Mouldless plastic processing is a manufacturing process suited for small and medium runs. It allows us to design various custom enclosure solutions for our clients at our factory near Le Havre:
- enclosures;
- housings;
- parts
Therefore, we work on numerous projects in sectors as diverse as beauty and health, industry, Smart Building, and IoT. We have notably worked on a request from an English design, research, and development office based in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire.
Indeed, this firm’s mission is to transform ideas into innovative products for commercialization. For one of its projects, it needed a plastic enclosure to protect electronic components, which could be manufactured very quickly. Our “Plastic Sheet Bending” technology met this criterion, so they contacted our team. After reviewing their request, we worked on a prototype, which was presented to and approved by them. Thus, we were able to start production, estimated at 100-200 units per year.
Plastic sheet bending, the most suitable process for this project
Our English client had specific criteria for this enclosure:
- a very rapid production time;
- custom design since standard models did not meet their needs;
- production in medium runs (100 to 200 enclosures per year). Therefore, mould-based plastic processing, or injection process, was not feasible for this project due to:
- its cost as it requires the design and manufacture of a mould;
- its longer timeframe because a mould must first be designed. However, our “Plastic Sheet Bending” technology well matched the criteria of this R&D office. Based on the absence of a mould, it allows us to quickly design and manufacture a custom plastic enclosure in dozens, hundreds, or thousands of units. It is also less costly as it is not necessary to invest in a mould, which would not be cost-effective for such quantities. Moreover, between each series, we can evolve the initial model at no extra cost by modifying the machining programs and manual assembly operation instructions.
Our client’s requirements for this plastic enclosure
For this project, in addition to the previously mentioned criteria – very rapid production deadlines, and custom manufacturing as there was no alternative with standard models – our client wanted:
- a painted finish;
- an enclosure designed to protect against water for electronics on the path of children’s carousel cars.
However, there were no other specific technical requirements (such as fire resistance). Therefore, we took only the above-mentioned requirements into account for the technical design of this custom plastic enclosure project. Being involved from the beginning, we were able to design a prototype that met our client’s expectations and budget, which they approved. Thus, they chose to trust us for the manufacture of their enclosure, with annual quantities of 100 to 200 pieces. To learn more about this product and our mouldless plastic processing technique, we invite you to contact us.
