Startup thermoformer emphasizes quick quotes, development times

Williamston, S.C. — Speed is everything at tForm Inc.

The startup low-volume custom thermoformer emphasizes slashing lead times for new products. Right out of the box — the company started production in January — it's guaranteeing customers will get quote in less than 24 hours.

Founder and CEO Ben Moore said speed is important because customers often don't consider the design of a thermoformed package for a new product until relatively late in the product development cycle.

Simply put, they don't want to wait months for a new package for a product that they want on the market right away.

“We identified a couple of problems in the thermoforming industry. We saw that it was a lazy, fragmented market. Customers were getting really upset with the ability to get a quote,” Moore said.

“We modeled ourselves after Proto Labs,” a Maple Plains, Minn.-based injection molder that specializes in rapid manufacturing, Moore said. “No one in thermoforming is doing that. We want to set the industry standard in thermoforming.”

In researching the business case for the startup, Moore and his team sent requests for quotes to dozens of North American thermoformers. They say it took an average of 11 days to get a quote back, and 12 weeks to start production.

TForm is small and lean, with just four full-time employees currently, which helps with the fast-turnaround strategy. But Moore not only expects tForm to grow quickly, he also says it will stick to the current strategy. In fact, the company is preparing for a system that gives even faster, instantaneous quotes, to potential new projects.

TForm uses software, advanced computer-assisted design and 3-D modeling, proprietary mold designs and lean manufacturing methods to achieve the 24-hour goal.

The company can start work with very basic information about a product that needs to be packaged — co-founder and Chief Sales Officer Harv Rettberg joking says that if a customer gives him a “box of rocks,” he can give them a package. Typically tForm will build aluminum molds for a project, but it doesn't charge for the mold — it bills customers for a set-up fee instead, and retains ownership of the mold.

On the manufacturing side, the company has three used Brown thermoforming machines. One is in production, after being rebuilt with new electronics. TForm is rebuilding the other two. The machines are being standardized to handle the company's optimized mold designs. When all the machines are running, the molds will be interchangeable among the machines. Moore said the company can change molds in about three minutes.

TForm's plant in Williamston is just outside Greenville, S.C., in an area that has been aggressively supporting startup businesses to replace the once-booming Upstate textile industry. Many of the local businesses are automotive-related — BMW, Michelin, Lear and others. Moore, Rettberg and partner Mark St. Denis all worked together at Champion Aerospace LLC in Liberty, S.C., before starting tForm.

Many of tForm's customers are automotive suppliers that need dunnage for sensitive parts.

Before starting the company, Moore enrolled in program called the Founder Institute in Greenville, which helps entrepreneurs bring their ideas to commercialization. The selective program required him to spend an average of 25 hours per week learning the ropes of starting a business.

In the process he networked with other entrepreneurs, and with Silicone Valley venture capital investors who may help tForm down the road. For now, though, the company is entirely self-financed by the four partners: Moore, Rettberg, St. Dennis and Scott Smith, the company's manager of plastic manufacturing.

“This is the first block in the foundation. We believe in our model. We believe it is scalable,” Rettberg said.

Moore added: “We can be a huge disruptor to a fragmented industry.”