At Plastic Components Inc. (PCI), we've perfected the art and science of creating custom thermoformed plastic parts with solid-colored plastics, including ABS, HDPE, and KYDEX® materials, just to name a few. With over 50 years of thermoforming experience, we've witnessed firsthand how solid color molding transforms manufacturing efficiency and design possibilities.
Our technical expertise in working with various materials allows us to deliver colored components that maintain their appearance throughout their service life, even in the most demanding environments.
The PCI Advantage in Solid Color Thermoforming
As medium and heavy gauge thermoforming specialists, we utilize solid-colored sheets as the foundation for many of our most successful projects. These materials feature consistent coloration throughout the entire sheet thickness—not just on the surface. This homogeneous color structure means that even if a component gets scratched or abraded during use, the exposed underlayer maintains an identical color to the surface, effectively disguising damage and extending aesthetic lifespan.
This approach represents a significant advancement over traditional post-finishing methods. When our engineers review a new project, we often recommend solid-colored materials as a superior alternative to painted or laminated finishes. The benefits are immediate and long-term—faster production cycles, enhanced durability, and consistent appearance throughout the product lifecycle.
Our Color Selection Process
When you partner with PCI for colored thermoformed components, our team guides you through a comprehensive color selection process. We maintain an extensive library of standard colors for immediate reference, but our color-matching capabilities extend far beyond these options. Working closely with our material suppliers, we can develop custom-matched colors to your specifications, ensuring perfect alignment with your brand standards or existing components. We can match to RGB, Hex, and RAL codes or existing paint chips.. Completing more than one batch of color matching is often required as gloss, texture, and lighting conditions can affect how color is perceived.
Our color selection process includes:
- Initial consultation to understand application requirements and environmental factors
- Sample evaluation under various lighting conditions relevant to the end-use environment
- Consideration of regulatory requirements for specific industries (healthcare, transportation, etc.)
- Evaluation of color stability requirements based on UV exposure, cleaning protocols, and expected service life
- Material grade selection to balance color requirements with mechanical performance needs
For clients in sectors like healthcare, transportation, and retail, where brand consistency is paramount, we can achieve exact color matching with Delta E values under 1.0—virtually indistinguishable to the human eye from reference standards.
Technical Expertise in Processing Colored Materials
Processing solid-colored materials requires specialized knowledge and equipment that we've refined over decades of thermoforming experience. Our temperature-controlled forming environment ensures consistent results across production runs, while our multi-zone ovens provide precise heat control critical for maintaining color integrity during the forming process.
Our engineers have developed specific parameters to optimize appearance and performance. Darker colors often require slightly different heating profiles than lighter colors to prevent overheating, which could affect color presentation. By carefully monitoring and controlling sheet temperature, we ensure uniform heating and consistent color results.
Industry-Specific Applications
Healthcare Solutions
Our healthcare clients particularly value the solid-colored KYDEX® or ROYALITE® components we produce for their facilities and equipment. Medical equipment housings benefit from the material's inherent chemical resistance and color-throughout properties. These components withstand frequent cleaning with harsh disinfectants without color degradation or surface damage, maintaining their appearance despite constant use.
The antimicrobial properties in specific formulations provide an additional advantage for healthcare applications, combining aesthetic longevity with enhanced infection control capabilities. These materials contribute to healing environments while meeting stringent regulatory requirements when combined with appropriate textures.
Transportation Components
For our transportation industry clients, we utilize other solid-colored KYDEX®, ROYALITE®, or BOLTARON® materials to create durable, lightweight components that maintain their appearance throughout years of service. These materials, from mass transit wall panels to recreational vehicle components, provide the ideal combination of aesthetic control and performance properties.
The fire-rated grades such as KYDEX® 6200 or ROYALITE® R59 allow us to meet demanding transportation industry standards while providing a solid color advantage. The consistent color throughout the material means that components maintain their appearance even after years of passenger contact without revealing a different base color at wear points.
Retail and Commercial Applications
Our retail clients leverage our colored thermoforming capabilities to create branded environments with precise color matching across multiple components. Point-of-purchase displays, kiosks, and architectural elements in solid-colored ABS or Polystyrene maintain brand consistency while withstanding the rigors of public spaces.
Combining specific colors with textures allows us to create distinctive tactile and visual experiences that enhance brand perception. From high-gloss finishes that amplify color depth to matte textures that reduce glare and fingerprints, we help retail clients optimize appearance and functionality.
Quality Assurance for Color Consistency
Our comprehensive quality control program ensures color consistency throughout production. Our technicians inspect parts under controlled lighting conditions against master samples ensuring that what looks correct in our facility will look equally correct in yours.
We maintain color standards and detailed process parameters for long-term projects or programs with multiple production runs to ensure consistency over time. Our suppliers track color management against historical color data, allowing us to maintain precise color matching even for replacement parts manufactured years after the original production run.
Economic Advantages of Our Approach
When clients partner with PCI for solid-colored thermoformed components, they often discover significant economic advantages compared to traditional post-production finishing approaches. By eliminating secondary painting operations, we reduce overall production time by 30-50% while removing potential quality issues associated with paint adhesion or surface preparation.
Though solid-colored materials may have a higher initial cost than uncolored alternatives, the total manufacturing cost is more economical.
Our comprehensive approach considers all aspects of production and lifecycle costs:
- Elimination of painting or laminating steps and associated labor
- Reduced production time and faster time-to-market
- Lower rejection rates from finishing defects
- Extended aesthetic lifespan, reducing replacement frequency
- Consistent appearance throughout the product lifecycle, enhancing brand perception
For many of our clients, these combined advantages translate to 10-25% lower total costs than traditional finishing approaches and superior long-term performance.
Mass Transit Interior Components
We produced wall panel systems for a major mass transit manufacturer using solid-colored KYDEX® materials custom-matched to their branded interior design scheme. The through-colored material has withstood five years of continuous service while maintaining its appearance despite daily cleaning and passenger contact. The client reports significant maintenance cost savings compared to previous painted panels that required regular refinishing to maintain appearance.
Medical Equipment Housings
A medical equipment manufacturer transitioned from painted housings to solid-colored KYDEX® components after experiencing issues with paint chipping during transportation and installation. The solid-colored parts have eliminated these issues while reducing their manufacturing lead time by three weeks. The components withstand frequent disinfection with hospital-grade cleaners without degradation, maintaining precise color matching with their established brand standards.
Retail Kiosk Program
Custom-colored components were developed for a national retailer's self-service kiosk program that matched their brand standards across multiple thermoformed parts. The solid-colored material proved ideal for high-traffic retail environments, maintaining its appearance despite constant customer interaction. The client has documented a 40% reduction in field replacement of components compared to their previous solution using painted parts.
At PCI, we continuously explore advancements in colored material technology and processing techniques. Our ongoing development work focuses on expanding the possibilities of solid-colored thermoforming through several initiatives:
- Partnering with suppliers that incorporate advanced color technologies that enhance UV stability for outdoor applications
- Developing optimized forming techniques for specialized part production
- Creating efficient processes for multi-color components that maintain the solid-color advantage
- Exploring novel texturing approaches that enhance color perception and tactile experience
Through collaboration with our material suppliers and customers, we continue to push the boundaries of what's possible with solid-colored thermoforming. Our commitment to innovation ensures that we remain at the forefront of colored component manufacturing, delivering solutions that combine aesthetic excellence with outstanding performance.
Partner with PCI for Your Colored Component Needs
With our extensive experience in thermoforming solid-colored materials, PCI is ideally positioned to help you leverage the advantages of this technology for your applications.
Our team provides the expertise and capabilities to optimize aesthetics and performance from initial design consultation through production implementation.
Contact our engineering team today to discuss how our approach to solid-colored thermoforming can enhance your products while streamlining your manufacturing process.
With color integrated throughout the material's thickness, our components maintain their appearance even under challenging conditions, providing lasting value and performance that reflects positively on your brand.
