1. Efficient high production

Once you have developed the molds, the process is extremely fast with cycle times as short as 10 seconds. It is excellent for medium and high-volume production runs for anything from 10,000 parts to well over 100,000 depending on what molds you use. 

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Sometimes you can increase production by using a multi cavity or family mold, where several parts are produced from one press to further increase the manufacturing rate.

If you are outsourcing your molding then it’s also important to consider an efficient front-end design and order process – take a look at our on demand manufacturing.

4. Large material choice

There is a huge range of plastic materials that you can select from depending on what properties you need from your final part. And you are not limited to plastic, Protolabs also offers liquid silicone rubber molding. 

You can even use fillers in the molding material, which adds greater strength to the completed part, and you have a huge range of colors to choose from as well.  Talk to us about what you need your part to achieve – there are generally a number of different options.

1. Initial cost

If you are committing to steel mold tools for high production volumes (100,000+) then it can take a great deal of time and machining to produce and this can be a significant capital cost. If you need lower volumes of parts then this will affect your cost per part price and it may be worth exploring other options such as using aluminum molds instead.

2. Initial lead times

It can take up to 12 weeks to produce steel tooling. If you need to get production running before this then take a look at our on-demand production; by using aluminum molds and digitizing our front-end process we can ship anything from 25 to 10,000+ parts in 15 working days or less from the point that you first upload your CAD. Sometimes parts shipped in as little as one day.

For very low production runs there are other technologies such as 3D printing or CNC machining which could provide a more cost-effective answer more quickly.

3. Design limitations

You will need to consider certain design elements, such as:

• Using draft and radii to help ejection of the parts
• Avoiding undercuts and sharp edges
• Controlling wall thicknesses

You also need to consider where to place your gates, ejectors and cooling lines if aesthetics are important. And remember it’s also hard to change the design of a mold – you can remove part of the mold, or add plastic to your final part, but not the other way round.

For smaller production runs, 3D printing allows you to design virtually any shape or geometry that you require. As a rapidly developing technology there is an increasing number of plastic and other materials, even metal, that we can produce. 

4. Small part runs are not always cost effective

Most people think that they should only turn to injection molding for orders of 100,000+ parts; but there are other options when you can use this process for smaller production runs.

Using more affordable aluminium molds and quick turnaround times (as fast as a day) our on-demand service helps keep your per part cost down. It is ideal for anything between 10,000 and 25,000 parts, but can help control costs for production runs even smaller than this.

For low production runs measured in the hundreds or less then it is also worth exploring other manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing and CNC machining. With these technologies the cost per part will be lower and you will not face the initial set up costs or lead times involved in producing molds.

What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Plastic Injection Molding?

You may already have a bit of knowledge about plastic injection molding if you have landed on our blog today. Plastic injection molding is among the most commonly used processes for manufacturing, creating a huge number and a massive variety of pieces and parts.

Overview of Plastic Injection Molding

Injection molding is commonly known as injection molding, a manufacturing process utilized in plastic parts mass fabrication. It consists of injection of the molten plastic material into the mold, where it will solidify and cool to its final form. It is the best mechanical assembly for the higher volumes of plastic products serving various individuals and industries.

Want more information on custom plastic molding? Feel free to contact us.

The mold is customized during the design & development stage giving the proper shape to the part. It can also create several parts that are dimensionally consistent and identical, even on parts having complex designs allowing lower tolerance on dimensions.
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Advantages of Plastic Injection Molding

#1. Precision

In terms of manufacturing intricate parts, plastic injection molding is perfect. Molding allows you to incorporate several features at smaller tolerances than other techniques. The mechanical assembly of this machine has several smaller parts.

#2. High Repeatability

The identical products are made repeatedly once the molding tool is created. The mold tool has longer life as it is made decently as long as it is treated appropriately through molding the machine setters.

#3. Low Cost Per Part

The cost per part is quite low, while there is an initial high investment for the tool for plastic injection molding. The other processing techniques would involve several operations like polishing; injection molding can be done all together at once. The CNC machine will cost hundreds of pounds for each part. Injection molding is the best way to go if you are searching for complete production.

#4. Fast

The cycle time is as low as 10 seconds. Combining this with a multi-impression injection molding tool can allow you loads of products quickly. Some parts take a bit longer since it is a specialist material with several features that need molding in a precise way. 

#5. Material Choice

There are a massive amount of materials that are available for plastic injection molding. There is a range of more common materials with things like antistatic plastic, chemical-resistant plastics, thermoplastic rubber, and more. You even have endless color choices, too, with masterbatch coloring or color compounding.

#6. Special Surface Finishes, Engraving, and Printing

The injection molding tool is made out of special finishes that show on the molding along with the range of colors. You can get all types of finishes like the leather look, sparked, higher shine, l and more. You can even have logos along with other texts engraved into the mold. Lastly, you can have your moldings printed as a range of inks are made available and printed well onto the plastic.

Also Read- Importance of Good Plastic Molding Dies

#7. Little Plastic Waste

The part repeatability is quite high for injection molding even the runners and sprues are there, with the leftover bits of plastics being created out of tunnels through which the plastic material reaches the actual mold. And the reground and material is reused.
DISCUSS YOUR PLASTIC INJECTION MOLDING NEEDS? CONTACT US!

Disadvantages of Plastic Injection Molding

#1. High Initial Cost

Several rounds of molding and designing are required before the production, or the go-ahead is given. After which injection molding tool is required for making the moldings, including designing and manufacturing.

The mold tool is the essential piece of work, cutting down on the manpower and material cost, along with several machining hours for making and representing the largest cost one gets in injection molding. Surely, once everything is done, the part cost is quite low, and repeatability is very high.

#2. Initial Lead Time

The final part can take months of design, testing, and manufacturing of tools from the production concept. If you know what you wish, you can have the finished moldings within 6 weeks. Once the tool exists, it takes quite less time to operate the moldings, especially while you have a multi-impression mold tool, as you have already noted under the benefits.

#3. Large Part Size Limitations

There are massive machines that are required for making plastic injection moldings. The larger parts require a massive mold tool that becomes quite expensive in manufacturing. The process involving plastic fabrication is the best choice as it depends on the type of product that you needs.

#4. Careful Design Needed

The plastic moldings require careful designing under mechanical assembly to avoid the tooling issues involving the undercuts, locked-in features, and not sufficient draft. The temperature and material will be taken into account in the wall design. Else, the mold will not be filled fully. The placement of cooling lines and ejectors needs consideration to ensure that the product appears good.

So, these are a few aspects you must know about plastic injection molding.

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