There is a good chance you have encountered the word injection molding.
If it’s your first-time hearing this, injection molding is a process used by manufacturers to create identical items in large volumes.
However, since you’re reading this article, chances are you already know what this process is. Perhaps you simply want to know the benefits and drawbacks of using this process.
The process usually involves injecting molten material into a closed mold. Manufacturers can create items economically and consistently by using this process.
However, the manufacturer has to follow strict guidelines to effectively manufacture injection molded plastics.
Because of this, it’s ideal to know the pros and cons of the process. This will help you figure out if injection molding is the ideal choice for the needs of your business.
Pros
Little-to-No Waste
A properly-designed mold can manufacture parts without runners. All they need to do is to utilize the hot runner system.
Usually, almost every mold generates runners for all parts molded. Manufacturers can grind these runners to recycle them for reuse.
So, if you work with a medical injection molding company Seaskymedical, you can guarantee that no materials will be wasted during the process.
Flexibility In The Design
Almost all injection molding companies can create any type of plastic design. All you need to do is to follow the strict design restrictions and you’re good to go.
To lower production time and cost for the parts, manufacturers can incorporate other parts of an assembly into a single plastic injection.
Low Labor Expenses
For those who don’t know, a properly designed plastic injection mold can operate for a long period without the help of any human operator.
Because of this, you can guarantee that all the parts you need can be manufactured with low labor. This helps your company save money in the long run when it comes to labor expenses.
Utilize Multiple Materials
Manufacturers can simultaneously utilize multiple plastic materials during the process. Before the molding process starts, manufacturers can use overmolding.
In addition to that, manufacturers can also utilize metal inserts for threaded purposes. Once the process is done, the molded part together with the inserts is removed from the mold.
Improved Strength
The plastic injection process provides a special option within applications where components have to be durable or strong.
For those who don’t know, manufacturers can utilize fillers with the molding raw material during the plastic injection process. This will lower the density of the plastic materials. Therefore, it also improves the strength of the molded part.
This benefit is extremely important if you’re working with important parts, such as ball valve Malaysia.
Fast Production
Depending on how many impressions or cavities there are in the tool, the plastic injection process can create a lot of parts every hour.
When manufacturers use a high-quality ejection system, excellent cooling circuit, and an effective filing system, they can produce great parts consistently with lowered cycle time.
Cons
Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world. This means that while the injection molding process has a lot of benefits, there are also a couple of drawbacks you have to consider. This includes:
Limits In The Design
There might be few limitations when it comes to designing the part unless a professional design team works on it together with the raw material suppliers and the mold manufacturer.
Not Cost-Effective
Though it is mentioned above that you can save money if you use this process, that is not always the case. This is particularly true if you only plan to produce parts in low volume.
Lead Time
While the injection molding process is quick, the preparation needed before the process can start can take a lot of time.
It can take months of tool manufacturing, testing, reviews, and designs before you can start the process.
However, once the preparation process is done, the next step takes extremely little time. This is particularly true if the manufacturer utilizes an impression or multi-cavity molding tool.
Expensive Upfront Costs
This is perhaps the biggest drawback of injection molding. The upfront cost is quite high. The reason for this is that the plastic injection molding and its auxiliary tools are pretty expensive.
Because of this, companies might have to be ready to invest a hefty amount of money.
Excessive Waste
Since manufacturers have to feed material from the injection chamber into the mold cavities through a series of feed gates and runners, this could mean that a huge amount of material never gets utilized in the process.
This usually happens when you try to produce a small part. The amount of material needed to send the shot into every cavity can be more compared to the part itself needs.
Luckily, you can easily avoid wasting a lot of materials if you work with a professional injection molding company.
These companies work with bucket manufacturers so they can collect all the waste materials and reuse them again.
Conclusion
Just like any other manufacturing process out there, the plastic injection molding process has some pros and cons.
However, if you read the article carefully, you will notice that the benefits easily outweigh the drawbacks. Furthermore, there are also things that you can do to avoid particular cons.
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