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.
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.
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.
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.
You will need to consider certain design elements, such as:
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.
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.
Injection molding is one of the most widely used processes in today’s plastics manufacturing industry. And with good reason: injection molding services are fast, flexible, and cost-effective for many diverse projects. The process also accommodates a high degree of customization and complexity in product design.
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Still, it's important to point out that the initial tooling costs can be high – and the more complex the mold, the higher your tooling costs. That means it’s a generally more suitable process for large-scale manufacturing. However, there are some specialized low-volume/prototype molding processes we can employ to make it economical for smaller runs as well. And besides – the benefits of our injection molding services in terms of efficiency, precision, quality, and repeatability outweigh the initial setup costs for many diverse product applications.
Below, we give a rundown on the main benefits that injection molding offers when it comes to manufacturing custom, potentially complex plastic products.
Injection molding is a relatively high-speed production process. For high-volume runs, it’s often the most efficient and cost-effective way to produce large quantities of parts in a short amount of time. To put it into perspective, the typical cycle time for each injection molding cycle is usually measured in seconds.
For your low-volume projects, the speed of the injection molding process equals shorter lead times and the quickest turnaround possible. It also means the potential to more easily scale up to higher capacity in the future. This is especially beneficial to prototyping projects which will later grow into full-scale production.
Rapid injection molding (RIM) is one of the most effective ways to achieve rapid turnaround after the tooling is built – ideal for on-demand products and just-in-time manufacturing.
Injection molding is exceptionally effective at producing intricate and complex plastic shapes with uniform wall thickness. Achieving your custom product designs in a single cycle reduces the need for secondary operations and all of the complications that come with them. Features such as undercuts, ribs, and bosses can be easily incorporated into the design to simplify your overall production process and potentially reduce your cost per part.
Injection molding is also compatible with a broad range of different plastic materials. That means you have flexibility in terms of material selection based on the desired properties of the final product. Material versatility gives you more options for customizing the look, performance, and functionality of your products, as well as more options to meet your unique price targets.
While the cost of designing and manufacturing custom molds can be significant, the relatively low per-unit cost of injection molding quickly decreases as the production quantity increases. That’s why injection molding is particularly cost-effective for high-volume runs, which can easily offset the upfront tooling costs.
Injection molding is sometimes the most cost-effective manufacturing solution even for low-volume runs and certain prototyping projects. We can use special low-volume molds manufactured from aluminum or softer mold steels which are easier to machine and modify, which lowers your upfront costs. However, these materials do come with a shorter service life, which is why we typically opt for tougher tool steels in higher-volume projects.
The injection molding process generates minimal waste, and the excess material can be recycled in many cases. Sprue, runners, and other scrap materials can be reground and reused, contributing to the overall sustainability of the process.
While plastic manufacturing isn’t typically associated with eco-friendliness, injection molding is one of the most efficient means of making many of the critical plastic products in modern life. That efficiency is especially important in the modern marketplace, which increasingly demands greener products and stricter sustainability initiatives.
As a lean manufacturer with a relatively localized supply chain, Premier Plastics is especially well positioned to help American customers achieve better, more sustainable plastic products.
Located in Omaha, Nebraska, Premier Plastics is backed by more than four decades of providing quality American injection molding services.
Originally founded as an Omaha tool and die shop, today Premier has evolved into one of the leading plastic molding companies for the greater Midwest region and beyond. Our company is an ISO : certified manufacturer committed to delivering your products accurately, on-time, and exactly according to your specifications.
For more information, please visit precision injection molding.