Accelerating Packaging Innovation with 3D Printing

The Challenge

Creating conventional metal tooling for the blow molding of bottles is an expensive and time-consuming proposition. In a time where speed to market has never been so important in the consumer goods sector, food & beverage giant PepsiCo decided to adapt a hybrid model and set out to explore the possibilities of combining parts of a conventional metal mold with 3D printed inserts in order to redesign their bottle and package designs to fulfil customers desires.

The Solution

PepsiCo chose Nexa3D’s xPEEK147 from Henkel Loctite for the 3D printed tool inserts due to the material’s strength and impressive performance factors, including its very high heat-deflection temperature. PepsiCo found the ultrafast, high-throughput Nexa3D NXE 400 printer and accompanying material performance to be ideal for producing the mold components it needs.

Benefits

By leveraging 3D Printing and the additive process for the 3D printed inserts and combining this with parts of a conventional metal mold a complete mold set can be made in 12 hours, with 8 hours of 3D printing time and 4 hours of curing. These hybrid-made molds can then successfully be used for more than 10,000 bottles before failure – at up to a 96% reduction of cost compared to traditional metal tooling.