SPE Thermoforming Quarterly - SPE Thermoforming Division

Thermoforming Quarterly is a journal published quarterly by the Thermoforming Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers. The magazine is a great way to keep up with industry trends and developments. SPE Thermoforming Division members receive the magazine by mail four times a year. Non-members can access old issues here via PDF file. If you are not an SPE member this is a great reason to join! Become a member today to start receiving this valuable information in your mailbox.

We welcome objective, technical and related articles that provide valuable information to our community of thermoformers, toolmakers, material suppliers and OEMs. Articles are typically 1500-2000 words. We recommend viewing past articles for further guidance. All submissions should be in MS Word, 12-pt Times New Roman.

Artwork, illustrations, photos and graphics should be 300 dpi. We prefer .eps .jpeg and .pdf files

2025 Deadlines for content and artwork: First Quarter: February 14; Second Quarter: April 8; Third Quarter: August 15; Fourth Quarter: November 3.

Digital TQ Sponsorship Opportunities – NEW

Third Quarter 2025

Advancing Sustainable Beverage Closures: CapForming PET

While PET has proven successful in package manufacturing, forming PET caps presents unique challenges. Features such as tamper-evident bands often have thin wall thicknesses, and even top wall thicknesses are commonly reduced as low as 0.5 mm, resulting in a low wall thickness-to-flow length (t/L) ratio, a critical factor influencing mold filling performance (Kalpakjian & Schmid, 2009). In conventional injection molding (IM) and compression molding (CM) of PET, achieving consistent flow and dimensional stability has been difficult, leading to limited adoption of PET closures at scale. Meanwhile, polyolefin caps have evolved with slitting and folding processes but generally remain outside food-grade recycling loops (SACMI, 2025).

Origin Materials, leveraging its expertise in PET, bio-based polymers, polyethylene furanoate (PEF), and recycling technologies, developed CapForming, a thermoforming-based process for PET closure production. This innovation integrates PET closures into the existing PET recycling stream and enables mono-material caps compatible with global beverage bottle standards. PET caps produced using the CapForming process have successfully passed industry-standard performance tests, including tamper-evidence evaluations and Secure Seal Tests (SST). The initial version of closures is compatible with existing PCO 1881 bottle finishes and capping equipment, enabling straightforward substitution in high-speed filling lines. Success with PCO 1881 indicates scalability to additional neck finishes in the PCO and GME families.

How Equipment-as-a-Service Is Reshaping Industrial Markets

Over the past decade, a quiet but profound shift has taken place across manufacturing and industrial markets. What began as a fringe concept rooted in jet engine leasing and printer contracts has evolved into a full-fledged business model reshaping how equipment is sold, deployed, and supported. That model is Equipment-as-a-Service (EaaS), and it’s changing the rules of engagement for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), distributors, integrators and their customers.

At its core, EaaS challenges the assumption that ownership is necessary to derive value from equipment. Instead, customers pay for usage, whether measured in uptime, hours of use, or some other metric, while the manufacturer or a third-party provider retains ownership and bundles the asset with monitoring, maintenance, and support. The result is a recurring revenue model that rewards performance and long-term relationships over one-time transactions.
Complete articles are published in the magazine and mailed to SPE Thermoforming Division Members.

2025