other hand, enables the use of highly functional thermoforming mold materials at the lowest possible cost with lead times measured in days instead of weeks.