About injection mold manufacturing
Injection molding is the manufacturing process of obtaining molded components or products by injecting molten plastic, rubber, metal, or glass into a mold, then solidifying the product through a cooling process. This method provides many benefits to the automotive, medical and consumer electronics industries, including mass production, low waste, and the ability to develop complex parts.
What are the benefits of plastic injection molding?
Before jumping into the industries and processes, it is important to know why plastic injection molding is so widely used:
Mass production. Because it is one of the fastest production processes, plastic injection lends itself well to mass production. The cycle time takes between a few seconds to a minute and can produce multiple parts, which makes the output significant.
Low waste. Some processes, such as CNC machining, cut away plastic, which can produce waste. Plastic injection molding is more efficient: On average, only 20g out of 100g of plastic material is wasted.
Complex parts. One of the great benefits of this method is its ability to produce intricate parts without the need for secondary processes, thereby cutting down overall production time.
Low cost. Wasting less material means a less expensive process. Plus, plastic tends to run cheaper than other injection materials, such as metal and rubber. With a predicted CAGR of 6.5 percent in the plastics recycling market, manufacturers can either recycle waste into another cycle or sell it to a factory that manufactures plastic parts.
Consistent quality. Because of the reliability of the molds and repeatability of the process, thousands of plastic parts can be produced in a single day at a similar quality. The rejection rate tends to be very low, so if consistency is important for your project, plastic injection is an ideal method.