Thermoforming & plastics processing

High-speed precision thermoforming and the processes that support it.

Scale-up

Process development & controls

Process windows, tooling strategy, and controls for high-speed precision thermoforming — whether you're starting up a new line or tightening an existing one.

Capacity

Line capacity planning

Realistic throughput modeling, bottleneck identification, and capital planning for adding capacity or retooling existing equipment.

New product development

Concept to commercial volume, without the usual wheel-spinning.

NPD

Concept-to-scale commercialization

From validating an early concept to moving a product line into full production. Medical device components, electronics packaging (carrier tape and thermoformed trays), food packaging, flexible film forming, and engineering resins.

Product lines

Product line expansion

Adjacent-market expansion, line extensions, and portfolio rationalization. When to build, when to buy, and when to walk away.

Advanced manufacturing processes

Bringing specialty processes in-house, or making them work better.

Laser

Laser processing

Evaluating and implementing laser systems for high-mix plastics work. (Previously cut RF metal-coated plastic shielding tooling cycle times from 6–12 weeks to 1–2 weeks on a production program.)

Coatings

Electroplating, sputtering, vacuum metalizing

Selecting the right metallization process for your application, qualifying equipment, and starting up or improving in-house capability.

Insourcing

In-sourcing strategy

When to bring a process in-house versus sub-contract. Capital, staffing, and quality trade-offs based on realistic volumes.

Medical

Medical device manufacturing

Scale-up of thermoformed medical device components, including cleanroom and documentation considerations for regulated production.

Enterprise systems & operations

Moving from spreadsheet operations to an integrated enterprise stack.

ERP

ERP implementation & rescue

Award-winning Aptean ERP implementation experience spanning sales, job orders, inventory, shipping, invoicing, and financials. Also available for rescuing in-flight implementations that are off the rails.

OEE

OEE measurement & advanced reporting

Standing up real-time OEE (availability, performance, quality), reporting dashboards, and a culture of using the numbers rather than generating them.

R&D strategy & sustainability

Standing up the R&D function, or pointing an existing one at the right things.

R&D

Building R&D as a function

Standing up R&D from scratch for a small manufacturer: charter, staffing, stage-gates, IP hygiene, and the ratio of near-term vs. long-horizon work.

Sustainability

Sustainability & circular economy

Plastics recycling and circular-economy initiatives, carbon-neutrality roadmaps, and cross-functional program management for sustainability work.

Who this is for

Manufacturers, 25–250 employees, especially in plastics, thermoforming, medical devices, and electronics.

If you're adding a new line, moving a product into volume production, or trying to figure out why your ERP implementation isn't landing, this is squarely in our wheelhouse.

Also see our HR practice →

Walk us through the problem.

Best way to start is a short note describing what you're trying to do and where it's stuck.

hello@mantisbusiness.com 630-715-4596