Introduction to 20 Companies Producing In-Mold Decoration PC Films

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

IMD products are known for their high clarity, three-dimensional feel, scratch resistance, ability to change design patterns freely, enhance product aesthetics, and showcase perfect irregular structures. They can also be combined with flexible circuits to integrate ambient lighting, displays, and other functions, widely applied in high-aesthetic products such as mobile phone/laptop shells, home appliances, and automotive interiors.

Introduction to 20 Companies Producing In-Mold Decoration PC Films

Image IMD process integrating ambient lighting and touch function

The film layer materials used in the IMD process must have excellent overall performance, such as impact resistance, chemical corrosion resistance, wear resistance, formability, high transparency, temperature resistance, high elongation, and printability.

Typically, the film layer materials used in the IMD process are generally PET, but PET has poor formability, and the film deforms severely after forming, making it only suitable for shallow molded products in IMD;

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

PC has excellent overall performance, with high impact strength, bend resistance, low water absorption, good dimensional stability, heat resistance, and low-temperature resistance, showing great application potential. However, it has disadvantages such as stress cracking, poor wear resistance, and poor flame retardancy, requiring blending modification to enhance performance;

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

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

Image Printed molded film

With increasing environmental pressure and consumer demand for interior quality, the IMD film forming process that reduces pollution is becoming more 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 surface design and durability, enabling personalized innovative designs, such as 3D, seamless, and glass-like smooth surfaces, as well as integrated functions like ambient lighting, touch displays, and sensing signals, widely used in automotive interiors and exteriors, home appliances, mobile phones/laptops, etc.

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

Image Covestro Makrofol® PC film combined with IMD technology for automotive curved touch screen Introduction to 20 Companies Producing In-Mold Decoration PC Films

Image Covestro website about PC/PMMA film

2. SABIC

SABIC’s specialty film and sheet division provides high-quality engineering thermoplastic films for various industries including screen printing, consumer electronics, and automotive. Its industry-leading Lexan polycarbonate (PC) films feature excellent optical performance, mechanical strength, consistent printability, ease of processing, outstanding dimensional stability, and ductility, offering extensive design flexibility and aesthetics for automotive interiors, home appliances, and consumer electronics applications with in-mold decoration (IMD) coatings.

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

Image SABIC high-performance Lexan film series. Images from the official website

3. MacDermid Enthone

Introduction to 20 Companies Producing In-Mold Decoration PC Films

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

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

Introduction to 20 Companies Producing In-Mold Decoration PC Films Image MacDermid automotive films and their applications

4. Sumitomo Chemical

Introduction to 20 Companies Producing In-Mold Decoration PC Films

Sumitomo Chemical is one of Asia’s largest PMMA producers. Technoloy® is a high-quality thin film/product made using Sumitomo Chemical’s multilayer extrusion and low strain molding technologies, suitable for various applications such as optical and decorative uses, including surface materials for automotive interiors, mobile phones, and various home appliances, as well as surface materials for building materials, display/touch panel protective sheets, etc., applicable for in-mold inserts (IML) and in-mold decoration technology (IMD) molding.

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

Image Technoloy® film grade and basic characteristics introduction

5. Kuraray

Kuraray’s optical-grade composite sheet PARAMIGHTY™, using phase difference control molding technology, does not produce black screens or significant color differences under polarized light, and is widely used in display covers for vehicles and industrial controls. The acrylic film PARAPURE™ features high transparency, weather resistance, whitening resistance, and ease of processing, widely applied in architectural decorative films and automotive interior decorative films.

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

Image Kuraray PC/PMMA composite sheet PARAMIGHTY™, acrylic film PARAPURE™

6. Mitsubishi Chemical

Mitsubishi Chemical has been developing and producing PMMA resin films since 1975, combining its polymer design technology with film molding technology. ACRYPLEN features superior transparency, weather resistance, heat forming, and composite processing capabilities, as well as the ability to cut ultraviolet light. It can be thermally compounded on plastic sheets or films made from PC, PVC, ABS, etc., and can be vacuum formed and processed for various applications. Its superior heat forming is very suitable for IML molding.

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

7. Mitsubishi Gas Chemical

Mitsubishi Gas Chemical MGC utilizes its proprietary PC/PMMA co-extrusion technology to develop MR film series with high transparency, high-quality appearance, high hardness, and high weather resistance, suitable for thermal forming, featuring small heating shrinkage and stable printing positions, applicable for IML/TOM molding.

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

8. Kaneka

Kaneka Corporation, established in 1949, specializes in chemical products, functional resins, foamed resin products, food, life sciences, electronic materials, and synthetic fibers. Sunduren Film is a modified acrylic resin film created by combining Kaneka’s unique resin design technology with processing technology, featuring good long-term weather resistance, transparency, and excellent vacuum forming performance, widely applied in construction materials, retro-reflective panels (road signs), automotive interiors, optics, etc.

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

Image Detailed introduction of Sandulen film materials

9. 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 panels, fiber composites, and tennis strings. In addition to extruded films made from plastics such as PC, PMMA, ABS, Isosport also produces high-quality hot stamping foils suitable for thermal forming and FIM film insert molding.

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

10. Toyo Mountain

Toyo Mountain Film Company was established in 1949 and develops and produces various film products to meet customer needs, including PET films suitable for various printing methods, widely applied in label plates for home appliances, switch button sections (films), etc., as well as various functional films with excellent formability and anti-reflective (AR) properties for automotive central control, instrument panels, head-up displays, etc.

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

Image Functional films for vehicles from Toyo Mountain

11. Teijin

Teijin, established in 1918, has headquarters in Tokyo and Osaka, mainly engaged in composite molding materials, aramid fibers, carbon fibers, films, resins, fiber products, and other materials, as well as pharmaceutical medical business and IT business. Teijin’s polycarbonate resin sheet “Panlite” has the highest impact resistance among plastics, about 200 times that of glass, yet weighs only half as much, while also possessing high transparency, making it an excellent engineering plastic sheet. It is easy to print, thermoform, and process, widely used in automotive printing parts and industrial materials.

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

Introduction to 20 Companies Producing In-Mold Decoration PC Films

12. BRIGHTVIEW

Bright View Technologies (BVT), established in 2002, designs and produces advanced optical film products. In 2010, BVT was acquired by Tredegar Corporation. BVT combines its micro-structured diffusion film expertise with the film production capabilities of its parent company to create a variety of products for lighting, displays, automotive, electronics, and other industries.

BVT has developed various optical film products to meet 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 and extrusion technology to supply a variety of products, including diffusion films and reflective films, providing excellent light angle control, light efficiency, reflectivity, highlight concealment, and aesthetic effects.

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

13. Plazit-Polygal Group

Plazit-Polygal is a pioneer and global leader in the design, development, and manufacturing of thermoplastic sheets and profiles, renowned for their durability, strength, light transmittance, ease of installation, and excellent quality. The new Plazit TOP sheet is a thin polymer sheet with ultra-high optical quality, making it 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

14. Longhua

Sichuan Longhua Optoelectronic Film Co., Ltd., located in China’s electronic technology city – Mianyang, Sichuan Province, is a factory specializing in the research and production of polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and other optoelectronic films and sheets. It is one of the few companies globally that produces both single-layer and multi-layer co-extruded PC/PMMA optical base films and various functional hardened coated deep-processing film systems.

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

15. 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 applied in optical electronics, flat displays, medical equipment, high-speed rail aviation, automotive components, security anti-counterfeiting, image printing, and other fields.

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

Introduction to 20 Companies Producing In-Mold Decoration PC Films

16. Daoming Optics

Daoming Optical Co., Ltd. was established in 2002, specializing in the R&D and production of various reflective materials and reflective products. It has become the largest producer in the domestic reflective materials industry (annual production of 40 million square meters), with the strongest R&D capabilities (25 invention patents), the highest-end products (self-developed micro-prism reflective film breaking long-term foreign monopoly), and the most complete product variety (over 100 types) for reflective materials, lithium battery packaging films, and functional optical films.

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

17. Dafu New Materials

Foshan Dafu New Materials Co., Ltd. was established in 2009 and is a high-tech enterprise specializing in the R&D and manufacturing of polycarbonate PC, polymethyl methacrylate PMMA, as well as PC/PMMA composites and other films/sheets, with an annual production capacity of over 20,000 tons, widely applied in mobile phones, automobiles, LCD displays, printing, coating, film switches, lighting, decoration, and other industries.

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

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

18. 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 film fields. Its products include PC films, flame-retardant PC films, frosted PC films, high-temperature PC films, transparent PC films, PP films, PC+PMMA composite sheets, ABS+PMMA composite sheets, etc.

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

Introduction to 20 Companies Producing In-Mold Decoration PC Films

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

Introduction to 20 Companies Producing In-Mold Decoration PC Films

Recommended Reading:

Top 30 IMD Production Companies in South China
Introduction to IML Decorative Film Air High-Pressure Forming Equipment Manufacturers
Introduction to In-Mold Decoration Technology (IMD)
Advantages and Production Challenges of In-Mold Electronics (IME)
Introduction to In-Mold Electronics (IME)

Event Recommendation:

In-Mold Decoration and In-Mold Electronics Technology Summit Forum

（IMD/IML/FIM）

December 13, 2019, Shenzhen

Guanlan Grand Skylight Hotel

Time	Theme	Speaker
9:00 ~ 9:30	Future Automotive Cabin Design Trends	Professor Ouyang Bo, Head of Industrial Design Department, South China University of Technology
9:30 ~ 10:00	Seamless Integration Solutions for Automotive Display Screens	Peter Warwick, Global Automotive Film Manager, MacDermid Enthone
10:00 ~ 10:30	Tea Break
10:30 ~ 11:00	Application of Carbon Nanotubes in Automotive Smart Surfaces	Samuli Kohonen, Vice President of Global Sales, Canatu
11:00 ~ 11:30	Introduction to Automotive Curved Screen Material Solutions Based on IMD Technology	Chen Tao, Key Account Manager, Covestro Polymer China Co., Ltd.
11:30 ~ 13:30	Lunch
13:30 ~ 14:00	Analysis of Design Trend of IMD, FIM Film Technology Combined with CMF	Wang Feng, Director of Color Fabric Design Department, GAC
14:00 ~ 14:30	IML Double Display Film – Enhancing Interaction Experience with Control Interfaces and Ambient Lighting	Lu Chaohui, General Manager, Dream Electronics
14:30 ~ 15:00	IML Film Molding Related Processes and Supporting Equipment	Yang Xingkai, Business Manager, Dongguan Lichao Precision Machinery Co., Ltd.
15:00 ~ 15:30	Application and Development Trends of IML Process in Automotive	Zhang Huaqing, R&D Design Director, Ruiqi Electronics
15:30 ~ 16:00	Tea Break
16:00 ~ 16:30	Application and Development Trends of Water Transfer Printing, IMD, and INS in Automotive Interiors and Exteriors	Tai Haifeng, Senior Manager, GAC NIO
16:30 ~ 17:00	Related Applications and Development Trends of Coating Hardening in Automotive	Chen Zhongcheng, Business Director, Dongguan Nuo Zheng Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd.
17:00 ~ 17:30	Key Factors of Ink Materials and Processes in IMD/IML/IME	Dr. Wu Zhangyong, Technical Manager, Baolong Ink
17:30 ~ 18:00	Introduction to KraussMaffei IML/IMD Solutions	Ding Yiming, Regional Sales Manager, KraussMaffei
18:00 ~ 18:30	Establishment of Standard for Screen Printing System & Maximization of User Benefits	Hu Xiaobin, Chief Engineer, Sanhe International, Dean of Research Institute
18:30 ~ 20:00	Dinner

Introduction to 20 Companies Producing In-Mold Decoration PC Films

Registration Method:

Method 1: Please add WeChat and send a business card to register;

Miss Deng:

Phone 15817337805

Email ab010@aibang360.com

Mr. Jiang:

Phone 18666186648

Email jyg@aibang360.com

Method 2: Online registration;

Introduction to 20 Companies Producing In-Mold Decoration PC Films

Read the original text to register

International

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