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TCI Group · Processes

The five moulding routes we run, and where each one fits.

Whichever division you land in, one of these five processes will make your parts. Volume, tolerance and material dictate which.

Five moulding routes

How each one works.

01

Hand-made

Silicone brushed or poured onto a master by hand. No press, no vacuum chamber. Cheapest tool, most operator-dependent finish. Best for one-offs, restoration, and prototyping. Runs mostly in TCI Mouldings and TCI Construction.

02

Cast

Two-part gravity pours. Silicone or PU into a rigid frame around a master. The workhorse for tens to a few hundred parts. Every division uses cast tooling at some point.

03

Vacuum cast

The pour happens in a degassed chamber. Removes trapped air, tightens cosmetic tolerance, and lets you cast parts that otherwise wouldn't come out clean. TCI Mouldings and TCI Products mostly.

04

Compression

Solid silicone (HTV) pressed under heat in a steel or aluminium tool. Repeat parts, thousands per tool. Standing capacity in TCI Products, and used in TCI Culinary for larger bakery trays.

05

Injection / LSR

Liquid silicone rubber injected at pressure into a steel tool. Volume production, tens of thousands upwards per year. Primarily TCI Products.

Silicone being gravity-poured into a two-part cast tooling frame
Cast tooling being poured around a master

In the workshop

What the routes look like in practice.

Clear silicone being poured from a mixing jug into a timber mould box around a carved pattern.
Hand-made and cast

Silicone poured around a master

The start of most tooling: a pattern boxed, silicone mixed, degassed and poured.

Hands peeling a flexible silicone mould away from a detailed cast relief panel.
Release

Flexible tools, deep detail

Silicone peels away from undercuts a rigid tool would lock onto.

A technician in cleanroom clothing inspecting silicone parts beside a moulding machine.
Compression and LSR

Volume on steel

Pressed or injected parts at volume, run mostly in TCI Products.

How to choose

A short guide to picking the right one.

  1. 01

    Start with volume

    The single biggest driver. Ones and tens want hand-made. Hundreds want cast. Thousands want compression. Tens of thousands want injection.

  2. 02

    Then tolerance

    How tight does the part need to be? Injection is tightest, hand-made is loosest. Sometimes a tight tolerance forces a step up in process.

  3. 03

    Then material

    Not every material runs on every process. Some pair naturally, some don't. This can constrain the shortlist.

  4. 04

    Then economics

    Higher-volume processes need capital tooling. Sometimes the maths says stay on cast even at volumes that would technically justify compression. That's fine.

Different moulding routes compared with sample parts on a bench
Processes compared by finish and likely volume

Cross-division note

Same process, different specialists.

The same moulding route can behave differently in different divisions, because the materials and requirements differ. A cast silicone mould in TCI Mouldings is not identical to a cast silicone mould in TCI Culinary — the food-contact grade and the release regime change things.

That's why the routing to a division matters. The process is one part of the decision, the application is the other.

The group

Where each process lives

Every division uses some or all of the five routes. Ring us if you want to know which we'd match to your part.

TCI GroupThe umbrella brand and single number to ring. You are here.TCI MouldingsCustom silicone and polyurethane moulds.TCI CulinaryFood-safe silicone for patisserie and confectionery.TCI ConstructionFormliners, GRC and precast concrete tooling.TCI ProductsOEM silicone and rubber at volume.

At a glance

The ideas in pictures.

Which route suits your quantity

PrototypesHundredsThousandsTens of thousandsPrototype toolingCompression mouldingTransfer mouldingSolid silicone injectionLSR injection

Swipe to see the whole diagram

A general picture. Shape, material and detail also decide the route, and we talk it through with you.

One enquiry, the right team

  1. 01One enquiryTell us what you need
  2. 02Right divisionWe bring in the specialists
  3. 03One quoteCovering every part of the job
  4. 04Named contactOne person keeps it moving
  5. 05DeliveredMoulds, parts or both

Swipe to see the whole diagram

You explain the project once. The Group team co-ordinates the rest.

Get in touch

Not sure which division? Tell us what you're making.

Send us a sketch, a photograph, or a paragraph. We'll come back with the right division, the right route, and an honest sense of what it will take.

Send an enquiry 01789 224228

Real people, a real workshop

You deal with the people who make it.

No call centre and no middlemen. When you contact TCI Group, you speak to the team who design, build and check your mould.

  • A real Warwickshire workshopUnit 15, Waterloo Park, Bidford-on-Avon, Alcester B50 4JG.
  • Real people on the phoneCall the team on 01789 224228, Monday to Friday.
  • The same team on every jobDesign, production and aftercare come from the people you see here.
  • Five brands, one teamMoulds, culinary, construction and contract products, all run from Bidford-on-Avon. See the divisions.
Silicone wax melt moulds made by TCI Mouldings.
Silicone wax melt moulds made by TCI Mouldings.
The TCI workshop, with moulds on the bench mid-build.
The TCI workshop, with moulds on the bench mid-build.
The TCI design and project office.
The TCI design and project office.
  • Thomas LaneManaging Director
  • George PrestonDesign & Project Manager
  • Kelly BallingerHead of Partnerships
  • Jim AndertonProduction Manager
  • TheodoreEmployee Welfare
Meet the team