For many companies, 3D printing is the fastest way to turn an idea into a physical part. It allows engineers, designers, and product teams to test concepts quickly without committing to expensive tooling or long production timelines. Whether you are validating a design, creating a proof of concept, or producing a small batch of [...]
Arrowhead primarily sells to industrial clients or other manufacturers who purchase our thermoformed plastic parts or molded fiberglass parts only to resell them later as a stand alone item or part of a larger assembly. Our customers are typically manufacturers of some type of specialty vehicle, piece of equipment or product that gets sold [...]
In the world of custom plastic manufacturing, production volume, lead time, and part precision often determine the type of tooling used. For many thermoformers, especially when a plastic part must be produced on a rotary thermoforming machine, water-cooled aluminum tooling has traditionally been the only acceptable solution. This tooling type excels in high-volume environments [...]
Rut Roh Raggy, Our Dog has been Found… In life, sometimes things you have lost have a way of returning back to you. My grandfather had a business called Art Forms where he produced sculptures and artwork for various companies, municipalities and organizations. His work can still be seen all over Indiana, surrounding states [...]
The product design phase is one of the most critical steps in the overall product development process. Without a thoughtful and well-executed design, a molded fiberglass or thermoformed plastic part can quickly become expensive to manufacture, modify, and ship. On the other hand, a strategically designed part will transition smoothly from concept to production, [...]
When it comes to putting the finishing touches on your company’s product, multiple variables usually come into play. The finishing touches need to provide a look that fits your company’s image as well provide any functionality that may be required. Covers, guarding, skins, etc are usually utilized for this purpose. Many times these guards [...]
Plastic products are so common nowadays that you can find products made via plastic in nearly every store you walk into. Walk down the electronics aisle of any retail store and you are bound to find USB drives, memory cards, webcams, headphones, speakers, etc all made from plastic. Usually these products are all made [...]
Why not steel or aluminum? Metal materials such as steel, aluminum and others have been used for years in many different industries. Each of these materials has its strengths but these strengths come at a cost. Thus, I thought it would make sense to type up a little series of blog post showing some [...]
At Arrowhead Plastic Engineering, we operate 2 separate facilities in east-central Indiana. One plant specializes in fiberglass composites and the other plant thermoforms plastic parts. We are often asked, "What's the difference between the two." That's a great question with a complex answer. Fiberglass is what is considered a thermoset composite, whereas Thermoformed Plastic [...]
Arrowhead Plastic Engineering offers advanced 5-axis CNC routing services to support rapid, high-precision manufacturing across a wide range of industries. With seven in-house 5-axis CNC routers and one 3-axis CNC, all featuring 60" x 120" beds, Arrowhead delivers unmatched speed and versatility for cutting and trimming. These machines are capable of processing hardwoods, high- [...]
