ShapeMaster

What ShapeMaster does

ShapeMaster, Inc. is a privately held custom plastics and light fabrication manufacturer founded in 1990 and headquartered in Ogden, Illinois. The company operates a single Midwestern facility staffed by 11–50 employees and provides an integrated suite of in-house manufacturing processes including vacuum/thermoforming (with 36x48 inch tooling capacity), injection molding, CNC machining (Haas VF4 and DM-1 Drill/Mill Centers programmed via Mastercam), plastic and metal welding (TIG/MIG, plastic heat welding, Hypertherm plasma cutting), reverse engineering via 3D scanning, and 3D printing/rapid prototyping. Materials processed span ABS, PETG, CAB, UHMW, HDPE, aluminum, stainless steel, wood, foam, and various resins. The firm is ISO 9001-certified and works with customers from prototype through production runs ranging from a single part to thousands of units, including assembly of multi-material finished products.

ShapeMaster serves a diversified set of end markets including industrial manufacturing, automotive and transportation (e.g., Flex-N-Gate, Champaign-Urbana MTD), medical devices and healthcare (e.g., Charles River Laboratories, OSF HealthCare, Carle Foundation Hospital during COVID-19), academic and scientific research (UIUC, Michigan State, UC Davis), semiconductor research (Teflon/PTFE wafer dippers and evaporation dishes), water purification (EP Purification), portable sanitation (PolyJohn), and government/transit. Notable long-running engagements include a 30+ year multi-department relationship with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a 20-year production run of approximately 12,000 PolyJohn PJ III coin bank units.

The business model is primarily sales-led and quote-based, with revenue generated through custom project pricing for prototyping and production runs, professional design and engineering services bundled into projects, and (since January 2024) an e-commerce storefront selling standardized Teflon wafer dippers and beakers for semiconductor research clients. Distribution is domestic U.S. with no global footprint claim. The company is founder/CEO-led by Ken Cooley, has no external institutional investors or parent company, and pursues growth through channel expansion (e-commerce), vertical diversification (semiconductor, water purification, agriculture research), and ecosystem partnerships with universities rather than through acquisitions or external capital.

Name

ShapeMaster

Legal name

ShapeMaster, Inc.

Website

https://shape-master.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ShapeMaster is a privately held custom plastics and light fabrication manufacturer in Ogden, Illinois, founded in 1990, serving industrial, automotive, medical, academic, and semiconductor research clients through in-house thermoforming, injection molding, CNC machining, and 3D printing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Custom Plastic Manufacturing

NAICS

Plastics Product Manufacturing (3261), Industrial Mold Manufacturing (333511)

akta.pro primary industry

Custom Injection Molding & Contract Manufacturing (Job Shops/CMs) (IMANAFAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Industrial & Machinery Injection Molded Components (Gears, Wear Parts) (IMANAFAF)

Keywords

• Custom plastic manufacturing
• Vacuum thermoforming services
• Injection molding services
• CNC machining tooling
• Rapid prototyping fabrication

Headquarters

HQ city

Ogden

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Custom Manufacturing Services: One-time and production run manufacturing services including vacuum/thermoforming, injection molding, CNC machining, and custom fabrication. Services range from single prototype parts to thousands of production pieces. Pricing is quote-based.
2. E-commerce Product Sales: Standard Teflon wafer dippers and beakers sold through dedicated e-commerce website (shapemaster-inc.mybigcommerce.com) launched January 2024 for semiconductor research clients.
3. Project Management and Design Services: Engineering/design assistance, CAD file preparation, tooling and mold building included as part of custom manufacturing projects.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ShapeMaster is a custom plastics and metal fabrication shop that produces prototypes through full-scale production runs (one to thousands of parts) using vacuum/thermoforming, injection molding, CNC machining, plastic/metal welding, 3D printing, reverse engineering, and in-house tooling. The company works from customer sketches, prints, or ideas and delivers finished parts and assembled products in materials including ABS, PETG, CAB, UHMW, HDPE, aluminum, stainless steel, wood, foam, and various resins.

Product overview

ShapeMaster is a custom plastic and metal manufacturing company offering a comprehensive suite of manufacturing processes including vacuum/thermoforming, injection molding, CNC machining, and custom fabrication. The company produces finished plastic products such as multi-cavity trays, silicon wafer dippers, PTFE evaporation dishes, and protective panels. Services span the entire product lifecycle from reverse engineering and rapid prototyping through full-scale production. Materials processed include various plastics (ABS, PETG, CAB, UHMW, HDPE), metals (aluminum, stainless steel), wood, foam, and resins. Founded in 1990, the company serves diverse industries including automotive, agriculture research, semiconductor, medical, and consumer goods.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Vacuum Forming / Thermoforming Custom vacuum/thermoforming service that heats plastic sheets and forms them around molds using vacuum suction, serving industries from medical devices to agriculture research with production runs from 1 to thousands of parts.
• Injection Molding High-volume plastic manufacturing service that processes plastic pellets into custom shapes using injection molding machines for OEM and research customers requiring precise plastic parts.
• CNC Machining / Tooling Precision CNC milling, drilling, routing, and tool creation service for metal, plastic, wood, and other materials using Haas VF4 and DM-1 CNC Drill/Mill Centers and Mastercam software.
• Custom Plastic Fabrication Custom fabrication service for plastic components including welding, assembly, and finishing operations across diverse industrial and research applications.
• Reverse Engineering 3D scanning, triangle mesh processing, and solid model creation service that recreates CAD files from existing physical parts when original documentation is unavailable.
• Rapid Prototyping / 3D Printing Quick-turn prototyping service using 3D printing and additive manufacturing for product development, testing, and bridge production runs for inventors and OEMs.
• Drape Forming Thermoforming variant where heated plastic is draped over a mold shape, suited to simpler part geometries across manufacturing and research applications.
• Guarding and Clean Room Custom safety guards, equipment enclosures, and clean room components for pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and healthcare facilities requiring controlled environments.
• Fabricated Tanks Custom plastic tanks and vessels for chemical storage, research applications, and industrial use, fabricated in corrosion-resistant plastics.
• Powder Coating Surface finishing service providing durable powder coatings for metal parts and components used in industrial and commercial applications.
• Project Management End-to-end project coordination service from design through production, including CAD file preparation, tooling, and quality control for customer manufacturing projects.
• Multi-Cavity Trays Custom plastic trays with multiple compartments designed for industrial, manufacturing, and packaging applications handling multiple parts in a single fixture.
• Large Plastic Trays Oversized custom plastic trays for industrial, agricultural, and commercial storage and handling of heavy or bulky components.
• Silicon Wafer Dippers Specialized PTFE/Teflon tools for semiconductor research projects, designed for handling silicon wafers during wet-processing operations where chemical resistance is critical.
• PTFE Evaporation Dishes Chemical-resistant PTFE (Teflon) dishes for laboratory and semiconductor applications requiring high purity, chemical inertness, and resistance to aggressive reagents.
• Sneeze Guards / Protective Retail Panels Clear plastic barriers for retail counters, healthcare facilities, and businesses to protect customers and employees from airborne particles and splashes.

Quantifiable outcome

• 12,000+ units produced for single product line (PolyJohn coin banks over 20 years)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• OSF HealthCare and Carle Foundation HospitalmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Collaborated during COVID-19 pandemic to develop and manufacture N95 respirator masks and face shields for healthcare workers facing PPE shortages. ShapeMaster provided vacuum thermoforming and manufacturing expertise.
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner30+ year relationship spanning many departments including Engineering, Architecture, and the Environmental Engineering and Science Laboratories. Collaborative projects include N95 respirator mask development during COVID-19, various research equipment, and student/customer referrals. Work includes CNC shop for students and architecture department collaborations.
• Grainger College of Engineering at University of IllinoismajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for N-95 mask manufacturing and ongoing collaboration on various engineering projects and student opportunities.
• Local Community 'Makers'minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of home-based makers and local businesses who collaborated during COVID-19 to produce PPE. ShapeMaster provided programming, CNC machining, and plastic molding capabilities.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Protolabs: Protolabs offers automated custom manufacturing services including injection molding, CNC machining, and 3D printing with rapid quoting and lead times. It is the largest digitally-enabled direct competitor to ShapeMaster in the custom plastics job-shop market, targeting the same engineering and prototyping buyers.
• Xometry: Xometry operates an online marketplace connecting buyers to a network of custom manufacturers for injection molding, CNC, sheet cutting, and 3D printing. It competes with ShapeMaster for the same enterprise custom-manufacturing spend with an automated quoting platform.
• Mack Molding: Mack Molding is an established custom plastics contract manufacturer offering injection molding, structural foam molding, and insert molding across multiple US facilities. It is comparable to ShapeMaster as a full-service plastics job shop serving industrial and medical customers.
• C&J Industries: C&J Industries is a custom injection molding and contract manufacturing company serving industrial, medical, and consumer markets. It is a close peer to ShapeMaster in capabilities (injection molding, assembly, tooling) and customer verticals, though larger in scale.
• Tessy Plastics: Tessy Plastics is a custom injection molder producing complex medical, automotive, and industrial components across multiple US facilities. It is comparable to ShapeMaster as a contract plastics manufacturer serving regulated and industrial customers with custom tooling.
• Plastic Components Inc. Plastic Components Inc. is a custom injection molding and assembly company serving automotive, industrial, and consumer markets. It is a comparable Midwestern/US-based plastics job shop with similar tooling and molding capabilities.
• HMC Plastics: HMC Plastics is a custom plastic injection molding and contract manufacturing firm serving medical, industrial, and consumer markets. It is comparable to ShapeMaster in capabilities (injection molding, assembly, design support) and target verticals.

Broad incumbents

• EVCO Plastics: EVCO Plastics is a large custom injection molder operating multiple global facilities with extensive molding capacity and engineering services. It is comparable to ShapeMaster as a contract manufacturer serving industrial and consumer OEMs, but at materially greater scale and geographic reach.

Emerging players

• Fictiv: Fictiv is a digital manufacturing platform offering CNC machining, injection molding, 3D printing, and sheet metal fabrication through a vetted supplier network. It is an emerging competitor to ShapeMaster targeting the same engineering and prototyping buyer with a software-led sourcing model.
• Plethora: Plethora operates an online CNC machining and custom manufacturing service for prototypes and low-volume production. It is an emerging player overlapping with ShapeMaster's rapid prototyping and CNC machining offerings, with a more digital go-to-market approach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ShapeMasterInc
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ShapeMasterPlastics
• Facebookfacebook.com/ShapemasterInc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shapemaster-inc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ShapeMaster