Initial and L’Oréal announced a promising collaboration to develop final material parts using 3D-printed moulds. Both companies have a taste for quality and luxurious products in the fields of cosmetics (for L’Oréal), jewellery and art (for Initial).
Reality shows that the development of new products to meet consumers’ specific and wide-ranging demands is a true challenge in the cosmetics industry.
Initial will therefore take advantage of its latest solution in this collaboration: 3D Molding®. According to the company, “with 3d molding®, 3d printing combined with injection moulding appears to represent a real opportunity”.
The challenges of this collaboration
Speaking about 3D printing, common challenges faced in collaborations is time and cost, which are also found in Initial and L’Oréal’s partnership. Indeed, both companies aim to produce “final material” parts, in two weeks (which will definitely be a record time) and at a limited cost, accelerating by this way approval and iteration processes for the development of new packaging.
Yvon Gallet, Initial’s Chairman, explains that they produce the 3D Printing mould and the final material parts are then directly injection-moulded. This solution is intended for designers in the development phase and complements the company’s traditional machining and injection solutions.
Combining 3D printing and thermoplastic injection-moulding: two production processes often seen as rivals
The production of “traditional” moulds requires lead times that are no longer compatible with the agility needed to innovate. This is where 3D printing proves faster.
This combination of machine and material comes from combining Prodways Technologies’ patented MOVINGLight® technology and Prodways Materials’ PLASTCure Rigid 10500 resin; a resin that offers accuracy and good resistance to injection-moulding constraints.
As part of this collaboration, L’Oréal is working in Initial’s facilities, an additive manufacturing site and a thermoplastic injection-moulding site.
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