Custom Injection Molding Companies |The Ultimate Guide

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When industries need intricate parts, they turn to custom injection molding services. Custom injection molding works best where you need large volumes of parts.  Before we dive into custom injection molding, let’s look at injection molding at large.

Injection molding involves the use of molds to create parts from plastic materials. The plastic materials are usually melted first while adding fillers or colors. Then you inject the resulting fluid into the mold cavity at high pressure. Several factors affect injection molding:

  • Temperature
  • Pressure
  • Melting point
  • Fillers used

 Injection molding offers several advantages quality surfacing being one of them. Molds made of hardened steel can serve you for a significant amount of time. The problem with injection molding is the amount of time required to create molds. Steel molds can take up to three months before they can start working. But, you can reduce the time required using low volume injection molding.

Advantages of custom injection molding

Cost-efficient

Once you get a mold the rest of the process is quite easy. Since the rest of the task is up to your machines you can cut a lot of costs. Automation means that you will not be requiring human labor. Your production process can run for hours without any human intervention. One machine can replace ten workers meaning that you will not spend a lot. Although steel molds can be rather costly, you have aluminum. Aluminum molds are cheaper and always available. At the time it can be hard to get prehardened steel molds. With custom injection molding companies you can save on a lot of costs

Accuracy and precision

Are you worried about accuracy and consistency? Steel molds are usually machined meaning that dimensional accuracy is superb. A well-made steel mold can run for several cycles without changing shape. During injection, high pressure ensures that the molten material fills up the cavity. It also makes sure that the material reaches all corners and curves. This will make sure that you achieve high precision and accuracy. If you are looking to make large volumes of similar parts, you have no reason to worry about consistency. At times, some parts need support structures. You can remove them by CNC machining. Others need simple shaving.

Increased strength

Plastic injection molding gives you the option of adding fillers. The fillers will help you increase part strength. Adding fillers does not need a lot of work. All you need to do is melt them with your materials and let the machines do their magic.

Quality surface finishing

Most parts made from injection molding do not need a post-production process. For plastics, these processes could be sanding and polishing. We could talk of aluminum anodizing but plastic parts do not need it.

Ideal for both high and low volume production

Custom injection companies may offer low volume injection molding. If so, this is the best choice if you are looking for low volume production. Low volume injection allows you to use low-grade molds for short production cycles.

The downside of injection molding is the amount of time consumed when making molds. For manufacturers to adapt to this, they have come up with low volume injection molding

What makes a mold qualified to work?

A good cavity mold should withstand the high temperatures of injection molding. It should also be able to cope with the pressure used during the injection. It all depends on the material you used to make your mold. The best you can have is a steel mold. Steel is hard and you can machine it to make a mold. If it is pre-hardened, you will enjoy a long run of production with no worries. Molds that go for long runs and are prone to damage need special structures and attention. Making a mold with a radius in the inside corner will help you increase the strength of your mold. If you go for sharp corners instead of a radius your mold can break upon impact.

The art of Low volume injection molding

The difference between low volume injection molding and the normal process is time. Low volume injection molding reduces the time needed almost by half. Instead of waiting for ages for your steel mold to come, try low volume injection.

You will be working with lower grade aluminum or other materials rather than steel. Low volume injection coupled with 3D printing can boost the speed of your processes.  Some 3D printers take less than 24 hours to have your mold ready. It is worth noting that the molds you produced are ideal for short runs. Otherwise, you will be getting warped parts due to dimensional change.

This is as a result of the high temperatures involved in injection.

The plastic industry calls for a speedy production process. You can use the time you saved on other issues like marketing.

Another thing about low volume injection molding is you can use it as a bridging tool. Yes, you can use low volume injection molding to shift from prototyping to production. When bridging, you are producing small quantities of products. In the process, you will be setting up systems for full-scale production.

The essence of bridging is to reduce the risk accompanied by bulk production. Look at this, you can produce a million units of parts. I have not forgotten that injection molding is all about high volume production. Here is the deal-breaker, you can produce millions but you have no idea of the market.

You may end up filling your storage facilities since your products are not moving. In the end, you will have to get rid of the non-moving parts to create space for new ones.

Low volume production gives you a chance to test the market. This way you will not be jumping out of a frying pan into the fire. With reduced lead time you will have more time to plan on marketing. The advantage of low volumes will see to it that you are not exposed to risks.

With all the possibilities of creating parts which industries rely on injection molding?

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Industries that rely on Custom Injection Companies

The plastic industry is widespread with millions of users using plastics daily. From household fittings to kitchen items and from our bathrooms to our backyards. That handle on your lawnmower made from plastic comes from the injection.

Telecommunication

Most of our communication services are wireless. But on a global scale, we exchange information through fiber optics. These systems need adapters to run. Adapters are made from plastic, and you know how right? Fiber connectivity is everywhere meaning that the demand for plastic parts is consistent.

Other than the technical part of it, let’s look at some basic parts. Look at some of your phone accessories and peripherals. Some of our phone covers come from plastics. Say iPhone has a certain brand, they will need covers of the same dimensions. We are talking of billions of units so they will go for custom injection molding. Many phone accessories need custom injection molding. 

Pharmaceuticals

I am talking about the syringes and droplets administrators. All these products have components that need custom injection molding.  For sure, the demand for custom plastic parts from this sector will never cease.

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Automotive industry

The interior of a car has plastic components that need injection molding. Like a phone brand, a Tesla model will need billions of plastic parts. Who will provide? That’s right, our custom injection molding companies. To reduce the cost per part, you will have to produce high volumes of parts. The scenario fits the bill for the tesla brand. A car dashboard or any other plastic component is a specific car brand that needs quality parts.

Consumer Goods

Consumer goods like household items, fittings, toys need injection molding. You cannot machine some of the materials used to make plastic parts. A good example is polyethylene terephthalate. It is flexible in such a way that CNC cutters and millers cannot work on it. Fittings or parts used to seal joints need a custom injection for accuracy. 

With the high demand for a product comes the tendency of increased suppliers. A recent search on ALIBABA showed that there are over ten thousand suppliers in China. So, with all the choices in the market, how do you get the best supplier?

You do not want to fall into the hands of frauds and end up losing money.  Let’s look at the qualities of a good custom injection company.

Once you walk into a shop, what makes you feel you are in the right place? For some, it is the display, variety, and customer service.

A worthy prototype injection company should offer you the following:

  • Sample parts for customer review
  • A reasonable minimum quantity order (MDQ)
  • Experienced staff who can make iterations on your design fast
  • Trials at a reasonable price
  • Low to mid-volume injection services.
  • Automation and a choice to add cavities depending on production volumes

Whatever the case, there is always an indicator that tells something is legit.

Here are some questions you should ask yourself when choosing an injection company.

  • Does the company work with many clients? If so they are probably trustworthy. If you are dealing with a company with only one line of production take caution. Not to say that they are frauds but it raises some questions.
  • Do the employees have proper training? Well, that pretty clear, to get quality you need experience. Employees should understand that your work needs nothing but the best.
  • Are they offering prototyping services? Prototyping is a key part of any production process. You can’t build a house without blueprints. You can also avoid fraud by asking for a prototype. It will serve as a sample to visualize your idea. 
  • Last but not least, your chosen company should win your budget. It’s logical to buy that which you can afford.

Our current economy is defined by impulse. Online shopping has made everything easy for us. You can order a part online without going to a shop. It may sound risky but it can be convenient at times. It is advisable to do a background check before employing their services. It can be hard to analyze the market since there is little information available. You can dig something out of B2B organizations like madeinchina.com

 In a nutshell plastic injection molding ideal for large-scale production. It works best when you are producing similar parts in bulk. Custom injection molding companies are key in production processes. The automotive, aerospace and medical industries rely on custom injection molding. A common thing with these industries is the need for accuracy and precision. You see, some of these parts are needed for functionality. Messing up the dimensions of a part can be lethal for your production process. 

The benefits associated with injection molding are countless. You can save on time and cost with low volume injection molding. Low volume production will also act as a bridging tool. Bridging gives you time to analyze the market and position yourself well.

The demand for custom parts will continue to increase as time goes by. Invention and innovation will improve how we run injection molding processes. I can wait to see the integration of the Internet of Things and injection molding. Artificial intelligence and injection molding would be nice too.

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We will contact you within 1 working day, please pay attention to the email with the suffix “@cavitymold.com”. 

or email direct:jerry@cavitymold.com

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We will contact you within 1 working day, please pay attention to the email with the suffix “@cavitymold.com”. 

or email direct:jerry@cavitymold.com