5 Reasons Vacuum Forming Is Right for Your Project

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When deciding which production method you will utilize to create your concept, it can be difficult to know what various processes have to offer. 5 advantages of vacuum forming are:

  1. In comparison with injection forming and pressure forming, vacuum forming has the least expensive tooling costs.Vacuum form tooling utilizes a wide range of materials depending on the needs of the client, allowing flexibility in construction and costs according to the part runs required. Here at Lemac, as part of our design process, we carefully assess the needs of each client, ensuring we create tooling appropriate for both expense and production.
  2. Tooling completion and implementation in vacuum forming is far faster than in injection and pressure forming.This means your idea becomes a product in weeks, not months. Lemac is equipped with all of the in-house machinery we need to create a complete tool within days of design finalization and approval.
  3. Vacuum form tooling design modifications happen quickly and inexpensively. Vacuum form tooling is efficiently modified to suit any design changes required by the client. In most cases this means that as your customer’s needs change, or if problems arise with your initial concept, you can swiftly change your tooling to suit new specifications.
  4. Part runs can range from one to one thousand parts. Vacuum Forming allows a wide range of part production. This allows you to serve changing customer demands and test prototypes to ensure functionality.
  5. Vacuum forming allows for a huge range of part sizes, shapes, and colors. Whether your part is 1”x 1”x 1” or 10 ’x 10’x 3’, vacuum forming can accommodate that size. Lemac forms a variety of products from large sheets and enclosures to small, detailed parts. We utilize a multitude of plastics with different finish and color options, enhancing the look of our completed products.

If you would like to learn more about vacuum forming, or what Lemac has to offer you, please visit our website, http://lemacmfg.com.

Can We Make Your Life Easier?

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The current economic climate is such that we are all feeling limitations. Certainly the plastics and thermoforming industry are no exception to the overall trend. Most of us have had to make do with less time, people, and resources. It’s a challenging and oftentimes frustrating era to be a business trying to make a go of it.

Of course, it’s hard all the way around, for pretty much everybody these days. So here’s our promise. We promise not to be the fly in your ointment, the bump in your road, or the obstacle in your path.

When you call us, we’ll answer. When you write us, we’ll write back. If you need a part from us, we’ll make it happen.

We want to make your day better. What can we do in our business that would make your life easier? Let us know! We would love to hear from you at www.lemacmfg.com.

Fun with Thermoforming Machines!

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This Labor Day I was thinking not only about how grateful I am to have a job, but about how grateful I am that my job is something I enjoy doing. There is something fascinating to me about the various processes that we use in our thermoforming and tooling systems. The shop environment is one that is fairly new to me, and maybe that’s part of where my enjoyment comes from. Working with power tools and heavy equipment is a nice outlet for my Tomboy tendencies, but the most enjoyable thing is certainly the knowledge that we deliver high quality thermoformed parts to our customers.

The thermoforming process requires many pieces, all of which work together to create the finished part. Our ovens heat the plastic, the vacuum forms it to the mold which was tooled by the CNC, and that same CNC will, in many cases, do the finish work on the part. Working with all of these machines to create quality product is incredibly gratifying.  My favorite days here are the ones where I’m out in the shop, surrounded by our equipment, all of it humming away in the various tasks that equal beautiful part runs.

Come on in and take a tour of our facilities! We would love to show you how we get the job done!

Ob-sta-cles

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Obstacles

Every business runs into obstacles and this last week has been full of them for Lemac. I’m pretty sure we have a little gremlin running helter-skelter around the shop, blowing out gaskets and breaking crucial elements of our machines. It’s very hard to be patient and positive during weeks like the one we just had, when everything seems just a little harder than it needs to be.

But that’s the thing, in life there are always obstacles. No matter how much we wish it weren’t so, and that wish comes up a lot during trying times, roadblocks happen. How we handle them as individuals and as a team helps to define who we are as a company. The thing is, no matter how difficult the week or the task is we keep pushing through until the problem is solved. That’s who we are as a company. Now you could chalk it up to sheer stubbornness, but I like to call it perseverance. And it’s that perseverance that we bring to the table for our customers, time after time.

Have a problem that needs solving? Give us a call at 360-756-1720. After last week, we’re problem solving experts!

Saying Yes

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How many times do you catch yourself saying no during the day? As a parent to a child, as a pet owner to a pet, and as an employer or employee in any number of situations we all find the N-O word coming out of our mouths pretty often.

Sometimes no is necessary but often the problem with no is that it limits our options, closes doors, keeps us from expanding our boundaries and expectations. Much of the time, saying no is just about doing what’s been done before because that’s the way we’ve always done it.

Well, Lemac has dedicated itself to saying yes. That doesn’t mean we say yes to every harebrained scheme that’s presented to us, but it does mean that we say yes to challenges, to change, to higher expectations. It means we say yes to going the extra mile for our customers, that we embrace the chance to innovate new solutions to problems.

Saying yes means thinking outside the box, letting ourselves conceptualize ways around sticking and sticky points that present road blocks on the way to achieving our goals. It means coming to work every day with the belief that we can and will do amazing things.

Give us a call and let us say yes to you!

Environmental Stewardship

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Lemac Manufacturing Company Inc. has made its home here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest for 22 years. As such, we appreciate the stunning natural world around us and are committed to being responsible stewards of this amazing place.

One of the recycling programs Lemac is committed to is the reuse of all of the trimmings and flash created in our production processes. Working with plastics recyclers, we ensure that our excess plastic doesn’t go to land fills anywhere. 

Our latest certificate of Environmental Stewardship gave us some impressive facts about the effectiveness of our recycling program. From July of 2009 to June of 2010 we have saved 206 barrels of oil, 73156 KwH of energy, and 380 cubic yards of landfill space by recycling 25,340 pounds of plastic that would have otherwise simply been thrown away. We are proud of our efforts in this area and constantly strive to lessen our environmental footprint.

 While LMC doesn’t currently have customers who use biodegradable Bioplastics, we are very excited about the technology being developed in this field, and look forward to using those products in the future!

Redundancy

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Redundancy generally has negative connotations. No one wants to be the person repeating themselves, while the people around them fall into a mindless, drooling, stupor. In an industrial setting however, redundancy is actually a good thing, something that works in positive ways for our clients.

One of the main goals that Lemac achieved for itself  in 2009 & 2010 has been the addition of machines to its shop floor. This means we have repetition in most of our major production machinery, preventing our customers from getting left in the lurch due to mechanical failure. (Not that we expect these things, but if one doesn’t plan for Murphy, Murphy has a nasty habit of showing up.) It also allows us to crank out special express orders for customers who might have unexpected needs for part runs. Our move to 3890 Hammer Drive was a big part of this overall expansion of resource.

We intend to continue this repetition throughout our entire production floor, enabling us to decrease lead times and serve our clients more efficiently.

About Lemac Manufacturing

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Hello and welcome to Lemac Manufacturing’s news blog. 

First, a little bit about us. Lemac Manufacturing is a plastic thermoforming company located in Bellingham, WA.  We have been creating high quality thermoformed parts since 1989 for a variety of industries and applications.

Just recently we moved to a new facility, located at 3890 Hammer Drive. We are very excited about our new building. In the move we doubled our footprint and then some! This expansion has improved our efficiency and also allows us to move forward on larger projects in the future. 

If you are looking for a thermoforming company in the Northwest, come check out our website, www.lemacmfg.com. We would love to hear from you!