Beaverton is known as the Plastic Thermoforming capital of the world.

Thermoforming has benefited from applications of engineering technology, although the basic forming process is very similar to what was invented many years ago.

Thermoforming differs from injection molding, blow molding, rotational molding, and other forms of processing plastics.

In addition, the CNC router helps in the thermoforming of plastics by automating the trimming process.

Thin-gauge thermoforming is primarily the manufacture of disposable cups, containers, lids, trays, blisters, clamshells, and other products for the food, medical, and general retail industries.

Thick-gauge thermoforming includes parts as diverse as vehicle door and dash panels, refrigerator liners, utility vehicle beds, and plastic pallets.

Throne JL 1996 Technology of Thermoforming (Munich: Hanser)

Heavy gauge thermoforming is typically used for production quantities of 250 to 3000 annually, with lower tooling costs and faster product development than competing plastic technologies like injection molding.

Superplastic sheet thermoforming has been identified as a standard processing route for the production of complex shapes, especially and are amenable to superplastic forming (SPF).

J.L. Throne, Understanding Thermoforming, Hanser Gardner Publications, Inc., Cincinnati OH, 1999.

The Industrial Thermoforming Business: Review and Outlook, Plastics Custom Research Services, Advance NC, 2004.

Maurice Rauch, chairman of General Thermoforming of Yonkers, has been using the Yonkers Rehabilitation Center workshop for 10 years to blister-pack items for his company.

Thermoforming is a manufacturing process where a plastic sheet is heated to a pliable forming temperature, formed to a specific shape in a mold, and trimmed to create a usable product.

Due to how similar PSM is to other plastics (such as polypropylene and CPET), PSM can run on many existing thermoforming and injection molding lines.

Truckenmüller R, Rummler Z, Schaller T and Schomburg WK 2002 Low-cost thermoforming of micro fluidic analysis chips J. Micromech.

In the most common method of high-volume, continuous thermoforming of thin-gauge products, plastic sheet is fed from a roll or from an extruder into a set of indexing chains that incorporate pins, or spikes, that pierce the sheet and transport it through an oven for heating to forming temperature.