It is much easier and faster. My friends father had a vacuum forming business, mostly making blister packs. I even worked with him fixing a big packaging machine in Brooklyn. You can make a primitive version with a plywood box with drilled holes and a vacuum cleaner.

People who have been in manufacturing for a long time understand all the methods used and the common theme is simplicity. There are tons of great uses for 3D printing but like robot arms, I see them misused time and time again to perform tasks a much simpler process/mechanism can perform. Go watch the TV show "How It's Made" and some of the machinery and mechanisms are delightfully simple. This is what universities don't teach their students and they graduate only knowing how to wield giant, complex hammers.