About rapid injection molding

Rapid injection molding is the process of making injection molds for prototypes, bridges, and short production run parts in less time and at a lower cost than full production molds. Injection molds, typically made for extended production runs, are expensive and time-consuming.

Injection molding is a production method that offers lower unit costs during production, but can be cost-intensive and time-consuming during the rollout phase. Molds made for extended production can take months to produce. This is not always feasible if a small number of parts are required as prototypes for functional and fit testing or marketing testing. In these cases, it is possible to manufacture molds that are identical in design and dimensions to the full production example, although they lack the service life of the final mold.

Injection molding is one of the most common manufacturing processes for making plastic parts. Due to its high accuracy, repeatability, and cost-effectiveness at scale, injection molding is used to manufacture a wide variety of products and parts, from the smallest medical inserts to large automotive and aerospace and defense parts. The injection molding process requires injection molding machines, plastic raw materials, and machined molds. The plastic raw material is first melted in an injection unit and then injected into a mold – usually machined from steel or aluminum – where it cools and solidifies into the final plastic part. The key steps in the injection molding process are clamping, injection, cooling and ejection.