How much does it cost · thermoforming
The price of a thermoformed part is built from four items: the sheet and its scrap, mold amortization, machine time and trimming (source: DFMA, March 2026). Boothroyd Dewhurst, publisher of the DFMA software, gives sheet prices of $1.00 to $5.00 per pound depending on the resin, 20 to 50% scrap, cycles of 15 to 120 seconds and a machine rate of $40 to $100 per hour (source: DFMA, March 2026). In its example of a $9.31 ABS housing, material accounts for 77% of the part cost (source: DFMA, March 2026). RFQdecoder uses these data, converts them to euros and kilograms, and keeps the mold out of the part price: it is declared as tooling.
The principle is the same for vacuum forming and pressure forming: a plastic sheet is heated, formed over a mold, and the part is then trimmed. DFMA describes a sheet heated to its softening point, clamped over the mold, then drawn into the cavity by vacuum or compressed air, where it cools against the mold surface (source: DFMA, March 2026). Pressure forming adds compressed air and reaches roughly 60 psi, against about 14.7 psi of atmospheric pressure for vacuum forming (source: PCI, July 2026).
For each part, the tool counts:
When no sheet is specified, the medium sheet is used; when no trimming method is given, semi-automatic. The quote says so. When several parts are formed together on the same mold (several cavities), the cycle is shared between them. Costs published in dollars are converted to euros at the European Central Bank reference rate of the day (source: ECB, October 2026), and prices per pound are converted to prices per kilogram, one pound being 0.4535924 kg (source: NIST, August 2025).
These items follow the formula published by DFMA: part cost = sheet cost divided by its utilization, plus mold cost divided by mold life, plus machine rate multiplied by cycle time, plus trimming cost (source: DFMA, March 2026). RFQdecoder leaves the mold term out of the part price: the mold is declared as tooling.
Sheet prices published by DFMA, by resin (source: DFMA, March 2026):
Converted to kilograms (source: NIST, August 2025) and to euros at the reference rate of 2 October 2026, €1 for $1.1225 (source: ECB, October 2026), these prices give €1.96 to €2.95 per kg for HIPS, €2.95 to €5.89 for ABS, €3.93 to €7.86 for PETG and €5.89 to €9.82 for polycarbonate.
The part only takes part of the sheet that is bought. According to DFMA, the web between parts and the trim perimeter mean that only 50 to 80% of the sheet ends up in finished parts: 20 to 50% becomes scrap (source: DFMA, March 2026). BRT USA, a thermoformer in Greenville, South Carolina, puts it this way: thermoforming buys sheet, not net part weight, and the skeleton left after cutting, plus startup scrap, is part of the cost (source: BRT USA, July 2026). The thermoforming machine builder GABLER Thermoform puts scrap across the thermoforming industry at 15 to 30% of material input, depending on application, tooling and machine; the figure mainly reflects skeleton left after cups, lids or trays are punched out (source: GABLER Thermoform, August 2026).
Scrap can be reground and blended into new extruded sheet, standard practice in heavy-gauge work according to the thermoformer PCI (source: PCI, July 2026); GABLER describes granulating it directly on the line (source: GABLER Thermoform, August 2026).
Material weighs heavily: 77% of the part cost in the DFMA example of an ABS housing, with 30% scrap on that geometry (source: DFMA, March 2026), and often roughly half or more of the piece price according to BRT USA (source: BRT USA, July 2026).
The cycle includes heating, forming, cooling and part extraction, but not trimming, which is costed separately (source: DFMA, March 2026). Durations published by DFMA (source: DFMA, March 2026):
The published machine rate runs from $40 to $100 per hour, equipment and overhead included (source: DFMA, March 2026). At a 60 s cycle, a machine runs 60 cycles per hour; at 90 s, 40. BRT USA describes the same arithmetic, hourly rate divided by parts per hour, and notes that quotes mostly diverge on the assumed cycle time and scrap rate (source: BRT USA, July 2026). DFMA quantifies the sensitivity: 20 extra seconds of cycle on an $80 per hour machine add $0.44 per part (source: DFMA, March 2026).
Thickness lengthens the cycle: thicker material takes longer to heat and longer to cool (source: PCI, July 2026). Toolcraft Plastics, a thermoformer in Swindon, United Kingdom, publishes heating times of 40 s for 1 mm ABS, 80 s for 2 mm, 120 s for 3 mm and 160 s for 4 mm, and 60 to 240 s for 1 to 4 mm polycarbonate (source: Toolcraft Plastics, June 2025). The page does not state which machine is used. For ABS of 3 mm and above and polycarbonate of 2 mm and above, these heating times alone reach or exceed 120 s, the upper bound DFMA gives for the whole cycle: on thick sheet, ask the supplier for the actual cycle.
Trimming and finishing costs published by DFMA, per part (source: DFMA, March 2026):
According to BRT USA, in-line punch and shear trimming is faster and cheaper per part than offline 5-axis CNC trimming (source: BRT USA, July 2026). PCI adds that a simple perimeter cut trims quickly, while a part with dozens of holes, slots and mounting features occupies the router longer and costs more per piece (source: PCI, July 2026).
Assumptions (chosen for illustration, not taken from a source): vacuum-formed ABS cover, 0.60 kg per finished part, medium sheet on a shuttle machine, semi-automatic trimming, finishing included; order of 500 parts, with a single-cavity mold, then a two-cavity mold.
Published values used: ABS at $1.50 to $3.00 per pound, 20 to 50% scrap, 60 to 90 s cycle, machine at $40 to $100 per hour, semi-automatic trimming at $0.20 to $0.80, finishing at $0.20 to $0.50 per part (source: DFMA, March 2026); €1 = $1.1225 on 2 October 2026 (source: ECB, October 2026); 1 lb = 0.4535924 kg (source: NIST, August 2025).
Effect of quantity. In this calculation, the price per part does not depend on quantity: 5,000 parts cost ten times 500 parts, that is €15,800.00 to €52,300.00 with one cavity. What falls with quantity is the share of the mold, declared separately as tooling. With a mold declared at €4,000 (value chosen for illustration), the share per part is 4,000 ÷ 500 = €8.00 on 500 parts and 4,000 ÷ 5,000 = €0.80 on 5,000 parts. For reference, DFMA publishes $2,000 to $8,000 for a mid-volume cast aluminum mold (source: DFMA, March 2026).
The sheet makes up most of the spread: €2.21 to €7.07 per part, or 68 to 70% of the price per part at both ends. The scrap rate assumed therefore matters as much as the resin price.
The calculation described above covers the sheet and its scrap, machine time, trimming and finishing. The following items are not part of it; ask the supplier for them and add them to the displayed price:
DFMA publishes $1.00 to $1.50 per pound for HIPS, $1.50 to $3.00 for ABS, $2.00 to $4.00 for PETG and $3.00 to $5.00 for polycarbonate. At the ECB rate of 2 October 2026, ABS comes to €2.95 to €5.89 per kg. Add 20 to 50% scrap on top.
DFMA counts 20 to 50% scrap: only 50 to 80% of the sheet ends up in the parts. GABLER Thermoform puts thermoforming scrap at 15 to 30% of material input, depending on application, tooling and machine. Reground skeleton can go back into extrusion.
DFMA publishes 15 to 30 s for thin sheet on an in-line machine, 60 to 90 s for medium sheet on a shuttle machine and 90 to 120 s for thick sheet or deep draws. The cycle covers heating, forming, cooling and extraction; it is shared between cavities.
No: in RFQdecoder, the mold is declared as tooling. DFMA publishes $500 to $15,000 depending on volume and mold material, and places the advantage of thermoforming over injection molding below roughly 3,000 to 5,000 units.
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