Beyond the sheer numbers, some of those jobs require a specific skillset and command commensurate compensation. Moldmaking is in that cohort, which is why Mantle’s technology is attractive to investors and customers alike. The TrueShape system reportedly delivers the accuracy, surface finish, and tool steel properties required for demanding tooling applications, while reducing tooling lead times and costs. Mantle has gathered some testimonials to back up that claim.

While job creation numbers grow, employers are scrambling to find skilled workers to fill those positions, and it’s only getting worse. More than two million manufacturing jobs could go unfilled by 2030, according to a study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute.

The Series C funding round was led by Schooner Capital, a Boston-based private investment firm, joined by its largest existing investors, including Fine Structure Ventures, Foundation Capital, Corazon Capital, 11.2 Capital, and Build Collective.

We are witnessing an increase in supply-chain complexity and a shortage of raw materials. This leads to more and more illegal copies of original components, which threaten the integrity and safety of consumers and of the industry relying on them.

Investors are bullish on Mantle’s metal 3D-printing system that reportedly can slash tooling costs by more than 65% and development cycles by as much as 90%.

The Swiss company is partnering with mould manufacturers and injection moulding companies to increase market awareness about this low carbon footprint, instant authentication method.

Editor in chief of PlasticsToday since 2015, Norbert Sparrow has more than 30 years of editorial experience in business-to-business media. He studied journalism at the Centre Universitaire d'Etudes du Journalisme in Strasbourg, France, where he earned a master's degree.

Typical solutions involve printing or laser etching. This can include batch and serial numbers, QR codes, special product features such as shapes, colours, or in-mould labels, security labels, material taggants and other additives.

Tooling made via Mantle’s TrueShape technology have produced millions of parts while reducing both tooling lead time and cost. Image courtesy of Businesswire.

Business, not surprisingly, is booming: Last year saw double-digit growth in shipments, according to San Francisco-based Mantle.

To mitigate these risks, savvy brands implement traceability and authentication of their products. Traceability identifies the path all the way to the place of production, while authentication ensures that the parts are original. The anticounterfeiting features must be identifiable as such by consumers, legal authorities, investigative teams or the brands themselves.

US government incentives and policies, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, along with geopolitical risks in various parts of the world that threaten global supply chains have buoyed near- and reshoring as well as foreign direct investment (FDI), according to a recent report from the Reshoring Initiative. The organization said that 2023 was the second highest year on record in terms of job creation linked to reshoring and FDI, adding 287,000 jobs based on its record keeping.

In this rapidly evolving technology landscape, being on top of the game for brands means not only creating functional, “green” and aesthetic products, but also making sure that the consumers and users are safe and satisfied and can easily differentiate originals from counterfeits.

“We purchased a Mantle system for two reasons — to reduce time-to-market for our products and to make our toolroom more efficient while attracting next-generation talent to Heyco,” commented Vice President of Operations Danny Anthony. “By using Mantle to print mold tooling, we have already brought a new product to market two months faster than we would have otherwise. We also increased the throughput in our toolroom by giving our toolmakers access to the latest technology that makes them significantly more productive.”

General Pattern, a fourth-generation, woman-owned low- to medium-volume plastics processor, adopted Mantle’s technology to enhance flexibility in building production tools at prototype lead times and minimize the need to build entire tools by toolmakers. Cost, lead time, and labor were significantly reduced: Using Mantle’s technology, the company was able to shave off 3.5 weeks of lead time in tooling fabrication and required just four active hours of a toolmaker’s time.

This solution was developed by the Swiss company Morphotonix, and is securing products in the medical, packaging, automotive and technical industries. By confirming the legitimacy of the products, it prevents safety hazards, malfunctions, and failures caused by illegal copies. This protects brands from damage to their reputation and potential legal liabilities. It also protects the manufacturers of moulded parts – they have an easy proof to identify an item produced on their moulds and on their premises.

Unlike labelling, printing or lasering parts, the nano-marking involves no consumables and no further part processing, while maintaining 100% of the original material composition. The Morphotonix solution was selected by the European Innovation Council (EIC) for its market potential and sustainable profile. A life cycle analysis proved that companies using this anti-counterfeiting technology save 1.7 tons equivalent CO2 emissions for 1 million Morphotonix-marked products, compared to using labels.

For moulded products, a new solution solves both issues with zero consumables and no post-processing. It provides anticounterfeiting with instant authentication and tracing of the part to the original mould cavity. It is based on engraving parts of the mould (inserts or cavities) with nano-precise features. Such features were previously only available for flat designs such as passport security. For three-dimensional moulds, the nano-features are created not with a laser, but by lithographical means. They are then transferred with a proprietary patented technology to hardened-steel inserts or cavities, from which they are replicated into the moulded parts.

"Mantle is poised to revolutionize the global tooling industry," said Alexandra Manick, principal of Schooner Capital. "The company’s advanced manufacturing platform, TrueShape, is proven to deliver significant cost savings and, more importantly, unprecedented speed for its customers. This paradigm-shifting solution is readily adoptable and sorely needed to address persistent skilled labor shortages and accelerate product development timelines for industrial toolmakers and OEMs worldwide,” said Manick.

Mantle, an innovator in applying metal 3D-printing technology to the fabrication of precision tooling, reports that it has reached a significant milestone by securing $20 million in Series C funding. This raises the company’s total funding to more than $61.5 million and marks a crucial step toward widespread adoption of its precision metal manufacturing technology, the company said in the announcement.

By focusing on printing tools for mass production rather than the parts themselves, Mantle said it has tackled the longstanding issues of high costs and lengthy production times associated with tool creation for mass production. This strategic shift has resulted in cost reductions for customers exceeding 65% and accelerated manufacturers' development cycles by up to 90%, it claims.

Heyco Products, a US-based manufacturer of wire protection products and electrical components, deployed Mantle technology for in-house molding and toolmaking.

With one of them, the nano-engraving behaviour was analysed in detail in long-term production. EMI Wissler, an Alsace-based company with expertise in processing of thermoplastic and composite materials, has been using the Morphotonix solution with a lifetime of over 1m cycles. Gautier Depiesse, the project manager, has verified that there is no change in moulding parameters, and that tooling maintenance is as simple as previously for a mirror-polished surface. Steel quality and surface finish are critical for the optical intensity of the diffractive security marking. Implementing it on ejector pins or inserts makes the re-furbishing of the security marking easier, while minimising the machine down-time by having a 2nd set of marked ejectors/inserts ready to be mounted once the 1st set reaches its warranty.

Due to their extraordinary precision of just tens of nanometres, the structures diffract light, similar to the visual effects of CDs. But the diffraction is now fully customised, with the logo or more complex design the brand chooses. Hidden security can be included via micro/nano-images and text, as well as laser-readable codes.

Continued reshoring of manufacturing coupled with the skilled labor shortage in the United States has created a uniquely attractive business opportunity for Mantle’s TrueShape technology.