Introduction to 20 Companies Producing In-Mold Decoration PC Film Substrates in 2023

IMD stands for In-Mold Decoration, also known as in-mold decorative embedded injection molding technology, which involves embedding a printed film into the injection mold cavity and then performing injection molding. The injection resin combines with the ink layer on the back of the film. Common types of IMD include IMR, IML, and IMF.

IMD products are known for their high clarity, three-dimensional feel, surface scratch resistance, the ability to change design patterns freely, enhanced aesthetic appearance, and the ability to reflect perfect irregular structures. They can also be integrated with flexible circuits to incorporate functions such as ambient lighting and display, widely used in products with high aesthetic demands such as mobile phone/laptop casings, home appliances, and automotive interiors.

Figure IMD process integrates ambient lighting and touch functions (taken at the Kurz booth, 2021 Rubber and Plastics Expo)

The film layer material for the IMD process needs to have excellent comprehensive performance, such as impact resistance, chemical corrosion resistance, wear resistance, ease of forming, high transparency, temperature resistance, high tensile strength, and printability.

Typically, the film layer material used in the IMD process is generally PET, but PET has poor formability, and the film deforms severely after forming, which can only produce shallow molded products of IMD;

As a film layer material, PMMA is difficult to form large curvature radii and complex structural features due to its brittleness;

PC has excellent comprehensive performance, with high impact strength, bending resistance, low water absorption, good dimensional stability, heat resistance, low-temperature resistance, and great application potential, but it has drawbacks such as stress cracking, poor wear resistance, and poor flame retardancy, which require blending modification to enhance performance;

Using PC/PMMA co-extruded composite film materials combines the high impact strength and bending resistance of PC materials with the hardness and wear resistance of PMMA materials, enabling the material to possess toughness, super hardness, wear resistance, high transparency, glossiness, and excellent electrical insulation, meeting the requirements of various high-pressure and thermal IMD/FIM processes.

Therefore, in the automotive industry, IML generally uses PC or PC/PMMA co-extruded films, while non-automotive industries can use PET. Automotive INS generally uses ABS/PMMA co-extruded films.

Introduction to 20 Companies Producing In-Mold Decoration PC Film Substrates in 2023

Figure Printed molded film

However, with the increasing environmental pressure and the rising consumer demand for interior quality, the IMD film forming process that can reduce pollution is being widely applied in automotive interiors and home appliances, benefiting film substrate companies. Next, we will introduce the production companies of polycarbonate blank films.

International

1. Covestro

Covestro offers Makrofol® PC films with high optical quality, good processing performance, formability, and dimensional stability. The perfect combination with in-mold decoration (IMD) and film insert molding (FIM) provides product surface design and durability, making personalized innovative designs possible, such as three-dimensional, seamless, and glass-like smooth surfaces, as well as integrated functions like ambient lighting, touch display, and sensing signals, widely used in automotive interiors and exteriors, home appliances, and mobile phones/laptops.

Website: https://www.covestro.com/

Figure Covestro has developed technology to seamlessly integrate functional films into designs. For example, 5D film insert molding (FIM) combines rear 3D structures with colors and decorations, thanks to the design freedom brought by printed Makrofol® films.

Covestro introduces its film business, welcome to scan to schedule a viewing.

2. SABIC

SABIC’s specialty film board department provides high-quality engineering thermoplastic films for various industries, including screen printing, consumer electronics, and automotive. Its industry-leading Lexan polycarbonate (PC) films have excellent optical performance and mechanical strength, consistent printability and processability, outstanding dimensional stability and ductility, allowing for extensive design flexibility and aesthetics, providing in-mold decoration (IMD) lamination for automotive interiors, home appliances, and consumer electronics.

Website: https://www.sabic.com/

3. MacDermid Enthone

MacDermid Enthone is a global leader in hard coatings and decorative fashion surfaces. Their XtraForm anti-glare film series, among others, has the best formability, excellent scratch and chemical corrosion resistance, and supports applications in film insert molding (FIM), in-mold electronic (IME), capacitive switches, integrated displays, and touch screens, enabling complex 3D deep forming and small R angles, providing an effective cost-saving solution for achieving diversified matte textures or anti-glare and high-gloss surfaces in automotive interior parts.

Website: https://industrial.macdermidenthone.cn/

Figure MacDermid automotive films and their applications

4. Sumitomo Chemical

Sumitomo Chemical is one of the largest PMMA producers in Asia. Technoloy® is a high-quality, high-performance film/thin plate product made using Sumitomo Chemical’s multilayer extrusion and low-strain forming technology, applicable to various applications such as optical and decorative, including automotive interior surface materials, mobile phone and various home appliance surface materials, building material surface materials, and display/touch panel protection plates, suitable for in-mold insert injection (IML) and in-mold decoration technology (IMD) forming.

Website: http://www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp/

Figure Technoloy® film grades and basic characteristics introduction

5. Kuraray

Kuraray’s optical-grade composite sheet PARAMIGHTY™ made from PC/PMMA employs phase difference control forming technology, which does not produce black screens or significant color differences under polarized sunlight, widely used in display covers for vehicles and industrial control. The acrylic film PARAPURE™ has high transparency, weather resistance, whitening resistance, and is easy to form and process, widely used in construction decorative films, automotive interior decorative films, and other fields.

Website: http://www.kuraray.com.cn/

Figure Kuraray PC/PMMA composite board PARAMIGHTY™, acrylic film PARAPURE™

6. Dongshan Film

Dongshan Film Company was established in 1949, developing and producing various film products to meet customer needs, including PET films suitable for various printing methods, widely used in labeling appliances, switch buttons (films), etc., as well as various functional films with excellent formability and anti-reflective (AR) properties used in automotive central control, instruments, and head-up displays.

Website: https://www.hynt.co.jp/zh/

Figure Japanese Dongshan automotive functional films, sourced from Dongshan Film official website

7. Mitsubishi Chemical

Mitsubishi Chemical has been developing and producing PMMA resin films since 1975 by combining its polymer design technology and film forming technology. ACRYPLEN has excellent transparency, weather resistance, thermal forming, and composite processing properties, and can cut ultraviolet light. It can undergo thermal composite processing on plastic sheets or films made of PC, PVC, ABS, etc., and can also be vacuum formed, packaged, and processed in various ways. Its excellent thermal forming properties make it suitable for IML forming.

Website: https://www.m-chemical.co.jp/

8. Mitsubishi Gas Chemical

Mitsubishi Gas Chemical MGC uses its proprietary PC/PMMA co-extrusion technology to develop the MR film series, which has high transparency, excellent appearance, high hardness, and high weather resistance, capable of thermal forming, with small heating shrinkage and stable printing positions, suitable for IML/TOM forming.

Website: https://www.mgc.co.jp/

9. Kaneka

Kaneka Corporation, established in 1949, engages in the production of chemical products, functional resins, foaming resin products, food, life sciences, electronic materials, synthetic fibers, and more. Sunduren Film is a modified acrylic resin film made by combining Kaneka’s unique resin design technology with processing technology, featuring excellent long-term weather resistance, transparency, and superior vacuum forming performance, widely used in construction materials, retroreflective panels (road signs), automotive interiors, optical applications, etc.

Website: http://www.kaneka.com.cn/

Figure Sandulen film material detailed introduction

10. Isosport

Isosport is a global market leader in plastic composite materials for the skiing and snowboarding industry and is a reliable quality supplier of high-performance films, sandwich boards, fiber composites, and tennis strings. In addition to PC, PMMA, ABS, and other plastic substrates, Isosport also produces high-quality hot stamping foils used for thermal forming and FIM film insert molding.

Website: https://www.isosport.com/en/

11. Teijin

Teijin, established in 1918, is headquartered in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, and mainly operates in composite molding materials, aramid fibers, carbon fibers, films, resins, fiber products, and other materials businesses, as well as pharmaceuticals and IT businesses. Teijin’s polycarbonate resin sheet “Panlite” has the highest impact resistance among plastics, over 200 times that of glass, yet weighs only half as much as glass, and also has high transparency, making it an excellent engineering plastic sheet. It is easy to print, thermally form, and process, widely used in automotive printed parts and industrial materials.

Website: https://www.teijin-china.com.cn/

12. KIMOTO

Kimoto Tech is a leader in the research, development, and processing of solution-based chemical products, coatings, and adhesives, applying various flexible substrates through roll-to-roll (R2R) processes. For over 60 years, we have provided coating, lamination, and formulation solutions globally.

Our technical coatings (lighting, shading), adhesive coatings (pressure-sensitive, self-wetting, optical transparent), specialty coatings (conductive, ITO alternatives, antistatic), and customized multilayer structures.

Shenyang Kimoto Industry Co., Ltd. (SKI), established in 1991, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan’s KIMOTO set up in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China.

Website: https://www.kimototech.com/home-of-functional-films.html

Figure KIMOTO automotive film application range, sourced from KIMOTO official website

Figure KIMOTO automotive IMD/FIM processing hard coating, sourced from official website

LevSurf™ is a UV-curable film used for film insert molding (IMD/FIM), featuring excellent hardness and formability. Due to its high optical quality, it can replace display glass, reducing vehicle weight, thus helping to lower costs and carbon emissions.

13. BRIGHTVIEW

Bright View Technologies (BVT) was established in 2002, designing and producing advanced optical film products. In 2010, BVT was acquired by Tredegar Corporation, combining its micro-structured diffusion film expertise with the film production strength of the parent company, creating various products for lighting, display, automotive, electronics, and more.

BVT has developed various optical film products to address the rapid development of new lighting and display technologies, holding a leading position in the optical film industry. BVT combines advanced micro-structured diffusion film technology with film casting extrusion technology to supply various products, including diffusion films and reflective films, providing excellent light angle control, light efficiency, reflectivity, highlight hiding, and aesthetic effects.

Website: https://www.brightviewtechnologies.com/cn

14. Plazit-Polygal Group

Plazit-Polygal is a pioneer and global leader in the design, development, and manufacturing of thermoplastic sheets and profiles, known for their outstanding durability, strength, light transmission, ease of installation, and excellent quality. The new Plazit TOP sheets are ultra-high optical quality thin polymer sheets, the best solution for electronic instrument panels and screens, as well as for mobile phone screens/bottom covers, automotive dashboards, touch screens, panels, etc.

Website: https://www.plazit-polygal.com/en/

Domestic

15. Longhua

Sichuan Longhua Optoelectronics Film Co., Ltd., located in China’s Electronic Technology City – Mianyang, Sichuan Province, is a professional factory engaged in the research and production of polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and other optoelectronic films and sheets. It is one of the few manufacturers globally that produce both single-layer and multi-layer co-extruded PC/PMMA optical base films and various functional hardened coating deep processing film material systems.

Website: http://www.longhuafilm.com/

16. Suzhou Aomei

Suzhou Aomei Material Technology Co., Ltd. is a production base for optical films made from polycarbonate (PC), integrating R&D, manufacturing, sales, and service. Its products are used in optical electronics, flat displays, medical devices, high-speed rail aviation, automotive components, security anti-counterfeiting, image printing, and other fields.

Website: http://www.pc-film.com

17. Daoming Optics

Daoming Optics Co., Ltd. was established in 2002, specializing in the research and production of various reflective materials and reflective products, becoming the largest producer in the domestic reflective materials industry (annual output of 40 million square meters), with the strongest R&D capability (25 invention patents), the highest-end products (self-developed micro-prism reflective film breaking the long-term monopoly of foreign countries), and the most complete range of products (over 100 types), making it a high-tech enterprise in manufacturing reflective materials, lithium battery packaging films, functional optical films, and other extended products.

Website: http://www.chinadaoming.com/

18. Dafu New Materials

Foshan Dafu New Materials Co., Ltd. was established in 2009, specializing in the R&D and manufacturing of polycarbonate PC, polymethyl methacrylate PMMA, and PC/PMMA composites and other films/sheets, with an annual output exceeding 20,000 tons, widely used in mobile phones, automobiles, LCD displays, printing, coating, film switches, lighting, decoration, and other industries.

Dafu New Materials PC/PMMA composite boards (films) are used as general base films for various high-pressure and thermal IMD/FIM forming processes, such as automotive control components, interior parts, various instrument panels, optical instruments, etc., and can be hardened for use in mobile phone back covers, touch screens, etc.

Website: http://www.gddafu.com/

19. Tianchang Technology

Shenzhen Tianchang Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2007, focusing on polycarbonate films (PC film), polypropylene films (PP film), and other related chemical plastic films. Its products include PC films, flame-retardant PC films, frosted PC films, high-temperature resistant PC films, transparent PC films, PP films, PC+PMMA composite boards, ABS+PMMA composite boards, etc.

Website: http://www.teesun.com.cn/index.php

IMD products are known for their high clarity, three-dimensional feel, surface scratch resistance, the ability to change design patterns freely, and enhanced aesthetic appearance, widely used in mobile phone casings, home appliances, automotive interiors and exteriors, and other products with high aesthetic demands. IMD processes have various names such as IML (FIM)/INS/IMR, to promote rapid industry development, welcome to join the Aibang IMD/IML communication group, with main members including: OEMs, mobile phones, home appliances, and other terminals, touch film switches, conductive inks, IMD processing, IMD films, etc.

Event Recommendation: The 4th Automotive Interior Smart Surface Summit Forum (April 14, Shenzhen)

Conference Topics:

Time Schedule	Topic	Invited Guests
8：45~9：00	Welcome Speech	Aibang Founder Jiang Yaogui
9：00~9：30	The Development Trend of Automotive Interior Surfaces Combined with Light and Electricity	Central Academy of Fine Arts
9：30~10：00	Exploring the Development Trend of Future Interiors Combined with Automotive HMI Products	BYD
10：00~10：30	Tea Break
10：30~11：00	Application of Innovative Film Technology in Automotive Smart Interior Surfaces	Dongshan Film
11：00~11：30	Innovative Applications of Inks in Automotive Smart Interiors	Marubeni Technical Manager Xi Shikun
11：30~12：00	Introduction of Detection Solutions for Smart Surfaces in Automotive Interiors	Konica Minolta
12：00~13：30	Lunch
13：30~14：00	Innovative Ideas for Smart Surface CMF in Automotive Interiors in the Post-Pandemic Era	GAC Research Institute Design Manager Wang Fang
14：00~14：30	Introduction of Crystal Glass Technology and Case Studies in Automotive Interior Applications	New Sun Ren
14：30~15：00	Make the Smart Surface Unique in Automotive	Kurz PolyIC Project Manager Bao Zhenyu
15：00~15：30	Feasibility Discussion of IME In-Mold Electronics in Automotive Smart Surfaces	Hesheng Chuangjie
15：30~16：00	Tea Break
16：00~16：30	Introduction of Development Application Cases for Innovative Smart Interiors & Smart Surfaces	Faurecia
16：30~17：00	Application of Smart Surfaces in the Automotive Industry	Elma Marketing Director Wei Pang
17：00~17：30	Application of Transparent Real Wood Texture Technology Solutions on Smart Surfaces in Interiors	Chengfeng Technology
17：30~18：00	Technical Solutions Analysis for Virtual Touch Solutions in Smart Cockpits	Dongchao Technology
18：30~20：00	Dinner