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Dordan Manufacturing, a custom thermoformer of packaging, gears up this week as its 60th anniversary fast approaches. Daily games reward winners with tokens of the company's affection, like gift cards and baskets. The anniversary on October 19th and the following celebrations are timely, as all need a period of levity after this years' manufacturing challenges.

Below are some photos from the daily festivities. There are many smiling faces, so enjoy!

Quality Manager holds spinner for Tooling Technician to determine his good fortune.

Dordan GM prepares to draw the winning raffle ticket

Dordan Manufacturing is based in Woodstock, IL. Local newspaper, the Woodstock Independent, published an article that highlights the custom thermoformer's progression over the last 60-years. 

The Northwest Herald, a McHenry County based publication, likewise published an article about Dordan's 60th anniversary, available here.

Dordan is a packaging design and manufacturing company that is third-generation family-owned and operated. Dordan began in Chicago, moving to Woodstock, IL, in the mid 1990s. The thermoforming company specializes in developing packaging like plastic trays, blisters, and clamshells, for the automotive, electronics, medical, and consumer end markets. 

Dordan has been designing custom thermoformed packaging since 1962, manufacturing packaging for electronics, automotive, medical, and consumer products. Over the last 60 years, market demands for thermoformed packaging have evolved in response to larger economic shifts and technological advancements. As a custom thermoformer, Dordan has evolved alongside these market shifts, as shown by the images below. Enjoy your walk through thermoforming time!

Woodstock, IL—October 19^th, 2022—Family-owned plastics thermoforming company, Dordan Manufacturing, celebrates 60 years of business as a packaging designer and manufacturer.

Dordan's CEO and President, Daniel Slavin, brings nearly 50-years of experience in custom thermoforming to this interview with Plastics Today.

Thermoform tooling is the metal tool (and other machined components) that forms heated plastic into clamshells, blisters, and trays. ‘Stock’ tooling means that the tool has already been made, is owned by the thermoformer, and the parts produced are of no customization. Examples of stock packaging include simple plastic blisters and clamshells with basic dimensions and generic cavities. Stock packaging is popular in the food and retail facing markets. There is typically no cost associated with stock tooling, aside from set up charges.

Woodstock, IL-- 60-year old custom thermoforming company, Dordan Manufacturing, hires a new packaging engineer, quality control inspector, and account executive to meet the growing demands of its customers. These new hires join some who have been at Dordan for decades, bringing new enthusiasm that marries well with the insight and experience of the legacy employees. While aging manufacturers struggle with the generational divide, 3rd-generation Dordan has found success attracting new talent by continuous investment in itself-- the people, processes, and equipment.

Plastics thermoforming seems rather straight-forward: You take heated plastic sheet, push it into and pull it over a CNC-machined tool, and then die cut the formed part from the plastic 'web'. While these fundamentals exist for all thermoformers, where they differ is in their commitment to quality.

In its most basic form, the degree to which a thermoformer strives to control the movement of the plastic throughout the conversion process demonstrates the company's commitment to quality. Be it by making a package that challenges the limitations of thermoforming, or developing complex tooling to hold tigher-than-standard tolerances, quality thermoformers strive for continuous improvement. However, it is not just equipment, technology, and talent that assists in these efforts; but also, a robust quality management system that is the blueprint off which all plans are drawn and executed.

Dordan is a custom thermoforming company that specializes in the design and manufacturer of high quality packaging, like dunnage trays for automation and medical tray packaging. With all design, tooling, manufacturing, and cleanroom thermoforming in house, Dordan is a nimble supplier that utilizes its ISO 9001: 2015 certified QMS to support its core capabilities of package design and manufacturing excellence.

Below are technical briefs on our engineering, tooling, thermoforming, and cleanroom manufacturing capabilities. You can download these tech briefs here.

When determining the appropriate material thickness for thermoformed packaging, one needs to consider the trade offs between performance and cost. Typically, the thicker the plastic, the more expensive the package. Thus, many strive to use the thinnest ‘starting gauge’—that is, the thickness of the plastic sheet before its thermoformed into a package. This approach, however, can beckon impediments to the form, fit, and function of the packaging.

It is easier to build a house from scratch then renovate an existing model. By understanding four fundamentals of the thermoforming process, packaging can be designed with a strong foundation, saving time and money.