An Overview About the Plastic Injection Moulding Process

29 March 2022

Most of the products today come from various manufacturing processes. Manufacturing, in general, is the activity of converting raw materials and parts into finished products and goods. It can be done by utilising tools, machines, and chemical procedures.

To date, there are various types of manufacturing that businesses carry out. One of them is moulding.

Moulding is the process of generating products out of liquid materials. Under the moulding process is casting, which is a technique that exposes materials to high temperatures until they become liquid. The liquified plastic is then transferred to a custom-shaped mould. As the materials cool down, the mould would be removed so that the final product is revealed.

Defining Plastic Injection Moulding

Another type of moulding utilised by more and more manufacturers today is plastic injection moulding. Plastic injection moulding is a moulding process that injects molten plastic materials into a mould. As the materials cool and solidify, the mould is removed to generate three-dimensional products. The casting process can be somehow similar to injection moulding. However, the main difference between them is that casting caters to metal, while injection moulding processes plastic.

Manufacturers maximise plastic injection moulding whenever they want to mass-produce products. They also use this manufacturing process whenever they generate products with complicated shapes. Other reasons why manufacturers would go for plastic injection moulding are low operational costs, minimal scrap rates, and consistent volume production.

Drawbacks of Injection Moulding

Despite the benefits of plastic injection moulding, manufacturers should still be wary of its drawbacks.

One of the drawbacks of plastic injection moulding is it can be expensive in some instances. Before conducting this manufacturing process, manufacturers are advised to check the materials, tools, and designs that will be maximised. Without checking these elements, any errors during the moulding process will only yield additional unnecessary expenses.

Another limitation of plastic injection moulding is it can generate high tooling costs. The tooling phase of the injection moulding process can be expensive since a part must be designed and prototyped first. Subsequently, a mould tool must be designed and prototyped to ensure consistent replica production. The only time manufacturers can conduct injection moulding is if they have tested the parts and tools extensively, which can also cost some time and money.

Utilise Plastic Injection Moulding

Before you utilise plastic injection moulding in producing a part, you must consider some things first.

For one, you must first know whether plastic injection moulding will be cost-effective for you or not. This process can be cost-effective for you if conducting its stages can produce multiple products without yielding high overall costs. Another thing to consider is your part design. Designing the mould tool must be done properly to avoid production defects and errors. Once a tool has been designed and tested repeatedly, you can now opt for this process.

To know more about plastic injection moulding, you can call us at Sandabe Industries.

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