What Is Plastic Injection Mold Manufacturing?
Plastic Injection molding is a manufacturing process for producing parts in large volumes. It is most typically used in mass-production processes where the same part is being created thousands or even millions of times in succession.
Prototype molds are made usually before the production molds for lower quantity or quality of parts, depending on the needs of the customer.
Why Are Plastic Injection Molds Used?
Plastic injection molding is extremely versatile method of producing parts and products. It is one of the preferred methods for manufacturing parts because it has multiple advantages over other methods of plastic molding. Not only is plastic injection molding simpler and more reliable, it is also extremely efficient. You should have no doubts about using this method to manufacture parts.
What Are the Benefits of Plastic Injection Molds?
The principal advantage of injection molding is the ability to scale production in mass. Once the initial costs have been paid the price per unit during injection molded manufacturing is extremely low. The price also tends to drop drastically as more parts are produced.
From a manufacturing standpoint, plastic injection molding provides these benefits:
- Details and Geometry
- Efficiency & Repeatability
- Strength
- Can Use Multiple types of Plastics per product
- Can be Automated to Save Time & Money
How Are Plastic Injection Molds Made?
Plastic injection molds are typically constructed from hardened or pre-hardened steel, aluminum, and/or beryllium-copper alloy. Steel molds are often preferred because of their high durability. Hardened steel molds are heat treated after machining, and they are by far superior in terms of wear resistance and lifespan.
Many steel molds are designed to process well over a million parts during their lifetime. For lower volumes, aluminum molds provide a less wear-resistant and less expensive option.
Plastic injection molds are made using the following equipment and technologies:
- CNC Machining. Standard machining requires the manual use of lathes, milling machines and drill presses. With advanced technology, CNC machining has become the predominant means of creating more complex and accurate molds, while still using standard machining methods. With CNC, computers are used to control the movement and operation of the mills, lathes, and other cutting machines.
- Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM). EDM is a process in which a desired shape is obtained through the use of an electrode, which is fabricated out of graphite or copper. It is then mounted in an EDM machine and positioned over the workpiece, which is submerged in a dielectric fluid.
Why Choose MPP for Plastic Injection Mold Making?
Massobrio Precision Products (MPP) is a custom injection mold manufacturer providing rapid delivery, competitive pricing and superior customer service for prototype and production molds across a wide range of materials and industries.
We are committed to a comprehensive quality. We have met all requirements of the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Assurance Standards. Our goal is to be recognized as a premier custom mold manufacturing tool shop that puts quality first. We provide rapid delivery, competitive pricing and superior customer service.
To discover how we can help you, call 810.364.2939 or contact us.
