“Plastic fabrication” is the step in the design and manufacturing process when a selected shaping or molding method turns raw polymer materials into finished products. The end goal in the plastic manufacturing business is to select the right fabrication method for the economical production of a wide range of goods fit for service in applications from simple household items to sophisticated industrial components. The fabrication process typically entails some combination of cutting, molding, welding, and assembly steps to achieve the desired plastic shapes and sizes.
The term “plastic fabrication” describes the process of creating, producing, and/or assembling custom-designed plastic products or high volume parts out of plastic or composite materials. Plastic fabrication includes a variety of processes:
- Plastic extrusion
- Plastic pultrusion
- Plastic welding
- Thermoforming
- Injection molding
- Rotational molding
- Blow molding
- Plastic CNC machining
- Vacuum casting
- Stereolithography
- Fused deposition modeling
- Selective laser sintering
“Plastic processing” and “plastic manufacturing” are other terms for plastic fabrication. This phrase can refer to any or all of the steps that go into shaping and molding plastic materials into finished goods. Due to plastic’s flexible nature and affordability, plastic fabrication enables the production of a variety of items used in many industries including consumer goods, automotive components, medical devices, and electronics.
